Welcome Back to School! It’s Phishing Season

Are you aware that over 90% of all cybersecurity breaches begin with the click of an email message?

Did you know that K-12 school districts are now the number one target for cyber gangs? 

Did you hear about the recent cybersecurity incident where a Connecticut school district lost $6 million?

Prior to the pandemic, our Barrington 220 Tech Team conducted building-by-building training sessions designed to educate staff members on what “red flags” to look for prior to opening an email message or clicking on any links within an opened email message. Each year since the initial training, staff learn about cybersecurity as part of our annual required training.

Beginning in September 2023, we will begin sending various email messages to staff members that are designed to look like these “red flag” messages. It is our hope you simply send these messages to the trash or mark them as “Phishing” within the Gmail system.

If you do happen to open one of these messages, or click on an attachment within the message, you may be redirected to a webpage that plainly provides some helpful information in regard to cybersecurity and email messages.

Our goal with this program is to inform and prevent—to help inform staff members regarding cybersecurity issues and to help prevent a security breach here at Barrington 220.

Want to Try New Software? Don’t Forget SOPPA!

As we start a new school year, it’s important to remember that Barrington 220 and its employees have a legal and ethical obligation to protect students and their data. To ensure we do all we can to protect student information, Barrington 220 staff members should only use apps, software, or digital subscriptions that have been vetted and approved by Barrington 220. All approved apps can be found on the Barrington 220 Staff Digital Learning Hub. In addition, staff can request new apps and software. 

What is SOPPA?

The Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA), which took effect July 1, 2021, gives parents greater control over their student’s information and clarifies parents’ rights regarding personally identifiable information collected by school districts. In addition, the law outlines the responsibilities the school districts and digital learning resource providers have in protecting and using student personal information. 

The Student Online Personal Protection Act states:

Effective July 1, 2021, school districts will be required by the Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) to provide additional guarantees that student data is protected when collected by educational technology companies, and that data is used for beneficial purposes only. (105 ILCS 85).

Included in the law, school districts must obtain a signed Digital Privacy Agreement with each service provider and create a public list of all service providers who collect student data. In addition, this law provides a process for parents to access and request their student’s data, request removal of their student data, and be notified of data breaches

Some examples of PII include:

• First and Last Name
• Email Address
• Home Address/Phone Number
• Grades
• Socioeconomic Information
• Test Results
• Photos
• Medical Records

Teachers and staff should continue to request approval for new apps and subscriptions using the existing subscription and app request process (go here on the Digital Learning Hub and click the Request a New App button). If a teacher has previously used digital learning resources with students that were not on the district approved list, they should submit a request for approval before using that resource in the future. 

Need an Interpreter or a Translation?

Do you need a language interpreter or translation? Use our Google Form! 

As the start of the 2023–24 school year is in full swing, I'd like to remind our Barrington 220 staff that we have a process in place for those who may be in need of document translations or interpretations for events that are in-person, via telephone, or on Zoom. As a part of coordinating technology and innovation within Barrington 220, we have made it easy to schedule all of your translating needs through a simple Google Form. 

This form can be accessed by either clicking here or by visiting the Barrington 220 website, clicking the Staff tab (login required), and clicking Interpretation/Translation Request. 

The Google Form allows us to receive and confirm appointment requests, as well as manage uploads of documents that you need translated. This simple and effective process allows the translating team here at Barrington 220 to collaborate much more efficiently when it comes to meeting and/or document requests across the district. 

We ask that you keep the following in mind before submitting your request: Please allow a minimum of 5–10 business days for written translation requests to be returned. Please submit your meeting interpreter request 15 days in advance (minimum) in order to secure an interpreter. 

Please note: It is likely that we will be unable to accommodate last-minute meeting requests. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me, Hector Ontiveros, at hontiveros@barrington220.org or 847.842.3561. Our Translating Team is happy to provide assistance during the school year, so please send those timely requests!

EdPuzzle and YouTube Partner for Ad-free Viewing

Videos can be a powerful way to capture student interest and provide 24/7 access to educational content. For years, teachers and parents have been searching for a way to show ad-free versions of YouTube videos to help cut down on distractions and potential exposure to non-educational content. Typical YouTube videos have advertisements, links to external websites, and recommendations that can pull a student away from the intended content. In the past, we’ve discussed platforms like SafeShare or various other methods for creating “clean” versions of videos. 

