For your viewing pleasure and reading enjoyment, the 2002-03 New Media Catalog will be distributed to teachers this week. This addendum is an alphabetical listing of all the new items that were purchased last year. Not all of these titles have been added to the on-line media catalog so if necessary, call in your requests or send by regular e-mail.
As always, we welcome your purchase suggestions so if there's a subject or title that you'd like to be considered for the district collection, please pass on your ideas to either Claudia Leake at x-6390 or Therese Michalson at x-6393.
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Frindle - 6 student copies
Mummies and Pyramids - 6 student copies (Usborne)
Minnie and Moo, the night before Christmas - 6 student copies
The Christmas penguin - 6 student copies
Stuart goes to school - 6 student copies
Who was Thomas Jefferson? - 6 student copies - 3.3 reading level
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Latest Apple developments which may affect education
by James Grubic
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As a predominantly MacOS-oriented school district, we try to keep up-to-date on the latest developments from Apple Computer.
* OS X 10.3 "Panther" - this latest version of the OS has several new features and speed improvements which make it the best release of MacOSX yet. Bottom Line: if you are running OSX.2 "Jaguar" currently, you may need to update some of your applications to be compatible with Panther.
* iBook G4 - Apple's low-end portable now has a speedy G4 processor which boots up into OSX, making it able to accommodate a wide range of computing tasks. Bottom Line: users get desktop power in an inexpensive laptop.
It is also worth noting that Apple is continuing with their trend to enable new Macs to boot up into OSX only. As of this writing, the only machine they still sell which can boot up into OS9 is the G4 Tower. Some of the older eMacs and iBooks which boot into OS9 are available, but will probably go fast.
* iPod - The 3rd generation of the iPod now supports, with optional attachments, sound recording and digital photo storage. The new iTunes Music Store also has a growing collection of audio books. Bottom Line: The iPod may wear many hats - as a recorder for student audio projects, an audio book reader for special needs students or those on the go, and as a storehouse for your digital photo archives.
* iSight - We haven't gotten our hands on one of these yet, but we have read that the quality of the audio and video conferencing is exceptional. Bottom line: for special needs or conferencing, this item could quite possibly represent the "future" of computing and telephony.
If you have any questions about technology, don't hesitate to contact Technology Services.
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Most of us get the occasional e-mail which has an attachment with it. Many are confused exactly what to do with an attachment. Many more are confused how to properly send an attachment. Hopefully this article will clear up some of the questions.
Receiving Attachments:
When an attachment is received, the best method to handle it is to download the file directly to your computer. This way, once the file is safely saved on your hard drive, you can worry about how to read the file, without worrying about getting it at the same time.
The best method of downloading an attachment is to use Mail & Newsgroups within Netscape. (Called Messenger in Netscape 4.x) If you already use Mail & Newsgroups to read your e-mail, you are halfway there! Simply click on the message containing the attachment. The mail window will show the normal text area of the message, and then in a window in the upper right any attachments will be listed. (In Netscape 4.x the left part of the box will have a blue, underlined hot-link, usually labeled "Part x.x".) The right part of the box will have information about the file which was sent. To download the file to your hard drive, simply click on the hotlink. You will get a SAVE DOCUMENT control window. Choose where on your hard drive you want to save the file, then click on SAVE. You can even rename it if you want to. A small window will track the progress of the download.
If you use webmail (ie: you click on the envelope of the home page to receive your e-mail), I still recommend using Messenger to download attachments - just go under the NETSCAPE pull down menu and select MESSENGER. However, if you are using webmail at home, or simply do not want to deal with Messenger, you can download attachments while using webmail. Simply click on the lower of two hotlinks you seen in the displayed message. You will get a window which states: You have started to download the file "FILENAME", of type "Application/OCtet-Stream". Click "More Info" to learn how to extend Navigator's capabilities. Below the statement you will see 4 buttons: "more info", "pick app", "save file", and "cancel" Click on "save file", and use the SAVE DOCUMENT control window to choose where on your hard drive you wish to save the file. This method has its risks, however. Sometimes filters in the webmail system will delete file type codes written in the attachment, which makes it very difficult for your computer to read or translate the attachment.
