Questions on Notice

1. Questions on Notice Sydney Region CC Training Day Term 4 2005

2. When are schools expecting to receive their 2006 T4L allocation? It’s always good to be able to plan ahead, especially when larger numbers of computers are to be coming into the school. It is anticipated each school that is not a P5 or a P6 school will receive a single allocation in 2006, delivered during Semester 2. This implies that future rollouts will also occur during the second semester. P5/P6 should have received their entire four-year allocation during 2005.

3. We have Windows 98 PCs that we would like to upgrade to either Win 2000 or XP. How should we do this? • Support for Windows 98 will be phased out at the end of 2005. One option is to only use these PCs for Internet Browsing, another option may be to upgrade them to Windows 2000 or XP, depending on their processor speed and amount of RAM. • Any PC that is Pentium II or higher with 128MB of RAM could run Windows 2000 • Any PC that is Pentium III or higher with 256MB+ RAM could run Windows XP • Installing windows 2000 or XP from master CDs yourself is NOT RECOMMENDED. Firstly it will take a long time, secondly you will then be susceptible to worms/viruses until you can apply all required security updates. • Sydney Region ITSU School Support has GHOST images of Windows 2000 and XP for most CISP rollout computers. Images for other computers can also be made. Log a call with the Helpdesk.

4. Why is it that when we update our school's website, we don't see the changes immediately? Your school’s website typically is hosted by the schools webserver at St Leonards. Changes made to webpages on that server may not be immediately visible via the school’s website address because of DET’s extensive use of Internet caching servers. All sites visited by any school or office get cached on these servers to make access quicker. When you make a change to your site, the change is made on the real server, but when you request to see the site, you get if from the cache server. This server may not be immediately refreshed with the newest version. The cache will usually refresh overnight. Parents and other external visitors to your site will always see the latest version, because they do not access our cache servers. If you want to verify your changes have been saved, try visiting the direct path to your website: http://ftp.schools.nsw.edu.au/<schoolid>/internet

5. With a new year around the corner, what sort of computer maintenance tasks should be undertaken? • Good question Stu. There are many important tasks worth considering: • Get staff to go through all documents and important files saved on local computers and move them to an appropriate folder on the server. All unneeded documents should be deleted from workstations • Get staff to go through all documents and important files saved on their shared and private paths on the server and delete what’s no longer required and make appropriately named folders for the files they want to keep • The server administrator should go through student folders and burn to CD or DVD (or delete) any files that are no longer required – be careful when deleting, you may or may not be ale to recover deleted files • When the server has been cleaned up, consider taking a FULL backup of the server, but at least, take a backup of all student and staff file shares. The backup could be to tape, external portable hard disk, or to a workstation’s hard disk

6. Should we turn off our servers over the Summer Vacation or not? During Summer, we often have lightning storms that cause power surges and blackouts. Providing the school has working Uninterruptible Power Supplies on their servers, there should be no need to shut servers down. Often staff come in during the holidays and a shut down server can be inconvenient. If the servers are not protected by a UPS, you may want to consider shutting down any relatively new servers before the holidays. However, in the case of OASIS, it is recommended that the server not be shutdown regardless of whether it is protected or not. These servers are now over six years old and there are concerns that if turned off for six weeks, they may not restart in the new year.

7. When is the Computing skills assessment due to be implemented? Should we be collecting data for the Computing Skills Assessment? What year should we start with? • The CSA10 is expected to be implemented and be a compulsory part of the School Certificate from 2006 depending on the results of the 2005 CSA10 Trial recently undertaken. • The CSA10 in 2006 will be delivered as a pen and paper or online test, 100 multiple choice questions in 5 skill areas • The Teachers Federation had a ban which has now been listed on the CSA including the Trial so BOS is waiting to see the results of the trial • From the BOS home page Dates and Events link there is a note regarding the CSA10 as part of the dates for the 2006 School Certificate. This information will be updated so teachers/schools can check it on the web site. • If schools and teachers have been delivering the syllabuses as intended then the content ensures they are developing computing skills (??) as each mandatory syllabus has ICT components embedded into the content • Other schools have participated in the Trial CSA and some schools are dividing the skills across the KLAs e.g. Science do databases, Maths do Spreadsheets etc. • Samples and past questions can be found at. • http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/computingskills_assessment.html

8. Tried to connect to my OSX server through DET Portal. Was told it could not be done because Mac server does not have RDP Protocol. Is this correct? It is correct. Mac servers will not run the RDP protocol which is needed to to connect via DET Portal. The solution is to establish a Windows 2003 server, running Terminal Services in your school. This can be done using a Pentium 4 workstation with at least 512MB RAM. This server then gets registered with Helpdesk for Portal access as detailed in the Term 3 CC Days session presented by Greg Sharkey. Once this server is in place, you can logon to the DET Portal, connect to your terminal server then logon to the OSX Server to access all files. If you wish to manage the OSX server, you can do this by installing VNC Server on the Apple Server and VNC Viewer on the Windows Terminal Server. From there, you can “remote control” your OSX server via the DET Portal and the Terminal Server – all viewable in the browser from home using your home broadband connection.

