EOG Testing & Device Preparation EOG Testing & Device Preparation

1 - Continue to coordinate with the Testing & Accountability Department on device preparations and logistics for EOG testing.     2 - If...

EOY Preparations & Logistics for collection, assessment, and inventory of Chromebooks, Hotspots, & Chargers EOY Preparations & Logistics for collection, assessment, and inventory of Chromebooks, Hotspots, & Chargers

  Schools should collect, assess, and inventory (and key in repairs) equipment for EOY.  For summer school, plan to distribute devices in c...

Chromebook update/NC Test Chromebook update/NC Test

We are currently working on a Chromebook update in preparation for the upcoming EOC testing window at the close of the semester.  If you ...

MAP Testing & Issues with Chromebook Displays MAP Testing & Issues with Chromebook Displays

Here are some instructions you can share for issues we've seen occasionally involving chromebook displays and MAP testing: Take chrome...

NCTest and Chromebook Reminders NCTest and Chromebook Reminders

With state testing approaching, it is important to begin preparing chromebooks to ensure they meet the minimum state testing technical r...

Summer Updates 2016 Summer Updates 2016

Media News: Welcome Heather Pennica our new Lead Media Specialist, she will be your contact for media related topics. We a...

Reminder: New Chromebook Login Process for NCTest Reminder: New Chromebook Login Process for NCTest

Reminder: This new process will go into effect tonight (1/4/16). New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks Starting January 5th, the...

Coming Soon: New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks! Coming Soon: New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks!

New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks Starting January 4th, there will be a new login process on ALL Chromebooks to access NCTest....

iReady Book list iReady Book list

Attention Media Coordinators K-8 From the Testing Department: We've been in the process of compiling a list of all books th...

Testing on Chromebooks Testing on Chromebooks

Many of you will be using your chromebooks for testing.  We wanted to share two tips for testing. 1. The Log information:   Usernam...

The Countdown is on! The Countdown is on!

Testing is just  Days away! Have you talked to your testing coordinator?  Do you have a plan to get your school ready? There are seve...

Chromebooks in Tech Ready Chromebooks in Tech Ready

We are sending a huge thank you to those who are already entering devices in the Tech Readiness Tool !  Much to our delight, Chromebooks hav...

MAP Testing Update for Elementary & Middle MAP Testing Update for Elementary & Middle

Below are basic steps for issues with testing: Below are basic steps for issues with testing: Refresh the test page. Suspend the st...

Chromebooks for Testing! Chromebooks for Testing!

Chromebooks have officially been approved for online testing!  Official documentation will come through in October, but many schools can...

Online Testing Online Testing

As a reminder, Chromebooks cannot be used for EOGs or EOCs this spring.  It looks very favorable that Chromebooks will be a supported device...

Testing Devices Testing Devices

We have put together a list of possible testing devices and the main assessments our district currently delivers to students.  You can find ...

ClassScape ClassScape

The majority of our schools purchased ClassScape.  A login icon has been placed on the Student Online Connections page ( johnston.k12.nc.us/...

Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

EOG Testing & Device Preparation




1 - Continue to coordinate with the Testing & Accountability Department on device preparations and logistics for EOG testing.  

 

2 - If devices are collected from student check outs, allow adequate time to collect the Chromebooks & chargers, assess usability of the device, and run needed OS updates. 

 

Note:  Tech Services will not have adequate time to repair devices across the district for testing.   


EOY Preparations & Logistics for collection, assessment, and inventory of Chromebooks, Hotspots, & Chargers

 



Schools should collect, assess, and inventory (and key in repairs) equipment for EOY.  For summer school, plan to distribute devices in classrooms as sets, check out to individual students, or manage as determined best for your school. 

-Plan logistics for collection of devices 

 - You will need a team of staff members to participate in device collection, assess, and scan devices     back in inventory. 

 - Consider logistics, examples may include stagger collections and assessment by grades or classes,

    all at once, personnel available to help, etc. The device may need to be assessed for damages with     the student/parent present. 

-Collect and assess devices and charging adapters.  Tech Services will be working throughout the

    summer repairing devices in preparation for Fall start-up.  

-Key in Schooldude/IT direct tickets (or submit on the provided form from Tech Services) for

    damaged devices in need of repairs.  

-Process collection letters for damages/losses.  

-Inventory Chromebooks, Hotspots, and other technologies by the last teacher work day,

    Thursday June 3, 2021. 


Note: Accurate inventories are critical for technology refresh purchases as each school's data is     used to guide technology refresh allocations.  

-Not sure how to begin your inventory? Here are the instructions on how to get started!

