Issue 79 - Term 4 Week 6

From 25 October, all NSW Public Schools and corporate offices shifted to YouTube running in Restricted Mode by default, unless the user is signed in with their NSW DoE Google account. Once signed in, all teachers, school and corporate staff, as well as Years 11 and 12 students, will revert to unrestricted mode, while K-10 students stay in Restricted mode.  The quick video below will help to clearly explain YouTube Restricted mode. Please share this information with all staff to help explain why they may be seeing black-screen messages on certain YouTube videos reporting they are "unavailable". The link above also includes instructions for whitelisting specific videos where needed. NOTE: Access to YouTube for K-6 students is currently available at school, but this access is under review and may change in 2022.

As advised previously, all remaining Windows 10 v1809 devices not yet upgraded to v20H2 were disabled on November 1, 2021. This follows the disabling of v1607 and v1709 devices earlier this year. As long as these devices are compatible, an F12 rebuild will re-enable them, to again allow their use at school. As upgrades to Windows are continually released, it's important that schools keep pace to ensure device and data security. By planning for an F12 rebuild for every device at least once a year, your school can ensure your devices will perform well and remove the risk of having older versions disabled, avoiding inconvenience. This is especially important for student devices. The department will soon be enabling In-place upgrades for v1909 devices. This will be announced shortly.

Chromebooks include accessibility right out of the box, unlocking learning experiences for students with diverse needs, abilities and learning styles. Built-in settings help customise the learning experience to include and engage every student. From 4 November, all Chromebooks enrolled in the NSW DoE Google domain had a new setting applied, to allow easy access to all of the Chromebook's accessibility features. Whether your students need text to speech, live captions for media that plays, a high contrast display setting, screen magnifier or customisable keyboard, touchpad or mouse controls, their Chromebook delivers. The link above provides all the instructions you'll need to make their Chromebook work the way they need it to.

Extending the school's ethernet network and/or adding special devices to it, can cause more problems than it solves - if not done correctly. If your school is getting new solar panels or a demountable, or considering upgrading or installing new security cameras, IP phones, wireless access points or cabling - please get advice first! Log an EDConnect call as early as possible, with as much details about your needs, devices and timeframes. Incorrectly installed and configured devices can flood your schools network or cause other frustrations. Rectifying non-standard installations often cannot be remediated without additional costs. Your local ICT field services team can help make your local network project a success.

You can boost your skills in film production, design and podcasting! Prepare your students for a creative future in creative industries by becoming an Adobe champion. Register your interest to become an Adobe 'champion' to gain access to this free program running throughout 2022 with opportunities that include:

• Access to Adobe's video learning library to develop professional-level skills across their range of programs
• Exclusive invitations to Adobe events
• Opportunities to present your skills at professional learning events (optional)
• The chance to join a collaborative community to share and build knowledge

To help reduce stigma and prevent scams from happening in the first place, we should T.A.L.K. about them.  During Scams Awareness Week (Nov 8-14), let’s talk scams!

T – talk to your friends, family and colleagues about a scam you have heard about or seen.
A - ask simple questions such as have you ever been scammed? How many scams are you getting each week?
L – listen to news and alerts to learn how others have fallen victim to current scams.
K – keep talking! The more we talk about scams, the less likely we are to fall for one.

To learn more about how to get the conversation started visit our Scams Awareness Week page.

Want to pre-fill your Microsoft Outlook calendar, or your Google Calendar with all the school weeks for 2022?  It's so handy to know what week of the school term we are in when looking at your online calendar. Here's a quick and easy way to add all of the 42 school weeks, all the school holidays and all the public holidays and important dates for 2022 to either your Outlook or Google calendar. Once added, they'll be shown in your calendar across all your devices!

So how do you do this? There are quick video guides and full instructions  posted on Yammer right now. All you need to do is decide which calendar platform you want it imported to - or maybe you want both?

• 2022 calendar for Microsoft Outlook 
• 2022 calendar for Google Calendar

As the use of iPad across NSW DoE continues to grow, it's never been a better time to get on board with how the department can support your school in managing your Apple devices - from purchase to deployment. To support ICT Coordinators in schools, Apple are hosting several virtual events covering:

• Deploying & Managing iPad in Education 
• Apple Classroom App 
• New Productivity features in iPadOS 15 

Each session is hosted multiple times, so sign up for a day that suits your calendar. Please note, sessions are hosted live and not recorded. At each session you can ask questions to an Apple Systems Engineer about anything Apple & NSW DoE related. Sign up for as many sessions as you like at https://apple.co/nswtech

Want to know more about the impact of stem.T4L on girls’ engagement in STEM? The latest stem.T4L research report is a case study on Blacktown Girls High School. It looks closely at the stem.T4L Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) kit used in an after-school art masterclass. Collecting extensive data through pre-post surveys, classroom observations and focus groups, the report tells stories of problem-solving, determination, collaborative group work, and self-directed learning enhanced by students’ access to IVR technology. Students report having deeper understandings of the role and importance of technology. They learnt to appreciate the possibilities that technology offers for creating art, and demonstrated on-going collaboration and teamwork. Get the entire report and also check out all the other amazing STEM research reports

This article has been re-published as a reminder to schools now that students have returned. As is happening across the world, schools are routinely disinfecting their computer devices and other peripherals that are shared by students. At the same time, hardware vendors are reporting growing cases of hardware faults - especially keyboards on notebook devices and Chromebooks - that appear to be caused by excessive use of inappropriate liquid cleaners reaching electronic components. Water-based cleaners appear to be the most common cause of these faults.  To avoid the inconvenience of device failure making them unavailable to students, please follow this cleaning guide. Always use an alcohol-based disinfectant and never spray directly onto any device. Also make sure to use a lint-free cloth like micro-fibre.

Information Technology Directorate publishes three issues of news.T4L each term. Remember - share each issue with your staff! And if you aren't receiving an email notification as soon as a new issue of news.T4L drops, then you're missing out! So why not subscribe?