Tech Tips

Students & Technology

Students have the power to make the most of the technology provided by the school district.

By using technology wisely and collaborating effectively with teachers and parents, students can enhance their learning experience.
Exploring online platforms and educational software allows students to access interactive learning materials and engage in collaborative projects with their peers.
Regular communication with teachers helps them seek clarification, share progress, and receive personalized feedback.

With these strategies, students can unlock a world of educational opportunities, thrive academically, and develop essential skills for success in the digital era.

Chromebooks

Chromebook Tips & Tricks

Powering on the Chromebook

The Acer Spin 511 Chromebook has the power button located on the left side of the Chromebook rather than on the keyboard. You will want to hold the button for 3-5 seconds to power it on. If this is the first time you have powered on your Chromebook, you will need to connect the charger to the Chromebook first, then press the power button.

Charging the Chromebook

There is a USB-C charging port located on both the left and right side of the device. Either port can be used to charge the battery. Please remember that it can take several hours to charge a battery to full if it is completely drained.

My camera doesn’t show anything

Please be sure the privacy shutter at the top of the screen is open.

When I powered the Chromebook on, it says my connection isn’t private

This occurs when the date/time is incorrect on the Chromebook. After connecting to your Wi-Fi, it may take up to a minute for it to update. Once it updates this page will go away and you will see the Terms & Conditions.

Do I need internet to use this Chromebook?

Yes, Chromebooks require an internet connection. This can be a home, business, or school Wi-Fi network.

When I started my device, it asked if I wanted to use Chrome Vox

Most students will want to disable this feature as it appears during the initial Chromebooks setup. This is a free screen reader that can be enabled or disabled through the accessibility features if needed at a future date.

How do I update my Chromebook?

Chromebooks will usually auto update.

If you want to manually update a Chromebook, please login and open the Google browser.
Click the 3 dots in the upper right corner of the browser and select “Settings”.
Click “about chrome”.
If there is an update available, the screen will say “updating” or “you’re up to date!”

How do I setup my Chrome book for the first time?

Get Started

First you will want to power on the Chromebook and should receive the following welcome screen:

Click Get started and select your Wi-Fi connection. A Terms and Conditions screen will appear. Select NEXT to continue.

If you get an error message, please wait one minute as the time and date updates.

Updates

Your Chromebook will automatically begin an update process. This may take 5-30 minutes. Future updates will be done in the background. The Chromebook should reboot once the updates are completed.

After rebooting, click through the same screens as you did before.

Enterprise Enrollment

Next you will get an enterprise enrollment loading screen.

When completed you should get a confirmation screen followed by the familiar Salem-Keizer Public School login screen that all students and staff get.

Student Internet Activity

Internet Filtering

Technology and Information Services operates within the guidelines set by various policies and laws. Internet access provided by the district is run through an internet filter that will attempt to block various content.

Which sites are configured to be blocked or allowed while students are in school are based on federal requirements and decisions of the Website Advisory Team. Parents have the ability to monitor and manage their child’s out of school activity using Go Guardian.

Jump to Internet Filtering Frequently Asked Questions

GoGuardian Parent App

The GoGuardian Parent app is a mobile app designed to provide parents/guardians insight and control over their student’s online activity when on school-managed devices and accounts.

The GoGuardian Parent app provides you with an additional set of internet controls that you can set for out-of-school hours. GoGuardian Parent was created to help provide students with additional educational support and is a companion to the classroom engagement and internet filtering tools that our schools use.

Note: This does not apply to devices you personally own.

Jump to GoGuardian Frequently Asked Questions

Download the GoGuardian app today!

Apple App Store

Google Play Store

Monitoring Internet Access with GoGuardian

Summarized Activity

Parents can view the top five sites visited in each of the following categories over the past day, week, two weeks or month.

Website Summary

A pie chart illustrating the top 5 website visited in the last month.

Documents, Apps & Extensions

A list of the top 5 documents, apps and extensions used in the past month.

Teacher Intervention

The GoGuardian app will display the number of times your child’s teacher intervened in their web browsing during class. Teacher interventions include limiting a student to a single web site (called screen locking), or closing a browser tab for them.

0 unlocked screens. Number of times teachers have manually unlocked the student's device.

Detailed Activity

Parents can view a time stamped list of every web site their child has accessed or attempted to access over the last month, and how much time they spent on that site. If the student was blocked from viewing a page by the district’s web filter, the list will indicate it.

Controlling Internet Access

Block Web Sites

Parents have the ability to control their student’s internet usage outside of school hours. Student devices are monitored through the district’s internet filter 24/7, but parents can block additional web sites before and after school if they choose. For example, some parents block certain gaming or social media web sites during homework time.

How do I block a website?

Select the Filter icon at the bottom of the screen.
Select Add Website.
Enter a website address and click Create.

Block All Internet Access

Parents can pause internet access outside of school hours for various lengths of time, including 15 or 30 minutes, 1, 2 or 4 hours, or for the rest of the day. Additionally, parents can create a recurring schedule of periods during which they don't want their child to access the internet.

How do I temporarily block all internet access?

Internet access can only be blocked outside of normal school hours.

Select the Filters icon.
Select the Pause button.

How do I set a schedule during which internet access is blocked?

Select the Time Limits icon at the bottom of the screen.
Select the Add Schedule button.
Select the time of day and days of the week you want to block access. Note: to block internet access overnight, you must create a schedule from evening until midnight, and a second schedule from midnight until morning.
Select the create button.

Self-Service Password Reset

District Password

You have the option to reset your district password and make password changes where it is most convenient for you.

To begin, you must register for this service and configure a mobile number, external email address or provide answers for three security questions so the system can verify your identity when requesting a password reset.