Friday, November 22, 2019

Chromebook update/NC Test


We are currently working on a Chromebook update in preparation for the upcoming EOC testing window at the close of the semester.  If you have attempting to use the NC Test app you might have to wait for the update to the chromebook in order for the app to show up and work properly.  This might require a reboot, and will at minimum require that the devices be turned on.  Thank you for your continuous support through these processes.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

MAP Testing & Issues with Chromebook Displays

Here are some instructions you can share for issues we've seen occasionally involving chromebook displays and MAP testing:

Take chromebook out of high contrast mode:
1.  Login with a standard JCPS email account
2.  Click the Time Wi-Fi Power Avatar icon box in the bottom corner
3.  Select the Settings icon (looks like a gear)
4.  Type Accessibility in the search field
5.  Click Manage accessibility features
6.  Turn off Use high contrast mode
7.  Sign Out
8.  Launch the NWEA kiosk app

Increase resolution size to see more at the same time:
1.  Login with a standard JCPS email account
2.  Click the Time Wi-Fi Power Avatar icon box in the bottom corner
3.  Select the Settings icon (looks like a gear)
4.  Type Display in the search field
5.  Click Displays
6.  Drag the slider to the left until you have at least 1024 x 768
7.  Sign Out
8.  Launch the NWEA kiosk app

Reset chromebook display zoom level:
1.  Login with a standard JCPS email account
2.  Press "CTL" key + "SHIFT" key + "0" (zero) key all together
3.  (note: you may need to keep pressing the keys several times)
4.  keep trying until you see a box appear stating 100% zoom level
5.  Sign Out
6.  Launch the NWEA kiosk app

Thursday, April 19, 2018

NCTest and Chromebook Reminders


With state testing approaching, it is important to begin preparing chromebooks to ensure they meet the minimum state testing technical requirements. We have determined there are some schools with over 100 devices below the minimum requirements.  The current required OS version is 58 or higher.  

How do I check the chrome OS version?

type chrome://help in the address bar 




In the above example, the chrome version is 63 and acceptable for use meeting state testing requirements. The latest up-to-date version available is version 65. Even though this example meets the minimum acceptable requirements for state testing go ahead and click "CHECK FOR UPDATES" to bring the chromebook up to the latest up-to-date version.   

Monday, August 15, 2016

Summer Updates 2016




Media News:
  • Welcome Heather Pennica our new Lead Media Specialist, she will be your contact for media related topics.
  • We are now hosting our Destiny through Follett so the URL for access has changed please update any bookmarks: https://johnston.follettdestiny.com/ is our new address.  We have experienced slowness and are working with Follett to correct the issue.
    • The data sync process is still the same through PowerSchool and new staff members will continue to be created manually using this link: bit.ly/staffpatron
  • MyOn was a huge success this summer with 9820 books read across the district and 2318 hours spent on the program - congratulations to Selma Elementary for being the top participating school.
  • WiseOwl - DPI indicated that the password for home access is being updated - look in the Media folder for information about the change.  They have also updated some of the subscription resources check here for more information: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6tdCo4ORZfeYWlfTDRTVjFCTXc
  • Optional Media Specialists Meeting 8:30-11:30 in WCCC on August 19



ISD General News
We have had a few staff changes over the summer, so we wanted to update you!
  • Dana Jernigan (ext. 1007) is now the Director of Professional Learning, Tony Stewart left us to move to Florida and Kathy Price will be taking Tony's place as Executive Director of Professional Learning.
  • Christa Leverette (ext. 1011) will be returning to Stephanie Canning’s post in the Technology Services office.  Stephanie returned to Wake County and we are awaiting a replacement for Christa’s position as the AA for ISD.  
  • Jen Roberts (ext. 1015) will be joining the Digital Learning Team as a Personalized Learning Specialist
  • Heather Pennica (ext. 1029) will be joining the Digital Learning Team as Lead Media Specialist official start date is August 29th.