Okay, now you have a new file saved to your hard drive. So what to do with it? Well, if you happen to know the file type, you can simply use the appropriate application to open it. Remember the small box in the message window that gives information about the attachment? It will tell you what the file type is, assuming the Mac operating system can recognize it. For instance, if it is a AppleWorks file, it will say either "AppleWorks File" or "Macintosh File". If it is a Microsoft Word document, it will say so. If you know the file type, and have the same application on your computer, simply open the attachment.
Sometimes the document is not recognized. This happens if the attachment was sent from a Windows based machine and the sender did not add the identifier tag to the file name. The file type can also be unrecognized if it was created by a not-common third party application. Since most files being attached are word processing files, you can try to open the unknown file using a word processor. Simply open your favorite word processor, go under FILE to OPEN, go to the place on your hard drive you save the attachment to, and try to open it. Sometimes it will open! Then resave the file so it is now in a recognized format from your word processor.
If you happen to know the unrecognized document is a database or spreadsheet, you can use similar methods to open the file by using your favorite data base or spreadsheet. However, other times your word processor will not recognize the file, and refuse to open it. (Or sometimes, it will open it, but all you get is gobbledygook!) This is a common problem when a file is sent from a different operating type of computer than yours (such as a PC using Windows). The best way around this problem is to arrange for the sender to send the resend file in a format your computer can recognize. The best cross platform format for text messages is RTF - which stands for Rich Text Format. This format is easily read by most reasonably current word processors. Another format that can be used is Plain Text, or ASCII format. This format can be read by literally ANY word processor. Unfortunately, much formatting, such as bolding, italics, tabs for charts, etc. will be lost in translating to plain text format. Once the RTF (or plain text) file is received, simply download it to your hard drive, and then open it using your favorite word processor.
If the attachment you are receiving is an image file you can most often view the document using either Netscape or Quicktime Viewer. Both of these applications are quite good at recognizing most image file types.
Sending Attachments:
To send an attachment, your first step will be to prepare the file you wish to attach. This step may be as simple as making sure you know where on your hard drive you saved the file. Or additional steps are sometimes needed if you are sending to a different type of computer, such as a PC using Windows, or if you know for certain your recipient does not have the program you used to create the document you are sending.
When sending a word processing document, you may want to find out in advance what kind of computer your recipient is using, and also the word processor they use. If the recipient is using a computer similar to yours, and has the same word processor, you need do nothing extra before sending the file. If they use a PC with Windows, or if they use a different word processor than you do, you may want to translate the file to RTF or Plain Text before sending it. To translate the file, simply have it open, go to SAVE AS, and in the SAVE DOCUMENT control window, you will see a button labeled FILE FORMAT. Click on this button, and scroll to either RTF, or Text. In the file name window, type a file name (you can us the same one as the current name) but add a period (.) followed by the letters "rtf" (lower case) if it is an RTF file, or the letters "txt" if it is a plain text file. These tags are important, as Windows machines use them to recognize the type of file they are reading.
For sending Database files or a spreadsheet to someone who does not use the same system or program you use, the translating process is almost exactly the same as translating a word processing document. The recipient, however, will need to know how to retranslate a .txt file back into a database or spreadsheet.
If you are sending an image file, you will want to make sure the document is in either JPEG (.jpg) or GIF format. These formats are recognizable by a large number of applications on both Mac and Windows systems. JPEG is the more common of the two. If you scanned or created the image, you will have the opportunity to choose the file format when saving the document.
Special note: do not use a slash (/) in the file name of the document you are attaching. Netscape will think the slash is a directory setting, and then won't be able to find the attachment to send it.