9. Teachers have asked me if any particular company or organisation sell computers/software etc (for personal use) to teachers at a discounted price. Do they exist? If so, can you recommend any for teachers? ASI, Apple and Optima will all sell T4L rollout computers to school staff at the same price DET gets them for, including a four-year on-site warranty (on-site means at your school). Note that the DET SOE is not provided on these computers as staff would have to organise their own staff licences for Microsoft software from Simply International. In terms of Apple computers, these prices are exceptional. There is a lot more competition in the Windows market, so prices are not as attractive in comparison to Dell and Acer, although neither of these include a four year warranty. There are dangers in recommending anything to teachers. If they listen to you then you can expect to always be on call.

10. I have a personal account with the Apple iTunes store. Is it okay to download to my school computer if I am paying the bill? This question relates to private use of school and DET resources. It involves an employee’s time sitting in front of a DET computer, connected to a non-work-related Internet site at DET’s cost. A download at school is much quicker than at home if you only have dial-up internet access, but the download is still for private purposes. It’s a little like staff that check private email, or search for a new house at real-estate sites, or research a holiday at school. Another personal use is even more of a concern such as managing an eBay store or managing your Shares Portfolio while at school (all of the above have been done by staff at schools in the past). All of these personal activities come under the “Use by Staff of Employer Communication Devices” policy which is available here: https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/staff/ethical_behav/comm_dev/PD20020024_i.shtml Page 10 of the policy explicitly states: “Personal use of the Internet does not extend to intentionally downloading unauthorised software or large files containing graphics or music or accessing live video or audio broadcasts not associated with work”. So the answer is NO, it is not OK.

11. Why does Sydney Region recommend individual logon accounts for students and staff instead of generic accounts such as “staff” or “student”? • It is an attempt to drag schools kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Just about every service you connect to on the internet requires username and password: • Email / Forums / Chat • On-line banking • eBay • DET Portal • At school there are great benefits in providing each student and staff member with their own personal space. You can’t do that without individual logon accounts. It’s time to get used to it.

12. How many seas must a white dove sail before she can sleep in the sand? The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

13. How can you tell easily how old a web page is on the internet to check that you are receiving the latest info? Most reputable sites will show the date the page was last updated, but many do not. There is a way to find out. Load the page you want to know about, and then paste: javascript:alert(document.lastModified) into the address bar of your browser and press the Enter key on your keyboard. A JavaScript alert will tell you when the page was last modified. Now for the "sort of" part... If the page serves dynamic content, such as news feeds, advertising called from another server (like Google Ads) or has other "live" feeds, the alert will always give you the time you loaded the page. This is because the page is modified every time the page is loaded. The alert isn't incorrect, it's just misleading unless you understand how it works.

14. Why is it that staff users connected to Windows Server 2003 are locked out of CD burning - they get annoyed and want to use this facility? The Nero CD-burning software is by default designed to work when the user is logged on as a local administrator. But any self-respecting system administrator would never want all users to have administration rights because that means anything and everything can get installed on workstations, including adware, spyware and viruses. There is a utility that can be run at each computer called Nero Burning Rights which allows you to adjust which users can burn CDs using the software without elevating those users to administrator level. Nero Burning Rights is available here: http://www.nero.com/nero6/eng/Nero_BurnRights.html

15. Why do some updates on T4L PCs not install correctly and the machines drive you mad by asking you to install them over and over? A recent Windows Update delivered the MS Outlook Junk Mail Filter update to all Windows 2000 and XP PCs. There is a patch for the T4L MS Office Installation to stop Outlook asking for the installation path: http://esdt.det.nsw.edu.au/downloads/T4L/PC/Office2003/Outlook03HF.exe This should then allow for the installation of the update. Further, MS Office 2003 has had Service Pack 2 released. If you wish to install this, you will need to download a full administrative install of the Service Pack. It’s a 101MB download! http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=57E27A97-2DB6-4654-9DB6-EC7D5B4DD867&displaylang=en OR http://tinyurl.com/am3tm

16. What’s TinyURL? TinyURL is a website service found at http://www.tinyurl.com which is used specifically to make very short URLs out of very long ones. For example, the URL on the previous slide to access the full Office SP2 download is a long URL that people would hate to have to type. By copying that URL to the clipboard and going to the TinyURL website, you can obtain a TinyURL that will take you to exactly the same site without having to type all those characters. It then remembers that tinyurl refers to the original website for a long time. It’s a perfect way to share great websites with others without worrying about the length of complexity of the original URL.

