I can’t believe it’s almost time to welcome students back! It’s been a busy summer, and I wanted to take a chance to update you on some of the goings-on since last year.
WiFi Update: There is a WiFi certificate we have to renew annually that was renewed last week, so if you see a pop-up on your phone or laptop that says “Continue Connecting: Are you sure you want to connect to MCS?” or “Do you want to trust MCS Wifi” or something similar - that’s to be expected after the renewal, and you can say “Yes” to connect. If you continue to experience issues connecting to MCS or get a message like “Connected, No Internet” or “Can’t Connect,” then right click on the MCS network and click “Forget,” then reconnect and re-enter your Classlink username and password (first.last, and the same password you use to log in to your email).
Note: If you can’t see the images in this email, click on “I trust content from mcstechnology@substack.com” or “Show blocked content” above this email.
Classroom Technology: There were lots of changes, shifting rooms, and installed Newline boards this summer. If there’s something amiss, please open a ticket at your school’s helpdesk email address or click on the “IT - Create a Ticket” link in your Classlink. Please take advantage of in-service week and test everything before students arrive on Day 1. The sooner you test and create a ticket, the higher on the To-Do list it will be 👍
3. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Before the end of the school year, we had everyone enroll in Self-Service Password Reset as part of their end of year procedures. The next layer being added to this is MFA, which will prompt you to approve sign-in attempts to your account from either the Microsoft Authenticator app, the Outlook app, your email, or by text. We acknowledge this is an added step that has to be done, but it’s also an added layer of protection, since our district’s email accounts experience roughly 40,000 malicious login attempts each day.
What will you need to do?Once we turn this on Tuesday afternoon (7-25), when you sign in to your school email account you will be prompted for more information like below:
On the next screen, it will ask how you want to be contacted to verify your account. The Microsoft Authenticator app offers the strongest protection, so you can choose “Mobile app,” or you can select another option like SMS Text Message or Email. Once you click “Set up” it will walk you through the remaining steps.
If you experience any issues, please contact your help desk.
Thank you and have a fabulous first week!
Andy and the rest of the iReach Crew