Educational Technology
Tech: New Teacher Laptop Workshop II (Lotus Notes Email and UrbanPlanet)
New Teacher Laptop Wkshp II Workshop Q and A:

Lotus Notes Q and A:

  • How do I create email groups?

  1. Click on the address book icon on the toolbar.

  2. Click New > Group

  3. Enter group name and a description.

  4. Click on the down arrow next to members and add desired names. Save.

  • How do I make my Lotus Notes client work from home?

  1. From within the Saint Paul Schools system (not from home) run the "trace" operation by clicking Notes (on the menu bar) >Preferences>User Preferences>Ports>Trace and then Trace again.

  • How do I make my Lotus Notes client work from home?

  1. From within the Saint Paul Schools system  (not from home) run the "trace" operation by clicking Notes (menu bar)>Preferences>User Preferences>Ports>Trace.


UrbanPlanet Q and A:

  • What picture formats will work with UrbanPlanet? .jpg and .gif

  • How do I move sections? While in Edit mode of any section click Move Section on the left-side menu. Select the name of the parent section to which the moving section will become a child section (subsection). Click Save.

  • How do I unhide my section? While in the edit mode of any section click Access Settings. Then change Hide Section to False.
Miscellanous: iChain?

  • How do I access Campus from home? Log in at the following address

  • In the Detailed Help Request field ask for a iChain username and password. Then click submit. You will be sent an email with iChain log in information.




Workshop Content UrbanPlanet:

    1. Example SPPS Urban Planet sites:

      1.   Classroom page: Mrs. Madzo,

      2.   Publishing student work: Ms. Xiong's 4th graders

      3.   Learning links page: Longfellow 4th grade

      4.   Movies: Mr. Tatlonghari's 4th graders,

      5.   Blog: Ms. Barnes 6th graders (password: starlight), Mme. Lacey's 6th graders (password: freddy)

      6.   Form: Inventors Research

      7.   Calendar: Mississippi Magnet

    2.   Urban Planet Basics:

      1.   What is the Urban Planet tool

        Web based content management system.

        1.   Access from home or wherever

        2.   Which browser to choose?

          1.   On PC, Internet Explorer

          2.   On Mac, Firefox works best. Internet Explorer next.

      2.   Log On:

        1.   simple username and password

        2.   admin rights to your little piece of the school website. These can be expanded if you wish.

      3.   Navigating to the Correct Starting Spot:

        1.   click on + to expand list and see any subsections

      4.   Your Classroom/Dept/or Office Website:

        1.   Basic section

          1.   Turning your sections on and off

        2.   Adding an item

          1.   subsection vs. item, (leaf vs. branch) which to choose?

        3.   Adding links

          1.   related links

          2.   imbedded links

        4.   Adding images

          1.   adding movies and document is similar

          2.   Remember users have to have the same program to read the document. Saving as PDFthen uploading helps.

        5.   Sidebars

        6.   Creating a photo gallery

          1.   step-by-step instructions

      5.   Editing existing pages

    3.   Create Student Page (instructions here)

      You will walk everyone through this doing the exact same thing. 4 items: Math, Reading, Writing, and Social Studies

      1.   Starting at your "main" page, add subsection - Basic - easy name "Learning Links"

        1.   Click Display and create a shortcut url

      2.   Add items (math, writing, etc...)

      3.   Finding Skill Building Activities

        1.   Connect.spps.org/literacybldg.html

        2.   Searching

        3.   Other teacher's pages

      4.   Turning things on/off

        Save everything. At this point try View Site. Launch a new window and go to Teacher page. Find a worthwhile link.

      5.   Creating a video collection from Unitedstreaming

        1.   United Streaming video quiz. (example)

    4.   Tips

      1.   For tips and troubleshooting see http://uphelp.spps.org

      2.   Work with two windows open

        1.   copy and paste links

        2.   name links so kids will know what they are

      3.   Never delete live links - Turn off instead

      4.   Classroom management (SLS)

        1.   set student page as the default on your browsers

      5.   Use in Lab/laptop situation

    5.   Advanced users

      1.   Building forms

      2.   Blogs

      3.   Student access ( modify vs. publish)