ePals Inc. Confidential Using Safe Collaborative Technology in
the Globally Connected Classroom
Slide 2
ePals Inc. Confidential Technology Professional Development
2012-2013 CATS #2919
Slide 3
ePals Inc. Confidential
Slide 4
To comply with eRate guidelines, Wilkes County Schools are
required to have an email account for students in grades 3-12. We
are currently using ePals for student email and collaborative
learning services. This subscription is paid for through eRATE
funding.
Slide 5
ePals Inc. Confidential Todays Focus
Slide 6
ePals Inc. Confidential What is ePals SchoolMail? ePals
SchoolMail is the recognized leader in school-safe email for
students in grades K-12. ePals SchoolMail is an easy-to-use product
with an interface similar to other email systems. ePals SchoolMail
offers opportunities through the Global Community to communicate
and form partnerships with peers and classrooms in over 200
countries bringing to life the concept of global citizenry. ePals
SchoolMail provides multilingual email solutions to classes,
schools, families and districts worldwide offering instant language
translation into 58 different languages. ePals SchoolMail has
TRUSTe certification of student privacy.
Slide 7
ePals Inc. Confidential How is ePals SchoolMail different? It
is like regular email with the addition of policy management and
monitoring It allows teachers and administrators to monitor mail
written by their students It offers different types of accounts,
with different roles and abilities for each It enables classrooms
to connect and collaborate in meaningful ways
Slide 8
ePals Inc. Confidential Adult Account Types District
Administrator manages the overall SchoolMail license may create all
accounts (sub-administrator, teacher, monitor, student and parent),
add schools, define grades and set policies for users grants
privileges to sub-administrator Sub-Administrator can perform same
functions as district admin but cannot add schools can make changes
for users only in schools where access has been granted Teacher any
adult member of your school community, including educators, media
specialists, counselors, principal, etc.
Slide 9
ePals Inc. Confidential Additional Account Types Monitors
oversees communication to and from students one is assigned to each
student account is essential for filtering to ensure that the
communication is appropriate and on task Student is only for
students in your school/district. filters and access parameters are
set for all student communication and define who and how the
student may communicate Parent for parents wishing (and allowed) to
participate in the school communication system
Slide 10
ePals Inc. Confidential Getting Started Youre going to need:
Usernames and passwords for your students and yourself A computer
with access to the Internet Basic knowledge of using email
Willingness to reach out, connect globally, and try something
new
Slide 11
ePals Inc. Confidential Logging in as a Teacher Type
www.epals.com in the Internet address bar.www.epals.com Your
username will be your WCS username followed by the letters wcs
(i.e. scottbjwcs). Your password will be on the back of your index
card. Click Continue. When prompted to change your password, I
would suggest your WCS password.
Slide 12
ePals Inc. Confidential Logging in as a Student Type
www.epals.com in the Internet address bar.www.epals.com Student
usernames will be first name, last initial, and possibly random
numbers (i.e. scottb35). Student default passwords will be either
password123 (6 th grade)password12 or a random password. Click
Continue. When prompted to change their password, I would suggest
they use their NCWISE numbers. Passwords can be reset by the school
administrator or the teacher.
Slide 13
ePals Inc. Confidential After logging in, youll see your
Homepage. Scroll down to see the entire page. When finished, youll
need to click MORE to see Sign Out. This will ensure your account
is secure. Your Homepage
Slide 14
ePals Inc. Confidential Highlights Projects, Activities, etc.
Allows you to easily access your mail and the student mail you are
monitoring. Offers access to resources that will help you get the
most out of ePals. Your Homepage
Slide 15
ePals Inc. Confidential Your Homepage Toolbars The Toolbar at
the top of the page gives you access to tools in the ePals Global
Community, such as Projects and Classroom Match The Mail Toolbar
provides access to functions within your SchoolMail account, such
as your email and files
Slide 16
ePals Inc. Confidential Updating Profiles There are two types
of profiles within ePals: personal and shared. Your personal
profile is used to customize your ePals account. It is not
available to the general public or other teachers using ePals. Your
shared profile is an optional way for you to introduce yourself to
other members of your school, district, and/or the ePals SchoolMail
and ePals.com communities.
