By Tom Gill

Tagging a message is a fast, easy way to ensure that your urgent messages get noticed first or that your private messages stay private. In fact, our "Meridian Mail" offers a total of five convenient tagging options:

You can tag a message in just a few simple steps. Here’s how you do it once you are logged into Meridian Mail:

Note: You can use one or more of the tags on a single message, you must press 70 before each tag, and tags can be easily removed or changed.

By Brad Pemberton

Have you ever received attachments from a friend or colleague — one that did something entertaining or was even informative? While most attachments you receive via email are what they seem — some are not. Please be aware that some of these cute attachments are executable programs that are computer viruses and can be harmful to your computer. They can cause it to behave incorrectly, become an annoyance or even worse – cause you to lose data.

Please be aware that the number of virus hoaxes on the Internet can sometimes outnumber the amount of genuine viruses. Even so, you should be careful of what you download or run from what you receive in your email.

Below is a list of viruses found by McAffee, maker of our anti-virus package for Windows 95. If you use a Macintosh, Amphi’s currently licensed product is Virex 5.9.1. If you do not currently have an anti-virus package installed on your machine you will need to request it be installed. If you have Windows 95, you can tell if McAffee anti-virus is installed by looking at the Programs submenu under the Start menu. Look for McAfee. On a Macintosh you can do a search for the name Virex to see if you have it installed.

• W32/Ska 1. Cap

• Ethan 2. Ethan

• Marker 3. Marker

• Footer 4. Ataka

• Picture 5. Picture

• Ataka 6. W32/Ska

• XF/Sic 7. Laroux

8. Cih Spacefiller

9. Class

10. Brenda

To download the latest virus definition file for Windows 95 point your web browser at: download.mcafee.com/products/datfiles/3.x/3203updt.exe

The instructions on how to update your virus definitions for McAfee AntiVirus are at: download. mcafee.com/updates/howto.asp

Norton- www.symantec.com/avcenter/

Network Associates - vil.mcafee. com/villib/alpha.asp

Network Associates- vil.mcafee. com/villib/hoax.asp

Macintosh Virus Information Miningco.com- antivirus.miningco. com/library/blenmac.htm

No, I’m not writing about some far away city on the edge of the Sahara. Timbuktu is a software application that has been installed on most of the new HP/Windows 95 computers to allow us to help you. It is one of the tools we can use to provide support for you. And, since I get a strange silence on the phone when I ask users to load Timbuktu, I decided I should explain a little about it and answer common questions.

Simply put, if you load Timbuktu and I load Timbuktu, I can look at and control your desktop from my workstation here at Wetmore.

Here are some answers to questions I am asked about Timbuktu.

So, if you call and say "Help, I’ve got a problem" and I ask you to load Timbuktu, it is this software program that I’m talking about. It is very helpful and so much faster than getting in the car and driving to your site to help you solve a problem.

Many people are good about deleting a message when they have finished reading it. But did you know that that message isn’t actually deleted? When you select a message inside your inbox and delete it, it actually gets sent to a trash folder. This folder needs to be emptied every once in a while. To empty this folder, open Netscape Messenger. Then select File on the toolbar and go down to Empty Trash Folder. This will empty your trash folder.

There is another place that needs to be emptied called your Sent folder. Whenever you send someone a message, that message gets saved in your Sent folder. To empty this folder, open Netscape Messenger. Then, in the toolbar, there is a dropdown box that says Inbox. Click on the down arrow and scroll until you see the folder called Sent. Select this folder. Then select the first message in that folder. Then go up to Edit in your toolbar and go to "Select," then to All Messages. All the messages should be highlighted. Then click on the Delete button on the toolbar. This will delete all your messages in the Sent folder. To delete only one message, select that message click on Delete. If you would like to delete a few messages, select the first message you would like to delete, then hold down Ctrl and select the next message. Continue holding down Ctrl and selecting messages until all the messages you would like deleted are selected. Then click Delete.

Many of the schools here at Amphi use Quicken products to track finances at their schools. Quicken is one of the easiest and best products on the market to do this. However, many of the older versions of Quicken will not handle the year 2000 properly and you will need to be prepared for the problems these products will cause or upgrade to the newest version that is available. A quick break-down of the products is as follows: Quicken versions 1-4 for DOS are not compliant, Quicken versions 5-8 will not be tested/ not supported, Quicken and Quicken Deluxe versions 1-4 for Windows will not be tested/ not supported, Quicken and Quicken Deluxe versions 5-6 for Windows will not be tested/ not supported (on-line backing and tracking functions not compliant). So, if you are using these products you should upgrade to at least Quicken 98 for Windows with patches (upgrade specials are very reasonable) or come the year 2000 you could find that you are suddenly a millionaire (you may already be a winner) in the computer program at least. More information can be found at www. intuit.com/support/y2k_ standard. html

This has been a very busy and productive year for the Technology Department, which means that things have been improving at your sites and in your classrooms. We have accomplished a great deal and I’d like to share some of those accomplishments and attribute them to the people in the Department who were responsible for them.

Our Technology Workshops have been most successful. Peggy Steffens and Patti Greenleaf have offered over 181 classes for 405 teachers and staff. Also, Patti and Cindy Rolewski have offered classes for 40 teachers involved in the TLCF Grant at Keeling, Nash, Prince, and Amphi Middle School. The TLCF Grant has provided another $97,100.00 worth of equipment and training.

