EPORTAL TRAINING OCT. 1, 2014

BRIEF REVIEW OF THE EPORTAL TABLET ePortal tablets are basically hardware based web browsing devices Use the same way you would Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome on your PC Although Android based, there is no support for apps Website access is managed via URLs represented by tiles on a dashboard (URL = Uniform Resource Locator or web link) Internet access is still protected by ENA firewalls and proxies just like any other device on the ECS network

LOGGING ON TO EPORTAL Use same username as Windows logon Use the provided hardened password

USER ACCOUNTS Accounts will be created for any teacher that wants to actively manage dashboards for themselves or others Requests for an account can be submitted the usual way by clicking the Technology Request link under quick links at

ORGANIZATIONS An organization is a group of managed tablets Tablets are organized by school: ESE, HME, WSE, TAD, etc. All organization configuration is handled by the Technology Department The most important thing to understand about organizations is that when dashboards are added, removed or changed for a particular organization, *ALL* devices in that organization are impacted.

DASHBOARDS A dashboard is collection of tiles Each dashboard can hold up to twelve tiles A tile is a pictographic representation of a URL

DASHBOARDS, CONT. Dashboard creation and editing Enhanced mode vs. classic mode Deleting tiles (isn’t as easy as it should be yet) Turning dashboards on and off Testing dashboard changes Sharing dashboards Dashboards already shared within an organization Sharing allows one school to share dashboards with another

DASHBOARDS, CONT. Device groups Each ePortal cart is grouped for easy dashboard deployment Instantly push configuration changes to a specific cart or tablet

DASHBOARDS, CONT. It is important to note that all users within an organization have full rights to dashboard management within that organization This means each authorized user can edit other user’s dashboards

DASHBOARDS, CONT. To reduce the total number of dashboards and keep the tablets manageable, it is good practice to encourage more savvy users to assist consolidation of redundant dashboards or tiles Too many dashboards can become unwieldy since the tablet must be swiped like the pages of a book to navigate them Ten dashboards means ten swipes to get to the last one!

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS Raise tickets as usual to deal with any of the following issues: Hardware failures of the tablets or keyboards Website issues or incompatibilities Dashboard management problems The Technology Department will interface directly with MXN Corporation support for hardware replacements and to troubleshoot compatibility problems

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS, CONT. Typical problems with hardware: Bad digitizers Can affect just an area of the screen or the whole screen The screen doesn’t recognize when it is touched Bad keyboards The plug can break and should be handled gently Keys can fall off but can usually be gently popped back in Ideally, students shouldn’t be handling the USB port on the tablet

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS, CONT. Office suites don’t run particularly well Google Docs Mobile version runs but is sluggish Requires a user account per class Office Live Doesn’t work at all Traditional labs or laptop carts are probably better for writing assignments that require advanced formatting

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS, CONT. Logons can be cached, sometimes making it difficult to change users once logged on to a website This has been reported to MXN as an urgent issue since it may break some websites When available, a log off link on the affected page should allow a new user to subsequently log on

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS, CONT. If a tablet becomes frozen, hold the power button for a few seconds to power it off (a click may be heard) Tapping the power button will prompt for a reboot or shutdown if a website becomes unresponsive

WARRANTY All hardware is warrantied for 2 years from the date of purchase As most tablets were purchased early this year we still have more than a year of warranty left Please open tickets for the replacement of all defective hardware while the warranty is still in force After the warranty period, defective ePortal tablets can only be replaced by purchasing new ones