http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2012/05/find-facts-and-do-research-inside.html

Google is connecting its massive capacity for research to its native platforms. This will be yet another excellent reason to transition students from using static, disjunct platforms to a dynamic, collaborative platform like Google Apps for Education.

1. Assign individual machines to individual students to eliminate variables.
2. Start with the machines totally powered down, as they should be coming out of the carts.
3. Students: Confirm that the physical WiFi switch is turned on. (See the label on each laptop.)
4. Students: Open the lid and power on the machines. Press “OK” at the Security Notice, then wait until you see the desktop.
5. Students: When you see the desktop, and not before, plug the Logitech USB headsets into the topmost USB port on the right hand side, closest to you.
6. Students: You should see a message in the lower right hand corner that the device is ready to use. If you see no message, that’s fine too. If you see an error message that the device driver was not installed correctly, remove the headset, click the round Start button, click the right-facing arrow next to Shut Down, and select Restart. Now repeat steps 2 through 5.

Recording your MP3 File

1. Students: Open Audacity, which I’ve pinned to the Task Bar. If you see “show tips at startup,” uncheck the box and click OK. Otherwise, you should see a blank Audacity screen.
2. Students: Maximize Audacity so it takes up the whole screen.
3. Students: This is a critical step that many students overlook. In Audacity, Locate the Microphone icon. To the right of it, pull down the drop-down menu to select your microphone. Find the entry that says Logitech. Don’t just read the first word; read each option entirely. For example, the correct option might say Microphone (2 – Logitech USB). The correct options will have the word Logitech in it. Click on that selection. If you don’t see any option that says Logitech, remove the headset, then click the round Start button, click the right-facing arrow next to Shut Down, and select Restart. Go back to Step 2 in the previous section.
4. Students: Test the microphone by pressing the red Record button, speaking for a moment, then pressing the Stop button. Don’t press Pause.
5. Students: If the microphone works, click the X in the upper left hand corner of the track to delete that test track. Your are now ready to record.
6. Students: If the microphone doesn’t work, be sure all steps have been followed. You may need to ask your teacher for help if someone has tampered with your computer.
7. Students: When your teacher says to begin the actual assessment, press the red Record button and speak for the two minutes required. Press Stop when you are finished. Do not press Stop or Pause until the two minutes have elapsed; starting and stopping again is not allowed in a PAT test, and will cause overlapping voices and ruin the recording.

Saving your MP3 File

1. Students: Click File, then Export… Give your file a name that includes your name, but contains no punctuation. Use only numbers and letters. Click Desktop to be sure you are saving to the desktop. Then click Save.
2. Students: Click OK, as you do not need to include any tags or other information.

Uploading to Blackboard

1. Students: Follow the directions on the white label attached in the lower left of your keyboard. Click the five bar WiFi icon in the lower right, connect to APS using your user name and password. Click Connect whenever you are prompted. If the connection fails, try again until it does. It may take several times. Do not continue until you are connected to the APS WiFi network.
2. Students: Open Firefox (or another valid browser), and go to Blackboard. Log in.
3. Students: Your teacher will tell you where s/he created the Podcast you will use for this PAT test. Open the Podcast.
4. Students: Inside the Podcast, click Create New Episode in the upper right hand area of the Podcast screen.
5. Students: Name the podcast with your name, followed by the number 1.
6. Students: Click the round radio button next to Upload Media, then click Browse.
7. Students: Click Desktop, then scroll down to find your MP3 file. Double click that file.
8. Students: At the bottom of the Podcast Episode screen, click Save, wait a moment, then click Save & Exit.
9. Students: Confirm that your audio file was successfully uploaded by listening to it briefly. Once you are sure your audio file was uploaded, delete the MP3 from the desktop. Be sure to delete your desktop files (and empty the trash) before you shut down your computer at the end of class.

Your podcast episode should now be uploaded to Blackboard. If your podcast audio file does not appear inside your episode, repeat the Uploading to Blackboard section. If that does not work. (Be sure your physical WiFi switch from Step 3 in the first section is turned on; you should not see any red.)

If your computer cannot connect to the internet, despite following all of these instructions, your teacher can contact the Technical Systems Specialist, Mr. Singh, or call the Help Desk.

In this case, I want anything with the subject “Synchronization Log” to be permanently deleted so I never even see the thing, and so it doesn’t take up room in my Trash can, which counts towards my mailbox quota. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. Click the orange File tab.
3. Click Manage Rules & Alerts.
4. Click New Rule.
5. Under Start from a blank rule, click Apply rule on messages I receive.
6. Click Next.
7. Under Step 1, add a check to the second rule down, “with specific words in the subject.“
8. Under Step 2, click the blue underlined “specific words.“
9. Under Specify words or phrases… type exactly: Synchronization Log.
10. Click Add.
11. Click OK.
12. Click Next.
13. Under Step 1, add a check to the fourth rule down, “permanently delete it.”
14. Click Yes to confirm.
15. Click Next.
16. Click Next again.
17. Under Step 1, give your rule a name, like Delete Synchronization Logs.
18. Under Step 2, add a check to the first item, “Run this rule now…”
19. Also under Step 2, be sure there is a check next to the second item, “Turn on this rule.“
20. Click Finish.
21. Click OK.

In order to purge any remaining Synchronization Logs you’ve already deleted, you can also do the following:

1. In Outlook, on the left hand side, click on Deleted Items.
2. In the Search Deleted Items (Ctrl+E) box at the top of the list of messages in the middle pane, type Synchronization Log.
3. The messages will gradually appear; this may take some time.
4. Once all of the messages have loaded, click on the first message to delete.
5. Use the scroll bar to scroll to the bottom of the list.
6. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, then click the last message to delete. This will highlight all of the messages about Synchronization Log.
7. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
8. Click Yes.

Confirming KACE Flag Files

1. Click the round Start button.
2. Click Computer.
3. Double-click Local Disk (C:).
4. Double-click KACE.
5. See if there is a file called K2000Complete.
   • If so, skip to step 6.
   • If not, right-click anywhere in the white space to bring up the context menu.
   • Click New, then click Text Document.
   • You will be prompted for a file name; type K2000Complete, then press Enter.
6. In the same location, see if there is a file called Instruction.
   • If so, skip to the next section.
   • If not, right-click anywhere in the white space to bring up the context menu.
   • Click New, then click Text Document.
   • You will be prompted for a file name; type Instruction, then press Enter.

Forcing KACE Update

1. Click the round Start button
2. Click Computer.
3. Double-click Local Disk (C:).
4. Double-click Program Files.
5. Double-click Kace.
6. Double-click KBOX.
7. Double-click KBScriptRunner.

Leave your computer turned on and logged in unless Windows, Kaspersky, or another APS program asks you to restart. If that happens, restart your machine and log back in.