Margaret Harris and Sue Sledge have done an outstanding job preparing REQ’s, tracking budgets, and managing an incredibly large volume of phone calls for repairs and clerical assistance. Without their efforts, none of us would have been able to do our jobs. Ted Cox developed our online registration for our Technology Workshops. Ted has also maintained the Amphi Home pages and totally redone the Technology Home Page.

Brad Pemberton has done a remarkable job over the last year by learning about all of our computer and network systems and has facilitated upgrades, cabling and planning for future system upgrades. His overall knowledge of networking protocols, equipment and network operating systems allows our District to support all the mission critical software necessary to do our work. Matt Weber has been responsible for implementing and supporting MP2 (a work order system), SubFinder (Substitute placement system) and has upgraded 10 file servers across the District. Additionally, he has played a major role in the cabling of new buildings that were added for the pre-schools. Tom Gill has also played a major role with the cabling in the new buildings as well as re-cabling many existing classrooms and offices. Tom’s primary job has been to manage the phone and voice mail system for the schools and district and has done an outstanding job. Seth Butler has assisted in many of the networking projects, and has done a remarkable job helping the libraries upgrade the computers and Follett Library software. Seth has also done a great job trouble-shooting many of the general computer networking problems.

Kathy Sheppard has been responsible for maintaining network user accounts and Email accounts for everyone needing one in the District. We are now up to about 1,800 Email users! In addition to that major responsibility, she maintains the financial and accounting system called Pentamation. This year, she was responsible for upgrading the file server, the UNIX operating system, the Informix database, and the Pentamation software.

Jim Davis, Richard Coca, Chris Bonhorst, and Amanda Trible have done a great job installing new computers, repurposing older computers, repairing computers and trouble-shooting a myriad of interesting and sometimes bizarre service calls.

Gordon Larsen and Claudio Araya have provided a wide variety of A/V services. They deliver media materials, install video cabling, dub audio and videotapes, repair A/V equipment and walkie-talkies.

I want to thank each and every one of these people for all the hard work they do. It is through their efforts that you have access to the technology that helps you do your job more efficiently or effectively.

There seems to be growing number of people in the District who would like to be able to check the Amphi Email from home. The good news is that it is incredibly easy to do. The first and most important issue is that you have to have an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Then, when you connect to the Internet, all you have to do is change your web browser to point at amphi.com for your Email.

Let’s talk about a specific example. You are running Netscape 4.X and connect to azstarnet. All you have to do is go to the EDIT menu, select PREFERENCES. In the next window, select MAIL & GROUPS, then click on IDENTITY. Change three fields: Mail Server User Name (jdoe), Outgoing Mail (amphi.com), Incoming Mail (amphi.com).

Now, when you start Netscape, the browser will still dial the phone number to the Internet Provider, but once connected it will connect to the email server at amphi.com.

Hopefully, this example will allow you to configure your system to be able to check your email from home. If you have any questions about this procedure, please don’t hesitate to send me an email.

A side note about AOL. If you want to do this and your ISP is AOL, all you have to do is use AOL to dial into the Internet. Once connected, start Netscape configured as described above and you should be able to check your amphi.com email from home.

One problem that I have encountered is having to check two separate Email accounts. To simplify my life, I contacted my ISP and asked them to automatically forward my azstarnet email to my account at amphi.com. Now, I get all my mail from both systems at one site.

By Jeff Homoki

It is not often that you see kids encouraged to talk loud in school. But in the Anchor’s Club at Harelson kids are encouraged to speak up when on camera. At first the Bobcat News, Harelson’s weekly television show was simply a form of communication - a neat way to get ideas and information across the campus all at once. Old tapes from as far back as 1989 reveal that the Bobcat News was used as a common thread, tying the school together. This bonding through media was a unique tool to aid in making Harelson a family. Students’ projects were shown on the news, the Harelson band came and played on the news from time to time, and there was a time for reinforcing the Bobcat Code of Honor.

Today the news is much more than a simple form of communication. It has evolved into both a learning and teaching medium. The Anchor’s Club kids teach their fellow classmates while they themselves learn. For example, each Anchor’s Club member figures out the true meaning of part of the Bobcat Code of Honor. They begin writing a skit to act out on the news. In this atmosphere, they create their own meaning from the Code of Honor. They then have the task of communicating it effectively to their peers. Meanwhile, Dr. Knowitall (a student dressed as a scientist) researches the answers to science questions that the students at Harelson submit. The answer is then presented live on the news. These activities teach the Anchor’s Club visual language while they teach the viewing students about science and proper behavior.

It is inevitable that The Anchor’s Club will continue to grow as new ideas are generated. One idea in the works is the idea of teaching the students how to edit video on the computer. This exciting, new way of editing will result in professional- looking segments, introductions, school plays, and activities that will entertain the viewing students and teach the participating students that there is yet another way to show their projects. The Anchor’s Club meets with Jeff Homoki, the instructional technology coach each week to share ideas, create new projects, and practice for the broadcasting.

The best thing about the Bobcat News is the fact that it is very fun. It is exciting to watch and rewarding to be involved with. Most students love to be on camera and the students who are more technically inclined love to be behind the scenes producing the news. Over the years, the Bobcat News has continued to bond the Harelson family together through communication, and now students in the Anchor’s Club are leading the way.

