Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Tech Tip of the Week - Febraury 2



Tech Tip of the Week!


This school year, Agora added Google Apps for Education to its technological repertoire.  We are all emailing using Gmail, sharing files in Drive, and collaborating on Google’s Docs, Sheets, and Presentations.  As the first semester has already flown by, you have increasingly become more comfortable using these tools and applications.  As your level of comfort has grown, have you considered becoming a Level I Google Certified Educator? It’s not about being a Google teacher, rather it’s beneficial on how to use the tools more effectively, making individuals – then teams – more effective.

If you are interested in becoming a Level I Google Certified Educator, start at the Fundamentals Training Page.  On that site, you will see several units that review the tools we use and provide tips, tricks, and ideas of how to incorporate them more effectively in your everyday responsibilities.  Once you have completed the trainings, you can move forward to check out Sample Test Questions. 
When you are comfortable with the material, you can register to take the certification exam.  Your exam will be ready within 24 hours of registering.  The cost is $10 and you’re given 180 minutes to take the test.  

This is an optional certification and there is no requirement on your part to do it.  Because this training is optional and not a job requirement, Agora will not reimburse you for getting this certification, however, this certification stays with you for two years.     

If you are interested in some ‘in-house’ tutorials on the Google Apps, all recordings of the Google Apps trainings have been posted to the Ed Tech Site.  They can be located by scrolling to the bottom of the Home Page and looking at the left sidebar.  On Wednesday and Friday of this week @ 3:30, feel free to stop by the Google Apps trainings for a more in depth review of the Level I Google Certification.  The room can be entered here.

If you have any questions about the training, check out the Frequently Asked Questions page.
To start training, go here!
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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Semester One Tech Tips/Google Apps Trainings

With the end of the first semester, here is a recap of Tech Tips and Google Apps training that have been sent during the first 90 days of school.

Click on any of the following links to open the corresponding Tech Tip :


Follow up to that, here are the recordings that we completed during the Google Apps Trainings:

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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Tech Tip of The Week- January 26



Tech Tip of the Week!

Because of the licensing agreement that Agora has with Microsoft, you are now eligible to participate in Microsoft's Software Assurance Home Use Program (HUP). This program enables you to get a licensed copy of most Microsoft Office desktop PC applications to install and use on your personal home computer for a one-time, low cost of $9.95.  This offer is compatible with both Windows (versions 10, 8, 8.1 & 7) and Mac OS X version 10.10 (Yosemite) or later.  Because this offer is for your personal computer, you cannot submit the $9.95 as an expense.

Under the Home Use Program, as a user of the qualifying applications (i.e., Microsoft Office) for your job, you may acquire a licensed copy of the corresponding Home Use Program software (e.g. Microsoft Office) to install and use on a personal computer. You may continue using HUP software while you are under our employment.

To access the Microsoft Home Use Program Web site: 

1.       Go to http://hup.microsoft.com/
2.        Select the country to which you want your order to be shipped to and choose the language for viewing the order Web site.
3.       Enter your corporate e-mail address (@agora.org) and insert the following program code: 4A1F32D182
a.       Note: This program code is assigned to our organization for our sole use in accessing this site. You may not share this number with anyone outside our organization.
4.       Place your order online, and it will be shipped to the location you have chosen. Please note that a fulfillment fee will be charged to cover packaging, shipping, and handling costs.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Tech Tip of the Week - January 19


Tech Tip of the Week!

Over the past few weeks, several staff members have requested directions on freezing single and multiple Rows and Columns of data while working in Agora’s provided Spreadsheet Tools.  

1.       When working in Microsoft Excel, do the following:
o    On the View tab, click the arrow below Freeze Panes and then one of the following:
      • To lock row one only, click Freeze Top Row.
      • To lock column one only, click Freeze First Column.
      • To lock both rows and columns, click the cell below and to the right of the rows and columns that you want to keep visible when you scroll, click Freeze Panes.  Please note, you can lock more than one row and column at the same time by selecting the block below and to the right of the area that you wish to freeze. 
      • You will notice gray lines appear to show what area will be frozen.
  1. When working in Google Sheets: do the following:
    • In the menu bar, click view, then Freeze and do one of the following:
      • To lock column one only, click 1 Column.
      • To lock column one and two, click 2 Columns.
      • To lock row one only, click 1 row.
      • To lock row one and two, click 2 rows.
      • To lock both rows and columns, click the cell below and to the right of the rows and columns that you want to keep visible when you scroll, click Freeze Up to Current Row AND then Freeze Up to Current Column. 
      • As mentioned with the Excel directions above, you can lock more than one row and column at the same time by selecting the block below and to the right of the area you wish to freeze. 
      • You will notice gray lines appear to show what area will be frozen. 

Should you have any questions or need any help doing this, feel free to reach out to Rick Tkach or the Staff Helpdesk. 

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