Technology News
  • This summer, many software and hardware updates have been pushed out to the computers to improve functionality, be sure you get out all chromebooks and laptops to power them up, turn them on and log into them so they can receive updates.  Likewise, all desktops need to be turned on and logged in to receive the updates.  Expect some delays during this process so it is best practice to do this prior to student arrival.
  • SMART 16 - We have created the latest version of SMART 16 for desktops.  If you have a teacher who wants the latest version put in a School Dude ticket to have the computer reimaged.  ALL new instructional and teacher desktops will receive the latest version when they are set up.  It is also recommended that if a board is experiencing issues you put in a request to have the software updated. (Note: If your current incident of SMART notebook becomes corrupt your computer will have to updated to repair it.)
  • Testing Update - new testing standards from DPI prohibit us from having monitoring and remote management software installed on testing devices.  We will provide further updates as we learn them.  Here are links to the testing calendars for your reference:
  • The Energy team has been around this summer unplugging things, so your first line of troubleshooting should be to check the power and the port that it is plugged into.  
  • Phones - Please make sure that you keep phones in their current location and update extensions using the update form which goes to Shirley Nixon. (you might coordinate with your principal and phone management person at your site)  If a phone was unplugged over the summer make sure you plug it into a port labeled with a “V” for voice.  Note: all phones are also plugged into the computer to work properly.
  • September 12 the technicians will start their new schedule.  Until then they will be working 7-4 and will work on prioritizing needs based on tickets submitted from each school.  Be sure you are adding your tickets into the system so we can get your needs addressed in a timely manner.
  • WiFi update - we are working to provide a fresh wifi password.  During the initial transition there will be 2 active SSID’s displayed on mobile devices, we will be pushing settings with the new information and after testing window 1, the old “jcswireless” will become inactive and the new one will be in place hopefully this will improve connectivity, as it will prevent many students from accessing it with their personal devices.
  • Mark your calendar: Meeting Dates for this year


We look forward to your return! 2016-17 is going to be a great year!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Reminder: New Chromebook Login Process for NCTest

Reminder: This new process will go into effect tonight (1/4/16).

New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks


Starting January 5th, there will be a new login process on ALL Chromebooks to access NCTest. This new process is for Chromebooks only and should make it easier for students to access NCTest. 

Tonight, a new "Apps" button will be added to the login screen of every Chromebook enrolled in our district.


To access NCTest, students should hover over the "Apps" button on the lower left corner of the Chromebook login screen.


Click on the "NCTest" app to launch the test portal.


If the NCTest app button is clicked by mistake, you must click on one of the portal buttons and then click exit to leave the app.


Please note that with this new process, the generic nctestcb@jcsnc.org login will no longer be needed and will not work after January 5th.

Please share this important update with your staff! 
Even if they are not involved in testing, they need to know how to exit the NCTest app if it is clicked on by mistake.

If you have a Chromebook that does not get the "Apps" button after January 5th, the Chromebook needs to be re-enrolled, please contact your Tech Contact or Technology Services.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Coming Soon: New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks!

New NCTest Login Process for Chromebooks


Starting January 4th, there will be a new login process on ALL Chromebooks to access NCTest. This new process is for Chromebooks only and should make it easier for students to access NCTest. 

Over the winter break, a new "Apps" button will be added to the login screen of every Chromebook enrolled in our district.


To access NCTest, students should hover over the "Apps" button on the lower left corner of the Chromebook login screen.


Click on the "NCTest" app to launch the test portal.


If the NCTest app button is clicked by mistake, you must click on one of the portal buttons and then click exit to leave the app.


Please note that with this new process, the generic nctestcb@jcsnc.org login will no longer be needed and will not work after January 4th.

Please share this important update with your staff! 
Even if they are not involved in testing, they need to know how to exit the NCTest app if it is clicked on by mistake.

If you have a Chromebook that does not get the "Apps" button after January 4th, the Chromebook needs to be re-enrolled, please contact your Tech Contact or Technology Services.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

iReady Book list



Attention Media Coordinators K-8

From the Testing Department:
We've been in the process of compiling a list of all books that i-Ready references in the Teacher Toolbox and Tools for Instruction.  These are all books they have referenced in PDF lessons in Teacher Toolbox, as resources to use with the lesson or read aloud books to use.  A few schools requested we make a list of all of the books referenced so they could get inventory of which of the books they already have in their media centers.

I've attached lists of the read aloud books and the books referenced in Tools for Instruction below.  Feel free to share with media coordinators at your convenience.  Links to the PDFs are attached and are in the i-Ready for JCS Google folder, under Instructional Resources, accessible for all of JCS at bit.ly/iready2015.


Thursday, May 14, 2015

Testing on Chromebooks


Many of you will be using your chromebooks for testing.  We wanted to share two tips for testing.
1. The Log information:  
Username: nctestcb@jcsnc.org  Password: nctestcb
This will launch a lockdown browser with no access to anything but the testing site and 1 extension called "Keep Awake"

2. The extension will allow the chomebook to stay on and not go to sleep even if there is no activity.  To make sure it is set to this mode - look in the top right corner and make sure the icon looks like the SUN if you see clouds or a sunset please click until you are back to the sun.  This extension is user specific so it must be done under the above log in.


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The Countdown is on!

Testing is just 

Days away!

Have you talked to your testing coordinator?  Do you have a plan to get your school ready? There are several things suggested to prepare so the day of testing your school is ready.