After not working with a file or folder for a while you may forget where you saved it or you might not remember the exact name. In Windows 95, you can locate files or folders by name, file type, location of the file, etc.

If you want to do a new search, click the New Search button. The old search will be erased.

If you don’t remember the name of the file or folder you can look for file type or files containing certain text.

As I have been conducting inservices on MicroGrade, it has come to my attention that many teachers are using it. However, I find that there are many facets of the program that teachers are not utilizing; for instance, categories and subjects, the comment section, the different report printouts and the seating chart section. I believe this program is one in which it behooves a teacher to invest the time to learn how to operate it most effectively. Summer classes will be offered for this class and would well be worth the time for teachers who want to get the most out of this product.

If you have a library card to the Tucson-Pima Public Library you will be able to search EBSCO Host for magazines, books in print, and phone directories. The MasterFile Elite provides abstracts from over 3100 periodicals and full text articles from over 1000 periodicals. The Health Source Plus has over 240 health and nutrition periodicals with full text, and the Business Source Elite provides full text searching on more than 650 journals. You can also find business and residential phone numbers, and full-text book reviews from 46,000 publishers.

Go to the Tucson-Pima Library Site (you can get to there from my home page or go to http://www.lib.ci.tucson.az.us/). Click on the Magazines link.

You will be asked to Enter your ID#. Type in your barcode number from your library card and click on Login to EBSCOhost.

You can search in a single database by clicking on the link, or to search on multiple databases you can put a check mark in front of each database you would like to have included in your search. If you mark several databases, click the Enter button at the top or the bottom of the screen.

You can then enter your search term(s) in the box next to Find. You can use Boolean search strategies (and, or, not) to get better results. For example, type "Internet and education" and it must find articles that have both the words Internet and education in the abstract. Type "staff development or training" to make a broader search if you think both words might be used. Finally, you might type "tiger not woods" to find information about tigers that is not about Tiger Woods. You can be more selective by checking boxes to get only full text articles, limit your searches to a particular magazine, and limit your search to a particular month or year. You can expand your options to search for related words and have it search within the full text of the articles. Once you have made all of your selections, you should click the Search button.

You will then see how many results it found. It will show you the first 10 document titles. To see the next ten click on the blue arrow. You can click on individual articles to read them, or you can mark specific articles and then email, print, or save them.

This is another wonderful source for students and teachers who are doing research. It allows students to have access to far more resources than they might have at home or school. It is important to teach students effective researching skills, and this is an outstanding site for them to be successful.

The absolute greatest online computer website has got to be Apple’s Homepage at www.apple.com. This web site has everything you need to know regarding Macintosh computers and all the accessories. Its clean design and interesting look makes it my top choice for computer web sites. Other sites I enjoy going to for computer information are www.gateway2000.com for all the latest Gateway2000 needs, www.hp.com for information on Hewlett Packard machines, and finally, www.compusa.com for any sort of information on computers.

If you are looking to check out some really interesting sites just for the fun of it, these are some sites you will definitely need to see. One of my favorites is www.dmband.com This is the Dave Matthews Band official website. Everything you need to know about the band is there. Its design is also well done. Another site is www.densa.com. This cool site is a spoof of the Mensa organization. It has some interesting tests that can prove whether you are a lateral thinker or not; check it out. Another interesting site is www.integrals.com. This site is for all those calculus geeks out there. It uses a very powerful math program called Mathematica to find integrals. The final site I’d like to mention for entertainment is www.espn.com. This site is set up nicely and allows you to get caught up on all the sports scores.

There are many sites out there that are used for the instruction of HTML. Being someone who has created a few of them, I know. Here are the really top acknowledged sites in the business: www.htmlgoodies.com, werbach.com/barebones/, reallybig.com/reallybig.shtml and www.bignosebird.com/

Ted Lyons from the Flagstaff Regional Training Center shared an example of how a teacher is integrating Amazon.Com into the classroom at the Microcomputers in Education Conference. Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) is a site that sells books, music, and videos, and provides information about the books, authors, and artists. Ted shared that an English teacher at Sinagua High School has her students find books at amazon.com that do not have reviews. Her students read the book and submit the on-line review. The students must give the book a rating of 1-5 stars, a one-line summary, a review of 1000 words or less, where they are from, and an email address (this is optional). This gives the students a much larger audience than the teacher for book reports. This teacher has them submit an email address with the review and they have been getting email from people who agree and disagree with the reviews.

This is a great example of a way to have students add worthwhile information to the Internet. We must always be willing to give as much as we take from the Internet and teach our students to contribute to the global knowledge base, and the Internet provides an easy vehicle for students to do this.

By Joanne Lazarus

Students in Mrs. Green’s fifth grade class were excited when their new project involved them as owners of an eight-screen movie theater. Their job was to order letters for the marquee. They had to order enough of each letter so that they never ran out, but they did not want to order too many and waste money. How could they decide what the optimum number of each letter would be? The first step was to get samples of the number of letters used in various places. We started with a novel that we were reading as a class and tallied the number of times each letter was used in random five line sections. Some students used this information and went to the next step of the process. Other students used the Internet and found lists of movie titles and selected eight at a time, then tallied how many of each letter appeared.