Slide 17
ePals Inc. Confidential Creating a good profile
Slide 18
ePals Inc. Confidential ePals SchoolMail Interface Click on See
all email from the menu. Notice the My Mail and the Monitored Mail
tabs. Student accounts will look identical to this, but without the
monitored mail tab.
Slide 19
ePals Inc. Confidential Using SchoolMail Email Lets practice:
Sending a message Managing folders Filing messages in folders
Setting up a signature Using the Spam Control feature Managing
Auto-Reply
Slide 20
ePals Inc. Confidential Managing Contacts in SchoolMail Because
you are a teacher and are already set to monitor students, you will
find student accounts in your contact list. Students, however, will
need to build their own contact list. So, its important to know
about: Adding individual contacts Adding new groups to contacts
Importing contacts
Slide 21
ePals Inc. Confidential Using SchoolMail to Share Files Files
may be uploaded to ePals for storage or sharing purposes. Files can
be categorized in the following ways: My Private Files My Shared
Files - can be viewed by your students, colleagues, and SchoolMail
Administrators Other Shared Files - students cannot view these, but
adult users may be able to My Students Files only on monitor
accounts
Slide 22
ePals Inc. Confidential Monitored Mail Email monitoring lets
you bring email technology into the classroom while maximizing the
likelihood that it will be used in appropriate, education-specific
ways. Monitored email means that students incoming and outgoing
email messages are previewed by a monitor before reaching their
recipients. The monitor can ensure that the message is appropriate
to age, setting, and context.
Slide 23
ePals Inc. Confidential Filtering Settings The four filter
levels are: Level 1: All student messages must be approved by a
monitor. Level 2: The monitor receives a copy of all student
messages but approval is only required for messages containing
words from the flagged words list. Level 3: The monitor will only
receive messages containing flagged words; these messages will
require the monitor's approval. Level 4: All content filters are
off. Students can send and receive messages freely.
Slide 24
ePals Inc. Confidential Monitoring Settings Flag Attachments:
Monitors can be asked to preview any message that comes with any
kind of attached file (such as photos, documents, sound clips,
etc.). Access Level: The ePals SchoolMail Administrator decides
whether email communication is allowed within the class, within the
school, within the district, within the ePals SchoolMail Community,
with members of the ePALS.com community, or with anyone, anywhere
on the Internet. Flagged Words: Monitored email is checked by the
ePals SchoolMail system for the presence of words on the Flagged
Words list. These might include profanity, epithets, or other
inappropriate language. The ePals SchoolMail Administrator can add
and remove words from the basic supplied list. The words on this
list can affect whether or not you need to preview a student
message and are used to indicate messages with questionable
content. Email Filter Languages: The Flagged Word list is available
in multiple languages. The ePals SchoolMail Administrator can
choose to have it look for inappropriate terms in any or all of:
English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Japanese.
Slide 25
ePals Inc. Confidential Monitoring Student Mail Outgoing
messages are those sent by your students Incoming messages are
those being sent to your student All messages without the green OK
sign will need to be approved before they are sent or received
After approving, rejecting, or deleting a message, it goes to the
Processed Mail folder
Slide 26
ePals Inc. Confidential The Monitored Mail Console
Slide 27
ePals Inc. Confidential Monitored Mail Flags
Slide 28
ePals Inc. Confidential Connecting with Others You may connect
with others in several ways: Set up email pals within the class,
school, or district Find classroom matches in the ePals Global
Community Click on Project and/or Collaborate to find a partner
Sample letter for getting started with a classroom in the Global
Community:
Slide 29
ePals Inc. Confidential Using Instant Translation Select
Instant Translation from your menu Copy and paste text that needs
translation Choose the appropriate languages for the translation
Click the Translate button Remember this software is effective for
conveying the gist of the message, and is NOT a perfect translation
Is a great way of breaking the language barrier and opening up
global communications
Slide 30
ePals Inc. Confidential Connecting with Others
Slide 31
ePals Inc. Confidential ePals and Common Core Resources See the
video- A One Stop Common Core Solution
Slide 32
ePals Inc. Confidential References All images and video from
Microsoft Office or epals.com (used with permission).