Once you have the file in the format needed, you will need to use the Messenger part of Netscape to send it. When in Netscape, simply go to FILE, pull down to NEW, and then go across to MESSAGE. (You can also use the keyboard shortcut: Open Apple-M) A new message window will open. Type in the address of the person you are sending to, go to the next window and type in a title, and then type in any message you want in the text portion of the window. All standard stuff so far, right? Now we get to the attachment portion. At the top of the message window will be a bunch of control buttons. The fourth button from the left will read "attach". Click on this button, then use the control window to find the place on your hard drive you saved the file to be sent. Click on the file you want to send, and then click on the button that reads "ATTACH". Last step is to click on the SEND button. Your e-mail message, along with the attachment will be uploaded to the mail server, and sent to your recipient. How long the upload takes is dependent on the size of the file you are uploading. Most word processing files will upload quickly. Image files may take a while longer.
Attachments, when properly used, can make e-mail a vastly more versatile medium in which to send information. You can use your coworkers to practice sending simple (and later, more complex) attachments until you are comfortable with the process. Good luck, and happy e-mailing!
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Using Netscape for e-mail instead of WebMail
by James Grubic
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A few years ago, we made WebMail available to provide an easy and convenient way for staff to access their e-mail from home or when they are away from their classroom computer.
While we continually work to improve the feature set of our WebMail software, we do NOT recommend that you use WebMail for your daily e-mail needs. We specifically support and endorse Netscape's built-in e-mail for its feature set, capabilities, and integration with a web browser.
Using Netscape's built-in e-mail client, called Messenger or Mail & Newsgroups depending on the version you are using, requires some custom setup on the part of either Technology Services staff or you, the end user.
Specifically, you must type in certain settings in order to get it to work. You can get to these settings by going to Edit/Preferences (Netscape v4.x) or Window/Mail & Newsgroups (Netscape v7.x).
Here is the information you need:
Mail Account - your e-mail username (e.g., jdoe)
Your Name - your full name
E-mail address - jdoe@bozeman.k12.mt.us
Incoming Server - bozeman.k12.mt.us
Outgoing Server - mail.bozeman.k12.mt.us
Server Type - we recommend that you select IMAP as your server type. This allows you to see all of your existing mail when you log in to WebMail.
When you begin using Netscape's built-in mail client, you get a very comprehensive address book. However, that address book is only available on one machine. To export that list out to WebMail, in case you'd like to access that information from home, go to Window/Address Book and select Tools/Export. When you Save As, select the .LDIF format. Our new WebMail application can import that format (go to Options/LDIF Addressbook import).
Be sure to contact Technology Services if you require assistance with setting up your Netscape to receive your district e-mail.
New WebMail Software
If you do need to access your e-mail from home or another location, then WebMail is a wonderful option to have available. While we are in the process of working with the programmers to make the new Option 1 WebMail as user-friendly and problem-free as possible, we will have the old Option 2 WebMail available for those who are used to that interface.
The new WebMail has a number of great features, including a calendar, to-do list, spellchecking, address book import, message highlighting, weather info, and much more. Visit Options to experiment with all the different settings.
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DNS is an acronym for Domain Name System and is very important in making the internet user friendly for people. Computers need to have a numerical address to send information across the internet, while people tend to remember internet sites by name such as www.apple.com or www.bozeman.k12.mt.us. This is where the DNS server comes into play. It is a big database that translates the web site name we enter to a number the computer can use. Just about all internet providers and larger networks have their own servers that perform this function. When we set up a computer on the network, we must tell it where the DNS servers are and in a language the computer understands. The school district is in the process of changing internet providers, and as such it is mandatory we change the DNS addresses in our network set up. At this time we are entering 3 addresses, one for the school district DNS server and the other 2 for the Internet provider servers. Changing the DNS is a fairly easy process on most computers and only takes a few minutes. Information was put out to teachers at the high school for OS X and the change is going well.
If you are comfortable in doing so, here is how to make the changes to the DNS. I'm going on the assumption the computer is already configured and on the network. If this is not the case, please contact Tech Services. Please note there are various ways to get to the windows you need to open. I'll only describe one way.