Each student had sheets of tallied information for letters A-Z. Next, students learned how to enter their information on a spreadsheet. They traded information with other students and each student had to decide when they had compiled enough data. It was interesting to see the varied amounts of data the students were using.

After the data was compiled, students needed to decide whether to take an average of their data and use those numbers to place their letter order, or to use the highest number, or some other method. We reviewed mean, median, and mode and the applications of each. All students reviewed how to average spreadsheet data, then they made a determination as to what data they wanted to use to make their buying decision.

The students were next asked to make a useful graphical representation of their chosen data. Microsoft Chart Wizard had so many choices and ways to show the data, the students experimented to figure out what would work best for them. (The pie chart became so overlapped with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet that it looked like flies buzzing around a pie. Students quickly learned that this was not a useful representation.) Students ended up with 3-D graphs, line graphs, and bar graphs.

The poster presentation was prepared with Microsoft Word. The introduction explained who they were and their letter problem. They had fun naming their movie theaters. Next came an explanation of how they had gathered their data and how they used their data to solve their problem. The graphs were next. Finally a conclusion, or proof that their letter ordering plan would work. Print Shop was used to add borders and graphics.

We discussed similarities and differences in presentations and solutions. The students evaluated the work based on criteria from class discussion. The presentations were displayed outside our classroom, so others could see their awesome talent!

This spring saw the maiden voyage of our Technology Class Registration Homepage. This page allows users to connect directly to our master database to register for classes, cancel classes, and print out schedules. This allows for more accuracy and less paper. The results were better than expected. We received half of our overall registrations through the web. This is very exciting for us at the Technology Department! I’d like to thank all of you who decided to try out the new online registration. Your help was the key to its success. We’d like you to continue using this method while we try to encourage all of our registrants to use it.

If you have not already checked out this site, you’re missing out. The web page is located at techreg. amphi.com. Here are some of the cool highlights of this site. Like I said before, it allows you to directly enter your registration into our database bypassing all the paper shuffling and changing of hands. This way, you have a confirmation that we received and entered your registration. This page also allows you to cancel any of your classes 24 hours a day. You do not have to wait until the next working day or worry about whether we received your voice mail. You can also get a full list of your classes by entering your ID number and last name. It’s that easy. Everyone who registers receives an ID number. If you do not know it, or forgot it, there is a way, online, that you can find it yourself. On the TechReg Homepage at techreg.amphi.com go to "Forget your Member ID Click Here!" The important part of this page is the field, "Mother’s Maiden Name." Now it sounds funny, and we’ve received plenty of questions regarding this topic, but it is an extremely important part of the web page. The page needs this in order to find your ID. If you have registered and have not given us your Mother’s Maiden Name, please call me at 5215 and give it to me. If you feel uncomfortable giving it to me, make something up. Just remember to remember it!

There are many more new and exciting ideas being created for this web page including an automatic waiting list notification, an automatic reminder, as well as an archive where you can look up all your past registration information. Look forward to these new additions to the web page. Once again I’d like to thank those of you who registered online this past semester, and I’d like to encourage everyone to try it out. Check it out later this spring to sign up for Summer ’99 Technology Classes.

Starting around version 4.03 or so, Netscape started to include a program called, "Notify". This little program would run all the time and every now and again (the default was 10 min, I think), it would go out and see if you had any e-mail waiting for you. It would let you know this by an icon in your system tray (the little box next to the clock). If you had mail, a little flag would start to wave and if you clicked on it, it would start Netscape Messenger.

By default, we do not install this feature. It is a rather easy thing to add yourself, but be aware of some security issues!

In order for this to work, you need to store your email password in Netscape. What this means is that, anyone can start up Netscape and read your email when your back is turned! This can be bad.

To store your password in Netscape 4.0x, start up Netscape, go up to Edit on the menu bar and choose Preferences. From there choose, Mail & Groups, then choose Mail server, click on more options then put a check in remember my password.

To store your password in Netscape 4.5, instead of more options, you will see a button called edit, then just check the remember my password box.

Now that your password is stored, we can start Notify. You can do this two ways. You can have it start up as soon as you start Win95, or you can start it yourself.

To start it yourself, just click Start -> Programs -> Netscape Communicator -> Utilities -> Netscape mail notification.

To make it start up automatically, RIGHT click on the start bar to the right of Start and choose Properties and click on the Start menu programs tab. Now, click on Add, and in the command line box type: c:\program files\netscape\communicator\program\ nsnotify.exe

And that is it! Remember, you must be using a version of Netscape that has the email client built in, and unless every 10 min or so, you don’t mind a box popping up asking for your password, you must store your password with Netscape. Even if you turn Notify off, Netscape will still remember your password!

This year at Prince Elementary the use of technology in all classrooms has been our primary focus. Many inservices and mini-classes have been offered on a wide range of topics. These include laserdiscs, Kid Pix, the Internet, Microsoft Word, one computer in the classroom, and email classes. Here at Prince, the comfort level has really increased in our staff's use of email. It is nice to see most teachers using their email to communicate rather than using precious paper (it sure saves on clicks too). We have also used the digital camera for our Career Ladder pre-writing sample. The ESL department took a picture with the digital camera and had students write about the group of people. The students were excited, the teachers were thrilled with the motivation, and most importantly, technology was used in the classroom. Lastly, Anna Mae Suda, an ESL teacher at Prince, used the digital camera to put pictures in the Prince newsletter. This has added excitement and recognition in Prince’s newsletters. Cheers to the teachers at Prince for their use of technology.

