Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Teachertube

Are you tired of digging through all the junk on Youtube looking for a video clip for your class? Then try Teachertube.

TeacherTube is Youtube for teachers. The site is very similar to Youtube, but all the videos are submitted for the education audience. So next time you need a video on the physics of golf or a rap on perimeters find them on TeacherTube.

Monday, March 17, 2008

More Outlook Tips

I have collected emails sent out by my school's network administrators. Most of the tips of are general interest to anyone struggling with Outlook.

1. Making a Group in Outlook
Attached you will find directions for making a unique group from the University High Staff group. This is particularly handy if you have a large number of folks from Uni to put into the group such as Certificated, classified, and or DHH .

A copy of this document is stored in the Shared folder as well.
Vol1/Data/Share/How to documents/Outlook
Vol1/Data/Share/Outlook

If you would like the personal touch, please contact me. I am happy to help you.

Kaye K.

2. Getting Winzip
Several of you have already asked me today about getting Winzip installed on computers so that files can be zipped up for Blackboard. Winzip is no longer a freeware program since the company started charging for its use, but don’t worry, all is not lost! Microsoft comes with a free built-in utility to zip files for you and it’s easy to use…

Right click any file(s) you’d like to zip, select SEND TO, then select COMPRESSED (ZIPPED) FOLDER form the list of choices. That’s it! Look for the new zipped folder within the same folder as the original file and upload away!
Marius G.

3. Search feature of MS Outlook
Many of you use the Search feature of MS Outlook, but when performing a search you’re not finding the items you’re searching for even though you can find it manually. Here’s how to fix that:

Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then the PREFERENCES tab. Click the SEARCH OPTIONS button, and in the “Instant Search Pane” section select ALL FOLDERS.

This will allow searching in all the folders rather than just the one currently open.

Marius G.


4. Spruce up your email
There are various ways to spruce up your email.

HTML format means you can add images or other graphics to your email. The drawback is the email’s file size when sending and receiving. If you want to add a photo to your signature like I did (instructions coming up), then you’ll need to make sure HTML is selected.

RICH TEXT format is similar to HTML but less intensive and accepts only certain image formats. Feel free to experiment with this format if you like. I don’t know if it works with adding a signature image.

PLAIN TEXT format is the plainest form of email. No images, no graphics. Just a stripped down version of email. You will not be able to send images unless attached, or view HTML formatted email if they contain images in the body of the email.

Here’s how to enable, disable or otherwise change your own format:
Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then click the Mail Format tab. In “Compose in this message format” select HTML, RICH TEXT, or PLAIN TEXT as desired. If selecting HTML, also uncheck the “reduce the file size of the message…” checkbox
to prevent unwanted formatting removal.
Marius G.

5.Using commas to separate email
Many of you are used to using commas to separate email recipients rather than semi-colons. Well, your day of comma-freedom has arrived, so if you want to use commas, follow me:

Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES. Click the EMAIL OPTIONS button and then the ADVANCED EMAIL OPTIONS button. Place a checkmark in “Allow comma as address separator”, and the revolution is complete.

Marius G.

6. Here’s how to set up your Notifications settings.. you know, those annoying popups and sounds that let you know you have a new mail in your INBOX. Many of you wanted to know how to disable these features because they come up during Powerpoint presentations, etc.

At top…. Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES. Click the EMAIL OPTIONS button, then the ADVANCED EMAIL OPTIONS button. Now, review the “When New Items Arrive In My Inbox” section carefully and make your choices which turns them on or off.
- Play a Sound (obviously will play a sound every time new email arrives. No, the sound can’t be changed to play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.)
- Briefly change the mouse cursor (the cursor will change to a pointing hand briefly)
- Show an envelope icon in the Notifications area (will display a small envelope next to the clock in the bottom right of your screen)
- Display a new mail Desktop Alert (briefly flashes a small notification dialog with the sender’s name and first few words of the email content)

Additionally users can change the duration and transparency of a desktop alert. The duration can be set from 3 seconds to 30 seconds and the transparency can be set from Solid (0%) to almost clear (80%). Once the choices are made, click PREVIEW to preview your settings and make changes to fit your taste. Users can find these settings by clicking the “Desktop Alert Settings” button.

Marius G.

7. Here’s how to manually add email addresses or domain names (companies) to the JUNK MAIL and/or SAFE LIST. You may find this useful if you know the email addresses of friends or outside-IUSD collegues and you want to ensure that their email doesn’t route to the JUNK MAIL folder but into your INBOX.

At top…. Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES, and click the JUNK EMAIL button. Select the SAFE RECIPIENTS tab and then click the ADD button to manually add complete email addresses or domain names (in this format: @example.com). All email and domain addresses listed here will always go directly to your INBOX (without passing GO or collecting $200).

Marius G

8. In response to the many email questions regarding Microsoft Outlook and making it more user friendly, I will send you all some tidbits of (hopefully) useful information on customizing Outlook to make it perform more to your liking. To make the email shorter and easier to store and find for future reference, I’ll keep each How-to separate and titled appropriately. Please save these by dragging them into your CABINET folder for future reference.

Here’s how to mark incoming mail as Junk or Not Junk (Friendly or Unfriendly):

JUNK MAIL: Any email that ends up in your INBOX that you know is Junk Mail, go ahead and right-click it and select Junk Mail, then select “Add Sender to blocked Sender’s list” (blocks the sender’s email address from future correspondence with you).

FRIENDLY MAIL: Obviously you don’t have to do anything with friendly mail in your INBOX. However, do check your JUNK E-MAIL folder daily to ensure that friendly mail gets routed correctly. When you find friendly email in your JUNK MAIL folder, right click it and select Junk Mail, then make one of two choices:
∑ Add Sender to Safe Sender’s List (all present and future correspondence from this sender will go straight to your INBOX) or,
∑ Add Sender’s Domain (@example.com) to Safe Sender’s List (all present and future correspondence from this Domain (company) will go straight to your INBOX).

Alternately, you can skip the steps for Friendly email by simply dragging the message from the JUNK MAIL folder into your INBOX if you prefer this method, and all future email from the sender will route into your INBOX as well.
Marius G.