OS 9.x
1. Mouse click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the desktop, open 'Control Panels', open 'TCP/IP'
2. You should now have a configuration window open. On the bottom left of this window is a box named 'Name Server Addr:' which may contain several sets of numbers such as 153.90.2.15. Select all the numbers in the box and hit the delete key, this will clear the box. Now click into the box and enter the following:
207.196.219.122
205.171.3.65
204.147.80.5
3. Hit tab or just click into a box named 'Additional Search Domains:' on the bottom right. Again select all that is in the box and clear it out (it may already be empty). Type in the following:
resolver.qwest.net
4. Close the window, click Yes when prompted to save.
OS X
1. Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the desktop. Click 'System Preferences', a new window should open, click the Network icon (blue earth).
2. Click in the DNS box on the right side, select all the current numbers and hit the delete key. Now click into the box and enter the following:
207.196.219.122
205.171.3.65
204.147.80.5
3. Hit tab or just click into a box named 'Search Domains:' on the bottom right. Again select all that is in the box and clear it out (it may already be empty). Type in the following:
resolver.qwest.net
4. Click 'Apply Now' on the bottom right and close the window.
PC's
This process may vary depending on the operating system, so don't be afraid to give Tech Services a call. For instance, Windows NT will only allow 3 DNS addresses to be entered.
1. Win2000: Go to the Start Menu on lower left, open the 'Control Panel', open the 'Network Connection' icon, a new widow will open. Right click the network icon (if more then one show, select the darker or active one) and choose properties .
WinXP users will not have the icons, but the links are the same control panel/network.../network connection (lower right in window), a new widow will open. Right click the network icon (if more then one show, select the darker or active one) and choose properties.
2. Select the Internet Protocol TCP from the open box in the middle of the window (if you have more then 1, then select the one associated with the network adaptor, not the modem). Click the properties button, a new window should open.
3. In the lower right area of this window, click the 'Advanced' button. Now click the DNS tab at the top of the window. Near the top of this window, you should see a box listing DNS addresses which may include 153.90.2.15.
4. Click the 'Add' button and add the following, one at a time: (note: if the computer only allows 3 DNS addresses, you'll need to remove some first)
207.196.219.122
205.171.3.65
204.147.80.5
5. Now select and remove any of the addresses not listed above. Click OK and you are completed and up to date.
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If you need assistance with PowerSchool or PowerGrade, here is the latest on where to find help.
The most common request for PowerSchool and PowerSchoolTeacher are for special reports. If you need a report, send in a Tech Request. Please be specific, include a list of the items you want on the report and sorting preferences.
If you have a question on PowerSchool procedures, please e-mail or ask Christine or Betty Clare. If we don't know the answer, we will research it and get back to you.
If PowerSchool is not working properly, send a Tech Request so we can assign it to the best person to resolve the problem.
For the first time, each school has at least one "Mentor Teacher." Mentor Teachers will answer questions on how to use PowerGrade. They can help you with everyday grade-keeping tasks, answer questions and coordinate school specific training sessions They will coordinate with your school's administrator to answer procedural questions.
If you have a question about installing PowerGrade, or need help with a software problem, i.e. the class won't open or an error message occurs, please log a tech request so your Technology Specialist can help you.
Remember, if you log onto PowerSchool/Teacher, you will be able to access a step by step tutorial on PowerGrade. You can go through this at your own pace. It is easy to use and will answer a lot of your questions.
Thank you for your patience, support and hard work during the implementation of PowerSchool. It is a powerful program that will continue to grow with our needs.
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Ask Dr. Knowitall (Humor)
by Dr. Knowitall
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Dr. Knowitall is the resident tech guru and this new column will attempt to solve all of your technology-related problems!
Q: I don't have any new e-mail messages! What's going on with the mail server?
A: Nothing. No one likes you.
Q: My screen is completely black, and my mouse and keyboard don't do anything!
A: Try turning your computer on.
Q: My computer is randomly crashing, and programs seem to freeze all the time.
A: Sounds like operator error.
Q: I have been working on this very important document for 2 months, and I accidentally deleted it. I don't have a backup.
A: You must pray to the Computer Gods that they will be able to recover the stray electrons that made up your document. If that doesn't work, try eating a lot of chocolate.
The opinions of Dr. Knowitall are not necessarily those of Technology Services.
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