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It is very important that you save your files to a place where there is a backup or emergency copy. On each of the servers in the district, there is a tape backup system that allows your files to be backed up on a daily basis. Because of this, if you should happen to lose information or your PC is replaced or repaired, your data is safe out on the server and backed up on the previous night’s server backup tape. So please do check the location of your Word, Excel and any other files you may have saved on your local c:\ drive. It will save you a lot of time in the future if things go south.

To check to see if you have this setup in the correct locations choose from the File menu, in Word or Excel, Open and click on the folder with the up arrow until you see your username (usually 2 clicks). If you do not, then you will probably see the C:\ Drive letter after the 1st click then it is in the wrong place.

The steps to do this in Microsoft Word are as follows (provided that you have an account on the server):

Note: To move your files from your C:\My Documents directory to your directory on the server is a drag and drop process. This is important because you will have files in both places until you move these over. If you need help setting this up, please contact your Technology Coach on site for assistance.

The steps for Microsoft Excel are similar up to step 3, which should be as follows:

Those of you who are not setup on the server, please backup on diskette by choosing from the file menu "Save As" and type in

A:\myfile. (The term"myfile" represents any name you give your document). This way you have it on your C:\My Documents directory and on your diskette.

The purpose of this article is to reiterate the technology department policy regarding file servers. If the server at your site is not functioning or making a beeping sound - DO NOT attempt to reset or restart it. Instead immediately place call Sue Sledge at 5214 or call the emergency number 975-7111 if it is after hours. If you do not get a return call within 15 minutes, you may call Brad Pemberton’s cell phone number at 444-8883.

It is imperative that these guidelines be followed to prevent damaged equipment, downtime, and loss of your data. Since most employees are not familiar with the displayed error codes on the server, the best course of action is to always call the Technology Department at the numbers listed above.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact me at 5214.

By Peggy Steffens

The Microcomputers in Education Conference was held at ASU in March 1999. Dr. Jane Foley, a former principal and now vice president for national education awards for the Milken Family Foundation, was one of the Keynote speakers. Her presentation was Get on the Bus! A Roadmap for Effective Technology Integration. In her talk she created the metaphor comparing technology to a bus. She said, "It is going to go whether you get on or not. You can choose to get on the bus or choose to let the bus leave without you." She gave a wonderful analogy: "Students are natives in the world of the information age and adults are immigrants." I find this very true as I work with students and teachers. Students have grown up with technology and they are very comfortable with it; it is second nature to them. Adults, on the other hand, have had to learn about technology and are not always as willing to risk and learn about it.

Many times in education we look at things and wonder if this is another passing fad, and many have asked the same thing about technology. Here are some quotes that she shared with us about technology from long ago.

"A Western Union internal memo in 1876 read…

This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."

Now we have phones in our classrooms, homes, cars, and anywhere we can carry them.

"In 1977, Ken Olson

President, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation said…

There is no reason anyone would want a computer in his or her home."

We see that this prediction was not true either, computers are prevalent in the home.

"National Governors’ Association Chairman and Delaware Governor Thomas R. Carper said…

The question is no longer whether states and local school districts should use technology to support instruction, but how they should do so." Dr. Foley stated "Students should be using the technology in ways that deepen their understanding of the content in the academics standards and, at the same time, advance their knowledge of the world around them."

Amphitheater School District believes that it is important to use technology to support instruction. We have developed an Instructional Technology Plan, a District Technology Strategic Plan, and each school has a site three-year technology plan that addresses integrating technology into the curriculum. In addition, a district committee has been established this summer to create the Technology Curriculum Frameworks. The frameworks will be based on the State and National Educational Technology Standards. If you have questions about these plans, contact your Technology Coach or me.

For the past two years the Amphi district has participated in a grant called the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. The purpose of this grant is to provide teachers with opportunities to become more familiar with technology and the Internet. The four schools that are participating in the grant are AMS, Keeling, Nash, and Prince. There are 29 teachers in their first year of training and 11 teachers in their 2nd year of training. Part of the process is for the teachers to develop lessons utilizing the Internet with their students.

There are a variety of lessons that have been developed by these teachers and a web page has been developed for others to see and utilize these lessons. The lessons include TLCF Science Guides, TrackStar Lessons, Internet Projects, Quiz Labs, and other lessons created to integrate technology into the curriculum. The TLCF Science Guides focus on lessons in science and incorporate the Arizona State Science Standards. Many of the lessons in the "Other Lesson Plans" also incorporate the Arizona State Standards. TrackStar allows a teacher to create a lesson utilizing several links to web pages and then the annotation section allows that teacher to either give the students more direction or have the students complete an activity. The Internet Projects section lets people see the projects that have been conducted by the TLCF teachers and their comments about these projects.

The address to the TLCF Main Page is http://www.amphi.com/~tlcf. This web page can be a great resource for teachers when they want to integrate the Internet into their curriculum and we hope that you can find ways to utilize it.

Anyone that deals with computers can tell you there are way too many acronyms in the computer industry. I’m going to cover just a few of the common ones you might run across in dealing with the Internet.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. This one is pronounced "U-R-L", not Earl as we commonly hear. A URL is the generic name for a web address. Just like there are several type of postal addresses (P.O. Box, FPO’s, etc.) there are several types of URLs that are listed below.