A strong password is the best way to protect ourselves against hacking and phishing attacks.

Change Password

Go to the Password Change Portal

Use the Password Change Portal link above when you know your password and want to change it to something new.

You will need to provide your current district password before you can create a new password. If you do not know your current password, use the Reset Portal link instead of this one.

Length is the most important factor in creating a secure password. A minimum of 16 characters is required. A long password doesn’t have to be difficult to remember. A long, easy to remember password is known as a passphrase.

Reset Password

Go to the Password Reset Portal

Use the Password Reset Portal if you have already set up the Self-Service Password Reset and don't know your password. You will reset your password using one of the authentication methods you set up during registration.

If you know your current password, use the Password Change Portal link instead of this one.

Register for Self-Service

Self-Service Password Reset Form

Follow the above button to the Self-Service Password Reset Registration Form to set up your account, a one-time requirement.

You will need to select at least one of the validation methods from the following list:

Authentication Phone: Set this option to another phone number that you have access to. An example is a cell phone that can receive a text or a call.
Authentication Email: Set this option to an alternate email address that you can access without using the password you want to reset.
Security Questions: Provide answers to three security questions chosen from the list of questions presented.

Data entered for Authentication Phone and Authentication Email are not visible in the global directory. Only you can see the answers to your security questions. The more information you provide, the more options you'll have if you forget your password.

Internet Filtering Frequently Asked Questions

Blocking and Filtering Policy

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) sets certain filtering rules for schools and libraries. These policies are designed to minimize student access to inappropriate or distracting material while using school-provided devices or networks.

Salem-Keizer Public Schools policy guiding filtering can be found in Administrative Policy TIS-A004 Internet Filtering

Internet filtering is not 100% successful. It's generally not possible to completely block access to all inappropriate or unwanted content on the internet. There will always be some content that manages to slip through the filters, and there are many ways that determined users can bypass internet filters if they really want to. Users must take responsibility for their own use of technology resources to avoid objectionable content.
Attempts to defeat or bypass the district’s internet filter or conceal internet activities are prohibited and subject to Administrative Policy INS-A004 Electronic Resources: Student Acceptable Use. Proxies, https, special ports, modifications to district browser settings and any other techniques designed to evade filtering or enable the publication of inappropriate content are also prohibited.

Digital Citizenship Curriculum

Understanding Filtering Rules

Websites are initially filtered based on general categories managed and maintained by our filtering vendor. These are broad categories that are updated frequently with website information as it can be applied for categorization.

The categories blocked are defined by user group. At SKPS there are four filter groups:

Elementary School Students and Guest users
Middle School Students
High School Students
Staff

Filtering rules are district-wide and apply to all schools and programs.

Student Allowed / Blocked Content Categories

Allowed category = 🟢. Blocked category = 🚫.

Internet Content Category	Elementary/Guest	Middle School	High School	Staff
Academic Dishonesty - Academic Dishonesty	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Aggressive Behavior - Guns	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Aggressive Behavior - Intolerance & Hate	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Aggressive Behavior - Violence	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Aggressive Behavior - Weapons	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Aggressive Behavior - General Aggressive Behavior	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Archives - Archives	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - Banking	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - Bitcoin	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - Job Search	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - Online Payment	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - Personal Finance	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Business - General Business	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Controlled Substances - Alcohol Sale	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Controlled Substances - Drugs	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Controlled Substances - Tobacco	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Controlled Substances - General Controlled Substance	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - Assessments	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - College/Careers	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - Educational Games	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - Informal Learning Materials	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - K-12 Education	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Educational - General Educational	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Audio/Video Downloads	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Books/Short Stories/Poetry	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Celebrity Gossip/Entertainment News/Pop Culture	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Magazines	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Movie Tickets	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Movies and Television	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Music	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - Radio/Podcasts	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Entertainment - General Entertainment	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Games - Educational Games	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Games - Gambling/Betting/Fantasy Sports	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Games - Gaming Information	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Games - Online Games	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Games - General Games	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Malicious Sites - Add-ons	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Adware	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Malicious Sites - Dialers	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - File Hosting	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Fraud	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Hacking	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Infected Sites	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Phishing	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Piracy	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Proxy	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - Spam	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Malicious Sites - Spyware	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Malicious Sites - General Malicious	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
News - News	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Pornography - Pornography	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Religious - Religious	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Sexual - Nudity	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Sexual - Sexuality	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Sexual - General Sexuality	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Shopping - Cell Phones and Add-ons	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Shopping - Clothing	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Shopping - E-commerce	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Shopping - Online Auctions	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Shopping - General Shopping	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Social - Blogs	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Social - Chat Rooms	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Social - Dating	🚫	🚫	🚫	🚫
Social - Discussion Forum	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Social - E-mail	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Social - Instant Messaging	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Social - Social Networking	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Social - General Social	🚫	🟢	🟢	🟢
Sports - Sports	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Time Wasting - Comics/Memes/Fanfiction	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Time Wasting - Fan Fiction	🚫	🚫	🚫	🟢
Time Wasting - Humor	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Time Wasting - Manga	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Time Wasting - Photography	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Time Wasting - General Time Wasting	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Translators - Translators	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢
Traveling - Traveling	🟢	🟢	🟢	🟢

GoGuardian Parent Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get the GoGuardian Parent app?

Can I access GoGuardian from my computer?

How do I create my account?

After you've downloaded the GoGuardian Parent app, create an account using the e-mail account on file at your child's school. An e-mail verification will be sent to you. You must click the link inside the e-mail from your mobile device. Your child's internet activity will automatically be associated with your account.

Each parent needs their own email address. GoGuardian won't create accounts for duplicate emails within the same student record.