Tech Help

Content on this page updated: September 15, 2020

Student Email Account Update - 9/1/2020:

Today, we put in place an extra safety measure to ensure our student's email accounts are secured. From today forward, your child will ONLY be able to receive emails from their respective school domain, @charterdayschool.org, @columbuscharterschool.org, @douglassacademy.net, or @southbcs.org.

We understand that to submit some assignments, students/parents have been taking a picture of the assignment and having it emailed to your child’s email account from your personal account. This will no longer be an option due to this safety guard we have put into place.

If your child needs to upload a photo to Google Classroom you can log onto your child’s Google Classroom account from any device by searching classroom.google.com and type in their school email and password. You will be able to submit work straight to your child’s Google Classroom. You can also download the Google Classroom app on your phone and upload any photos needed for assignments straight to the app.

Parents & Guardians:

All K-8 students, both on-campus and on-line learners, have now received information including your student's email address and password which will allow access to their Gmail account, Google Classrooms, and school-issued Chromebook (if applicable).

Please view the "How to Login Using Your Student Gmail Account" below for more information. You will also find two additional links for how-to videos that will help you and your student navigate the upcoming on-line check-ins - "Activating Your Student's Zoom Account" and "Parent Training: Google Classroom & Live Zoom Classes."

You will also receive a Zoom activation invitation in your student's Gmail account. This account activation is another added layer of security for our students to ensure that only users with authenticated school email addresses are permitted to join our live Zoom meetings.

Helpful Videos on Submitting Work in Google Classroom:

1. How to Take Pictures with a Chromebook and Upload to Google Classroom

2. Submit a Photo to Google Classroom Using a Smartphone

Search for free WiFi Hot-Spots near you:

Spectrum:

https://www.spectrum.com/free-wifi-hotspots/north-carolina

XFINITY:

https://hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com/

Lumberton & Pembroke Free Hot Spot

On-line Security:

Safety has always been our first priority; it is wonderful that parents share our concerns for exercising vigilance to ensure a safe, wholesome learning environment.

To that point, the following notice was posted by the FBI on March 30, 2020 that recommends user security measures for online learning. Our procedures meet or exceed their recommendations and are in italics below.

FBI Boston Kristen Setera (857) 386-2905 March 30, 2020

“As individuals continue the transition to online lessons and meetings, the FBI recommends exercising due diligence and caution in your cybersecurity efforts. The following steps can be taken to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:

Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests. [We are setting up to do both, and teachers will have complete control over their class.]

Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people. [Links are being provided only to students directly on their personal email.]

Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to “Host Only.” [Screensharing is totally under exclusive control of the host teacher.]

Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated their software. In their security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join. [We have installed the latest Zoom update released April 3, 2020.]

Lastly, ensure that your organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.” [Each student will have a unique Zoom email account that is checked before they are allowed into the class. Even if a meeting’s code and password leak out, access to the meeting cannot be gained without the teacher's invitation. Policies to be followed by the host teacher are:

• Students must wear their school uniforms at all times or be logged off

• Student video cameras will be on at all times or they will be logged off

• Students exhibiting inappropriate behavior will be logged off

• Parents should observe from off-camera.

We are not aware of any security “holes” in the Zoom software; and none were identified by the FBI or other agency. Zoom bombing occurred when users did not follow prudent security procedures. Safety has always been the first priority for our schools.

Our goal is to maintain the same close teacher-student interactions in our on-line classes that we have in the physical classroom. A huge learning experience is ahead of us all; but with everyone’s cooperation, that goal can become a reality.