WWW - World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is a network of computers that spans the globe. The way addresses are located on the web is by URL. A sample address, which you have all probably seen, is http://www.yahoo.com. Let’s break this apart and see what it means.

http-is the protocol used. (More on that later.)

www-is a naming convention commonly used, but not required.

yahoo-is the company that owns the site.

com-is the type of site.

Ok, so now we have that out of the way, let's look at the protocol part of the address. There are several different protocols in use on the Internet. The most common is http, ftp, gopher, telnet and nntp.

HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is the big-kahuna! If you see any address with an HTTP, it is a web site address that you can type into Netscape or your favorite browser and access.

FTP - File transfer protocol. This is probably the second most common protocol used on the web. Whenever you transfer a file from somewhere on the Internet to your desktop computer or vice versa you are most likely using FTP to do it. Using a web browser like Netscape an FTP address would look like ftp://ftp.amphi.com. If you are using a program specifically designed for FTP uses, we use Rapid FTP in the district; the address would be just ftp.amphi.com.

TELNET - This one is not an acronym! Telnet is used to connect to a remote system and use it as if you were sitting in front of the keyboard of that computer. Telnet is text based so the mouse is not used when working with a telnet session. Anyone who has used Pentamation or Pine

mail in the district has used telnet. There are no standard conventions used for telnet so you basically just have to know if the address you have is capable of telnet.

NNTP/USENET - Network News Transfer Protocol. Usenet or newsgroups are billboards on the Internet. Anyone can post messages that everyone subscribed to the newsgroup can read. NNTP is the protocol used to transfer these messages. Web browsers usually access newsgroups with an

address something like news://nntp.apple.com. News readers that are specifically designed for newsgroups usually would not use the news:// just the nntp.apple.com.

Well, there you go. Next time you see an address (URL) on the web you will know what it actually means. Of course there are MANY other protocols and TLA’s out there; if you run across one your don’t know point you browser to http://www.oh-no.com/define.html

If you have a newer computer at home and are using the Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel), it is likely that you have a newer version of that program than we use in the district. Also, if someone has sent you a Word document from someplace other than in the district (i.e. the State Department), they also might have the new version. Newer versions of programs can pull up files from older versions; however, older versions can not pull up information from new versions. You can tell if a file has been saved in the new version if you try to pull it up at your computer at work and can’t. What you need to do is save the file in the older version format.

When you open the file using the Office 95 version, you open it like you would any other file.

If you receive a document in the newest version from someone else, you will need to ask them to re-send it in a "saved down" version.

Getting a new HP computer installed in your classroom or office can be a busy time. To help you get through the installation process smoothly, we’d like you to know what is needed and what normally happens during installation.

When making the consideration for a new computer, in addition to the items that must be purchased please check to make sure you have everything you need to have the computer installed. You will need to place your computer within reach of power outlets and the network drop. The absolute maximum length of a patch cable (the cable running between your computer and the network drop) is twelve feet. If you have questions regarding the location of your network drop or the space you have chosen for your computer, please contact your Technology Coach. You will need a sturdy desk or table for your new computer, with a space at least 23" deep and 26" wide. It is also strongly recommended that you have a power strip with surge suppression. You can use an existing power strip if you have one within reach of the desk. For the computer and monitor, you will need two available outlets. If you are also getting powered speakers, you will need two additional outlets (due to the size of the transformer, it will block another outlet), and if you are getting a printer, you will need another additional outlet.

When the work area is ready and the new computer has been delivered, the next step is to call the technology hotline at 5078 to request installation. You will be asked for your name and phone number, as well as basic information about the computer and the work you need to have done. Your request is placed on the list of installations on a first-in, first-out basis. Generally we will call the person whose information was listed on the hotline to give an estimated time for installation. We try to be conservative in the time estimates that we give, but sometimes the previous installations and repairs go more quickly or, sometimes, more slowly than we estimate, and unfortunately sometimes emergencies occur as well. We do our best to notify you as soon as possible if we will be late for a scheduled installation, but if we are running ahead of schedule we may simply drop by to ask if it is a convenient time to go ahead with the installation.

Please do not open the boxes! Parts, manuals, and warranty information are lost far too often when the box has been opened prior to installation. In addition, the technicians are able to work faster when the contents of the boxes are still in their original order. There is also the unfortunate circumstance where a computer is delivered with missing or broken parts. It is much easier to have the computer replaced or repaired under warranty when the technician can tell the manufacturer that he or she was the one to open the box.

The technology department will send a bright pink sheet to attach to the new computer. This is to help the technician find the equipment or the work area easily. You can attach this to the computer or to the desk where the computer will be installed. If you have any specific instructions or questions, please write them on the bottom of the pink sheet.

Under normal circumstances we allot about one hour to install a new computer. If you have additional equipment such as a printer or scanner, special software to install, or an older computer that must be removed, setup may take longer than this. Normally you do not need to be present for the installation process. However, if there are special circumstances such as the installation of a new lab, the technician may need to speak with you briefly.