1. Any wireless devices being used should be pulled out and logged in to make sure they have received the new anti-virus software (look for the green shield in the system tray)

2. Your students (each student testing online) and computers (any computer being used for testing) should have the tutorial run before the day of testing.  Your testing coordinator should have the links for these tutorials.

3. Check to make sure all your computers are updated - this might require hardwiring for some devices.  If you are in an AD environment run gpupdates - this can be run by any user.  Note: if your cart is rarely used this could take a while, so you might consider staggering it and do a few at the time.  Planning ahead can help make this less painful.

Thanks for being proactive in preparing for a successful testing season.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Chromebooks in Tech Ready

We are sending a huge thank you to those who are already entering devices in the Tech Readiness Tool!  Much to our delight, Chromebooks have been approved for state testing, but the Tech Readiness Tool uses Internet Explorer to pull the specifications from the machine.  Because Chromebooks only have the Chrome browser, we will have to manually enter the specifications, which you can find below.

Note:  When you first enter the Chromebooks, it will appear they are not acceptable devices.  It sometimes takes up to an hour to process.  After the processing time, the Chromebooks will move to acceptable devices.

Chromebook Series 5 - Black
Name - Chromebook Series 5
Location or IP - **
Operating System - Google Chrome v19 or greater
Processor - Other
Memory - 2 GB
Screen Resolution - 1280x800
Browser - Google Chrome
Device Count - **
Device Type - Netbook
Assessment Environment - Movable to environment appropriate for assessment
Device Owner - School
Wireless - Yes
Monitor/Display Size - 9.5-12.9 in

Chromebook S303 - Silver 
Name - Chromebook S303
Location or IP - **
Operating System - Google Chrome v19 or greater 
Processor - Other
Memory - 2 GB
Screen Resolution - 1366x768
Browser - Google Chrome
Device Count - **
Device Type - Netbook
Assessment Environment - Movable to environment appropriate for assessment
Device Owner - School
Wireless - Yes
Monitor/Display Size - 9.5-12.9 in

** = modify as needed

Thursday, September 12, 2013

MAP Testing Update for Elementary & Middle


Below are basic steps for issues with testing:
Below are basic steps for issues with testing:
  • Refresh the test page.
  • Suspend the student’s test from proctor's administration page, have the student close the browser then open a new browser session, and finally resume the student’s test from the proctor's administration page.
  • The proctor can close down the Lockdown browser instance on the student workstation using proctor interrupt (ctrl+shift+L).
  • From the administrator console (MARC), there are a few instructions based on the status the student is in
    • Awaiting Student - no action needed
    • Confirmed - Select the student(s) and choose 'Terminate' from the drop down menu, then click 'Go'
    • Testing - Select the student(s) and choose 'Suspend' from the drop down menu, then click 'Go'
    • Paused - use same steps as 'Testing'
  • Additional steps for testing on Chromebooks:
    • Do not test with multiple open tabs; test only with the tabs naturally opened during the test.
    • Do not test with any other applications open.
    • Restart the Chrome browser in between tests; do not test multiple students back to back without closing the browser.
  • If these options do not allow the student to test, please provide some details about what is happening:
    • Is an error message received?
    • When does this occur?
    • Workstation OS?
    • # of students Affected:
    • Test being administered:
    • Test Session Name:
    • Example Student:

Chromebook Login for Active Directory and Novell Schools
  • Login Name: map@jcsnc.org
  • Login Password: MAPstudent2013 (note: MAP capitalized)

Friday, August 23, 2013

Chromebooks for Testing!


Chromebooks have officially been approved for online testing!  Official documentation will come through in October, but many schools can breathe a sigh of relief.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Online Testing

As a reminder, Chromebooks cannot be used for EOGs or EOCs this spring.  It looks very favorable that Chromebooks will be a supported device for state testing next school year.  Please see here for official documentation.

NCDPI has approved iPads as a device that can be used for state testing this year; however - Johnston County Schools will not be delivering EOGs or EOCs on iPads.  Each iPad would need a testing profile installed, which includes locking down 35+ features.  (If you are curious, you can click here for the long list of iPad restrictions that go along with the testing profile.)

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Testing Devices

We have put together a list of possible testing devices and the main assessments our district currently delivers to students.  You can find it at bit.ly/testingdevices.  Please note things change quickly in our world.  What is not compatible today might be compatible tomorrow.  Please think about the testing opportunities you deliver at your school and the devices you have on hand when making purchasing decisions.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

ClassScape

The majority of our schools purchased ClassScape.  A login icon has been placed on the Student Online Connections page (johnston.k12.nc.us/soc).  Spread the word if your school purchased ClassScape!