17. How do we revert a Windows 98 machine back to a stand alone after it’s had Novell installed and the Novell Server has been removed? • You need to uninstall the Novell Netware Client: • Start the PC and click Cancel on the logon screen • Right-click on Network Neighbourhood • Choose Properties • Click once on the Novell Desktop Agent in the list of installed items (if it is there) then click the Uninstall or Remove button. • Click once on the Novell Netware Client in the list of installed items • Click the Uninstall or Remove button • Reboot when prompted • Hey presto.

18. DHCP is great for giving PCs independent IP addresses. However, after holidays, or when PCs have not been switched on for a week or more, they can lose this addressing, and can't recognise their domain. Any tips on how to fix same without having to reset all PCs after a break? The Windows 2003 servers have had the DHCP leases set to 42 days (or six weeks). This should ensure that all computers hold the same allocated address virtually forever. A change of IP address should not affect a computers domain status. Any school with a DHCP server with a short lease time should consider increasing the lease time to cover the summer holidays. More information is required about this specific domain problem.

19. Has anyone had a chance to review MS SyncToy? Microsoft recently release a free “powertoy” called SyncToy. It is available as a free download from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0fc1154-c975-4814-9649-cce41af06eb7&displaylang=en Or here: http://tinyurl.com/c2deh It is a useful utility for keeping the files on external disks such as USB Memory Keys (Thumbdrives) and flash cards or laptops synchronised with those on your work or home computer. It is an easy to use, highly customisable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronisation of different folders. It is available for Windows XP only.

20. Encarta for Kids is on the new T4L rollout machines. How can we get it for our older PCs? Encarta for Kids is part of the Encarta 2005 DVD suite. This DVD is available from DET Software Sales: Ph. 1800 065 324 Don’t bother trying to install it on computers that are less than Pentium 4 processor or on any computer not running Windows XP Professional. Remember, it’s a DVD. Note for High Schools: The DET-Microsoft licence only allows for Encarta to be installed on PCs that do NOT also have the Microsoft Visual Studio and/or .NET suite installed.

21. I often have to buy IT bits and pieces such as RAM and printers but have no idea where I should buy from or if I’m getting the best price. Any good suggestions? Yes, take a good look at this website: http://www.staticice.com.au It is a portal to hundreds of Australian retailers of technology items, ranked on price from cheapest to most expensive. Just type in the name of the product you are looking for and it does the rest!

22. Can EduWeb work effectively on iMacs using a Windows 2003 server as I want to put older Macs using OS9 into the Library to replace even older PCs that are not worth repairing? OSX is far better at editing web pages such as those in EduWeb than OS9. You can view EduWeb pages using these computers, but I would advise against editing them, particularly if you have Windows computers around the school that are also editing EduWeb pages. Put them in the Library and use them for Internet browsing and Word Processing. If you have a GProxy server, they can also double as OASIS Library Enquiry terminals.

23. Stu, why is it that sometimes at these days, our name or school is spelt incorrectly, or is all lower case on our name tags and on the sign-on sheet? Since 2003, enrolment in Computer Coordinator Training Days has involved self-registration via our on-line course booking system at the Sydney Region website. On that form, each person types in their own name and their school name themselves (or someone at their school does it for them). If you can’t take the time to fill in the form correctly, you can’t expect us to correct your mistakes. How would we know? Perhaps your name is in lower case because your idol is k.d. lang? We can’t make that judgement. So it’s a case of that old computer-based adage: Garbage-in, garbage-out. We hope to have perfectly typed and spelt name tags for everyone next time. But it depends on you.

24. I liked this session. How do I go about submitting my own “Question on Notice?” Glad you asked. http://www.sydneyr.det.nsw.edu.au Sydney Region Website… Support… Technology… For CCs… Click the Link on “Questions on Notice” You can only submit Questions from a school computer as this is a DET Intranet function. Remember, the questions you ask should be ones that would be of interest to other CCs.