In late 2022, YouTube quietly launched an ad-free video player that provides “clean” viewing of its videos. This new viewer removes ads, recommendations, and external links when watching a YouTube video. For now, this player is only available as an embedded feature in a handful of EdTech platforms. The most promising partnership we’ve tested is YouTube and EdPuzzle. EdPuzzle is already supported in Barrington 220 and has a variety of engaging features. Because of this partnership, all YouTube videos in EdPuzzle are ad-free, link-free, and recommendation-free versions. 

Key Features of EdPuzzle:

Video editing: Teachers can add questions, notes, and voiceovers to any video, whether it is a YouTube video or one they have created themselves. This allows teachers to create customized video lessons that are tailored to their students' needs. Videos can be clipped to show only the most important parts. 

Interactive questions: Teachers can add a variety of interactive questions to their videos, including multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and open-ended questions. These questions can help teachers assess student understanding of the content and identify areas where students need additional help.

Student tracking: Teachers can track student progress as they watch the videos and answer the questions. This information can be used to identify students who need additional help and to provide differentiated instruction.

Differentiation: Teachers can create different versions of the same video for different levels of learners. This allows all students to have an opportunity to succeed, regardless of their learning style or pace.

Whiteboard: Teachers can use the whiteboard feature to draw and write on the video. This can be helpful for explaining concepts or highlighting important points.

Screen recording: Teachers can record their screen and voice to create their own videos. This is a great way to create personalized lessons or to share your expertise with others.

The Department of Technology & Innovation highly recommends that teachers use EdPuzzle when using YouTube videos for educational purposes. EdPuzzle videos can be linked through Schoology and Seesaw for convenient access for students. 

5 Classroom-Ready Tools Built into the Google Search Bar

Google has many useful tools built right into the search bar. Here are (more than) 5 you can start using right now in your classroom.

1. Start a Timer or Stopwatch

The Google search bar timer feature has been available for many years, but I appreciate being reminded of it occasionally in case I’ve forgotten it’s available. Type “timer” in the Google search bar and it generates a 5-minute timer that can be clicked and easily edited to any countdown. PLEASE NOTE: The Google timer ends in an audible alarm that can be jarring if your volume is set very high! At the top of the timer, you can also click STOPWATCH to switch to counting up from zero. PRO TIP: Click the 4-corner icon in the lower-right corner to make the timer/stopwatch full-screen.

2. Roll a Die

Are you engaging in a lesson about chance? Playing a game? Want a random number? Just type “roll a die” to instantly roll a single, standard, 6-sided die. Once you see the dice interface, you can change the number of dice and select non-standard dice with different numbers of sides.

3. Flip a Coin

Only need a 1-2, yes-no, or other random binary option? Just type “flip a coin” to watch a particularly Classical coin animation appear right from the Google search bar.

4. Use a Metronome

It’s not a city-dwelling troll (that’s a metro gnome), it’s a device used by musicians to play a work at the tempo (speed) designated by the composer. There are metronome devices and apps available, but you can also type “metronome” into the Google search bar and get access to one. The Google metronome can be set to a plodding Lento at 40 beats per minute (BPM) to a brisk Prestissimo at 218 BPM.

5. Engage in a Breathing Exercise

The American Lung Association tells us that “breathing exercises can help rid the lungs of accumulated stale air, increase oxygen levels and get the diaphragm to return to its job of helping you breathe.” Just type “breathing exercise” into the Google search bar and get access to a silent, visual, 1-minute breathing exercise that you can do yourself or suggest to a student or peer.

Finally, rumor has it that Pac-Man and Solitaire may also be available by typing those terms in the Google search bar, but those features are beyond the scope of this article. 

This article was inspired by a recent Gizmodo article.

Introducing...Tracy Harper, Director of Student Information

Do you like data? Over the last several years the use of data has become an essential tool in shaping successful learning experiences for students. Just like a diamond, data has grades. Good data is complete, correct and clear (3C’s). Our Student Information System (SIS), Infinite Campus, is constantly growing to meet the changing needs of education. 

My name is Tracy Harper and I will be serving as your new Director of Student Information. I hope to maximize our investment and take you on a journey to improve data collection, cleanse data regularly, normalize data, integrate data across schools and segment data for analysis. 

Together we will continue to take advantage of the many powers of Infinite Campus!