New computers are set up for either administrative or classroom use. Administrative computers will have all of the necessary Category 1 software and shortcuts, including Microsoft Office, Timbuktu Pro, and Netscape, and shortcuts for certain Category 2 software such as Pentamation, SASI, and SASI XP. Designated network printers will be set up when available and appropriate. Classroom computers will also have their related Category 1 software such as Microsoft Office, Kid Pix, KeyWords, MicroGrade, Student Writing Center, HyperStudio, and Netscape. If a local printer is available, that will be set up as well. (For more information on software categories, please see http://amphi.com/depts/technology/software.htm or contact the technology department.)

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the technology department. Our goal is to make the installation process go as smoothly as possible for everyone.

Here is a list of "non-standard" email names for district employees. Some names are different because there wasn’t a specific naming standard when we first started adding email names. Now we adhere to the standard of first initial of the first name and up to 7 characters of the last name. (Note: Because we have employees who have the same first initial and last name, and because we have to create a different email name for each person, we use the first two letters of the first name and up to 6 characters of their last name for each new person added who has the same initials as another employee.)

Please review the list to make sure you have the correct email name if you need to contact any of these employees via email.

bjkoppel BettyJane Koppel

cbjones C.Beau Jones

caramire Carlos Ramirez

chasmith Charlotte Smith

chesmith Cheryl Smith

chsmith Christine A.Smith

dmcminns Debbie McMinn-Smith

egarcial Elvia Garcia-Lord

grthomps Grace Thompson

hwujcik Hilary Jones-Wujcik

hrcostu HRCOE Student

jaanders Jan Anderson

jaberg Jan Berg

jejohnso Jean Johnson

jodavis John Davis

juruiz Judith Ruiz

jubrandt Julie Brandt

kalantz Katrina Lantz

mamartin Maria Martinez

marsha Marsha Hoffman

macarrol Mary Carroll

mbturk Marybeth Turk

mejohnso MaryEva Johnson

mesmith Meggie Smith

mlfrankl Mel Franklin

michaelm Michael Montgomery

mihoffma Michelle Hoffman

miscott Michelle Scott

mknowles Maureen Knowles-Short

nalexand Nancy Alexander

najohnso Nancy Johnson

phall Pat Pollitz-Hall

pefisher Peter Fisher

pkhart Phoebe Hart

roscott Rose Scott

schopstu SchoolOp Student

smbradle Sheila Maguire-Bradley

squimbyg Stephanie Quimby-Green

sumiller Summer Miller

surobins Susan Robinson

tmidgley Tamara Paulson-Midgley

terri Terri Sloane

tina Tina Bell

tolynch Tom Lynch

vocstu VocStu

We will be doing the 3.0 Pentamation upgrade the week of April 12th. We will need to have the system down for approximately 3 days. Right now we are looking at being down on the 14th, 15th, and 16th . We are currently working on the new 3.0 version in a "parallel" mode and are trying to work out all the problems we can find to make the live conversion easier. However, as with any upgrade there are always "hitches" and I’m sure this will be no exception. Please let me know what problems you experience and we’ll get them resolved as quickly as possible. (Yes, we still have the extra page problem from the last upgrade. Pentamation is still working on it.)

Most of the programming changes are in payroll and financial accounting and will not affect the average user. However, you will notice some differences in appearance and there are some excellent changes that will improve your ability to get reports and information on expenditures.

The menus in 3.0 appear on a white background with blue text and some are arranged a little differently. With the new security features we will be able to give you access to the financial reports you currently receive from the Financial Accounting office. This will allow you to run them when you need them. There are some enhanced features in the displays and queries screens. One enhancement allows you to view encumbrances and determine which are warehouse expenditures and which are purchasing expenditures. You will either be receiving training or documentation on these features after we have completed the upgrade.

One other note: This upgrade will make Pentamation Y2K compliant. When you actually start using any dates for the year 2000 you will need to enter all four characters for the year (for example 1/5/2000). Currently you can use just two characters (99) for 1999, but for 2000 you will need to use all four.

If you have any concerns or questions - please email me (ksheppar) or call me at 696-5219.

It is indeed a happy and sad moment to inform you that Chris Bonhorst is leaving the District. Sad, because we will certainly miss his technical expertise, but happy for him because he is able to continue his college education to obtain a degree in Computer Science. We have been fortunate to have him work first as the Computer Installer, and then advance to Computer Repair Technician. His successes were many and impacted many computer users in the District. He was primarily responsible for the installation of almost 1000 computers over the last year and a half. He developed a system that enabled a computer to be set up in a much faster and efficient way.

We will certainly miss his technical skills and problem solving abilities. Many of us will miss his wonderful personality and sense of humor even more. Chris, speaking for the office staff and those of you that you helped all across the District, we’ll miss you, but wish you the best of luck. Please stay in touch and consider coming back when you get your degree.

There is a change in the procedure for reporting serious network problems at your site. In the past, there was a pager number: 513-0286. Due to poor service from the call center, we have had to cancel our account; therefore, that number is no longer valid. However, we are going to try a different procedure that we hope will work equally well and continue to provide you with the emergency service that you need.

When your site is experiencing a system emergency during the work day (7:30am – 4:30pm) with the computer network, file servers or the telephone system, please do the following:

Library headend systems containing HITACHI brand VCR’s (including models VT-M251A & 260A) which allow the VCR to be assigned one of two infrared encryption codes (VCR1 or VCR2), are installed at Coronado, Donaldson, Holaway, Nash, Rio Vista and Walker. When the headend system experiences a power failure, these VCR’s lose the current time (defaults to —:—), loses the antenna system designation (CATV1, CATV2, defaults to ANT/NORMAL/AIR) and loses the remote mode designation (VCR2, defaults to VCR1) and may also lose the active channel memory. Classroom CTV’s can also lose the antenna designation and the active channel memory, if they experience a power failure.

