IHMS Tech Tips

Another update to Big Sur is how volume is controlled on your Macbook. If you are finding that you can't hear volume on a video or a meeting, you may have to do more than just turn up the volume on your keyboard. Using the same menu as we discussed with AirPlay, you will again click the two bars at the top of your menu screen.  You will then see sound as an option.  Sometimes, your volume can be all the way up on your keyboard, but still not on from this menu.  Weird, right?  Something to remember if you encounter trouble with sound.

This is my 3rd blog post on this app, so if you STILL haven't jumped on board, now is the time: Webex (Teams), formerly known as Spark (and still is to me), is a great tool for quick communication between teachers.  I have previously done a post on Spark, but I wanted to revisit this app again for our new teachers or teachers that have yet to jump on board.  What are you waiting for?!  Webex Teams is a messaging tool that easily allows for sharing of files and communication (and most importantly, GIFs).  I find it to be much faster than email or phone and is definitely my preferred way of being contacted. ⟸Note to self To use the app, you can install it from Manager.  Go to "Self Service" then "My Apps" and "(Re)install/Update" Webex. After you open it, you will be asking to sign in.  Webex sent emails out to all staff for you to set up your account.  If you trashed it, no worries.    Open the app and type in your fullname@smsd.org.  If ...

You may have noticed that the way to project to your students via Airplay has changed!  I know most of you have figured this out by now, but if not, here you go!   To access Airplay: 1. Choose the two lines in the menu bar to the left of the date. 2.  Choose "Screen Mirroring" 3.  Choose your room number and enter code If you have trouble finding your room, you can restart your computer or toggle Bluetooth off and on in the same menu bar. 

 Your Macbook can do so many cool things that you probably don't know about.  Who has time for that? One of those cool features is the Spotlight tool that comes on every Apple device. You can get to the Spotlight tool in a couple of different ways: Access it from the top menu bar (or add it there from System Preferences) Type command+spacebar Both ways will get you to the Spotlight search toolbar. The Spotlight search tool can be used for a variety of different tasks: Quickly find an app or program on your Macbook.  Start typing the name of the program you want to open and it will appear in your search results.  Double click it to open the program. Start typing a keyword.  Any files, documents, emails, etc. with that keyword will be displayed in your search results.  The results are organized by file type, so you can see if the results are a PDF, email message, etc. Define a word.  Type the word in the Spotlight search and you will see the definition e...

  Many of you are using Screencastify to record flipped lessons for your students.  What was an already cool tool got even better with some recent updates.  This extension now has: More cursor options Stickers Blur tools And more! Before we dive into those, make sure you have the most recent Screencastify update.  To do this, click on the three dots in the upper right of Chrome.  Choose More Tools, then Extensions.  In the upper right corner, make sure that Developer mode is toggled on.  Then, click "update" in the upper left. Now that your extension is up to date, check out these cool new tools. I put them in video form because...screencasting.  Here is a  link to the updates in text form.  

 Chrome is the preferred browser for most of our school sites, so let's jazz it up a bit. I already blogged about  OneTab  for making your browser tabs more organized, but there are some other options as well. Tab Groups Much like OneTab, you can create groupings of tabs you use often.  To do this, have all of the tabs open in a Chrome window that you'd like to group together.  Right click on a tab and choose "add tab to new group". Give the tab group a name and a color.  You can then add tabs to this group by right clicking on each tab and choosing "add tab to group" and selecting your choice.   You can always edit these choices later by right clicking on the tab group name. Clicking on the tab group name will expand all of those tabs or then consolidate them to take up less space.  You can also click, hold, and drag the tab group to another location in your browser window. Customize Landing Page      You can customize Chrome ...

All staff members have the option to use Google Backup & Sync and if you're not, you should be! Read on for what exactly this is and how it can benefit you.  To get Back Up & Sync, go to Manager --> Self Service --> My Apps and either install or reinstall it. Once installed, follow the prompts to sign into your school Google account.  You will then see the icon for Back Up & Sync in your menu bar at the top of your screen.   Now, open it up to set your preferences.  Click the 3 dots in the upper right corner of that screen and choose "preferences". You can choose to back up your entire desktop, document folder, photos, or, you can choose specific folders from within your desktop or documents that you back up.  I recommend picking and choosing so you don't use storage for things you don't need.  If you don't use folders and have a hot mess of a desktop, you might just back up the entire desktop. To choose specific folders to back up, c...