To make VCR’s at these sites functional for operation using the infrared system from the classroom, the remote mode designation for the VCR assigned as VCR2 must be reset to VCR2, the antenna system designation must be set to CATV1 or 2 (or cable), using the VCR’s on-screen menu.

A. To change the VCR designation from VCR1 to VCR2 do the following:

If you have any other concerns regarding these VCR’s or the headend system, give me a call at extension 6200.

We have recently made some changes to the appearance of the Price Sheets section of our department’s web page. Ted Cox has done a wonderful job updating its appearance and we are always adding information. As of now, we have specific pages for: Computers, Cameras & Scanners, Fax machines, and Printers. Both the Computers and Printers sections also include other frequently-ordered components. As the purchasing deadline approaches and you find the need for up-to-date product ordering information, remember to check the Price Sheets page at www.amphi. com/depts/technology/prices.htm. For easy reference, you might like to add this URL to your personal Bookmarks.

Also, please note that we are now using a different product numbering series for our MicroAge orders. Previously, the part numbers used were the vendor’s in-house product list. We have moved to simply using the manufacturer’s product numbers. For example, now when ordering the Hewlett Packard computer, you will use a product number that looks like DXXXXT. This will enable us to better track product lines and define warranties long after the product has been discontinued.

Students at Mesa Verde are "into" technology! First graders are creating books, second graders are watching and discussing the weather around the globe via the Internet, third graders are busy practicing keyboarding skills, fourth graders are working on Excel spreadsheets and graphs, and fifth graders are creating Power Point presentations. We challenged fourth grade students to write an article for Tech Talk. Here are two articles describing the favorite programs of late.

By Doug Foulk and Kyle Pruitt

By Mike Malin, TJ Pepping, and Steve Pope-Rolewski

Arizona Mix is a computer program for the Apple IIGS that teaches kids about geography in Arizona and also gets them to use their exploring skills.

In Arizona Mix you get a certain amount of money to buy supplies. Then you search for gold mines. While you are searching for a mine, you have to find certain people in certain places. When kids find the places, the people will give you maps and directions. Some kids even research to find these places. Then you can go searching in search areas. When you go searching in search areas, you must pack or else you can die. The rescue squad might also rescue you. Snakes and scorpions can bite and sting you so it’s very realistic. Arizona Mix is very educational and when you’re done, you know a lot more about Arizona and its geography.

We like to type our stories on the computer.

I like Reading Blaster 2000. It is cool and fun. Maybe I will teach you to play all the levels. It has a lot of pages. If you practice, you will be good at it.

Reading Blaster 2000 is so fun. I always play it, but sometimes it is someone else's turn. There are different games that help you practice your reading. You can make new friends when you play by teaching other kids to play.

Whether you have an LC II or a new G3 you can get your Mac on the network. Our network staff is prepared more than ever before to provide Macintosh network support for your classroom or lab.

We have the ability to easily supply a connection from your Mac to the local file server or the Internet. Please talk to your Tech Coach about connecting your Mac. If your Tech Coach can’t help then s/he can call me about how to get your Mac on the network. Please check the following URL to see if your site qualifies for Macintosh to file server connectivity. www. amphi.com/~bpembert/servers.html

Even if it's not on the list, all file servers will be upgraded to provide such capability (where requested) by August 1, 1999.

If you have an older Macintosh (black & white 9" screen) I don’t recommend purchasing a network card for it. The card will cost more than the value of the computer. If you have an LC or newer Mac with System 7.0 or better and at least 4 Megabytes of RAM (I would recommend 8MB) you can use Netscape 2.0 to get email or World Wide Web services. Please keep in mind that LC’s and Macintoshes older than the Quadra/Centris don’t have built-in support for networking. So if you want to network those older machines it will cost about $50.00 each for the network card. If you have a Quadra, Centris, Power Mac 6100, 7100, or 8100 you can network it for about $20.00. All Power Macintosh computers built after the 7200 have built-in Ethernet. Please note that the district is still working on supplying network connections to each classroom and that we are nowhere near done. When we are done each classroom will have one connection to the local network. If you need more than one computer per classroom connected you will need to provide funding to do so.

The new iMacs and new Blue & White G3 models add new technology and remove some old technology support. The technology added to the new G3s is the Universal Serial Bus and a higher capacity serial bus architecture called FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394). The new G3s also sport a 100Mhz bus and use 100Mhz SDRAM.

While the iMac (both 233 and 266MHz models) & Blue & White G3s come with 10/100Megabit Ethernet they don’t come with floppy drives. For some people this means more security. For others this means an added cost. If you think you’ll want a floppy disk drive I would recommend a high capacity LS-120. It supports both 1.44MB floppy disks and 120-MB capacities. The recommended drive for iMacs or Blue & White G3s is the LS 120 USB drive made by Imation. This drive is available from Comp USA, Simutek, Mac Stuff or through online resellers or catalog resellers. The drive retails for about $150.00.

We do a lot of Windows but we do Macs too.