Currently browsing author

Tony DePrato

ChatGPT Prompts are Fake

Free computer code on screen image, public domain CC0 photo. Ok. This was a bit of clickbait. ChatGPT prompts are real, just like The Real J. Peterman is real. These prompts are not for ChatGPT, they are for you, the end user. The prompts do not grant special powers, they …

ChatGPT Talks About Zork

I asked ChatGPT this question multiple times: What is Zork? You can see the answers are constructed differently each time and not pulled from a single source.  This is why I believe the content needs to be cited as an anonymous source or interview. The AI does not pull from …

ChatGPT Plagiarism Conversation (with the AI)

Here is another one of the conversations I had with the ChatGPT AI. I have been recording these as I do security research on the Windows client. This is the second part of a conversation I had. I began getting financial data that I could use for investing. That did …

ChatGPT Data Storage Conversation

ChatGPT has been all the rage. If you didn’t know any better, you would assume it has already replaced the need to write, think, or even have a teacher in the classroom. I have multiple posts coming that should be interesting to those concerned about data security, the genuine threat …

ITBabble Virtual Learning Solution Webinar

I’ve developed a very flexible solution with iPads and some ergonomic tools/devices.    The main goal was to have tech that was useful all the time, not just during quarantine, and tech that didn’t strain the network with video standards that can’t be handled by personal home networks. The investment would …

Cybersecurity Part 4: Surviving Ransomware

By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn The scope of all the following arguments is for equipment owned by the school, or equipment approved to use at school. This post is not promoting policies for personal devices used solely at home, nor is this post addressing devices that may …

The Support Puzzle

By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I was recently in a conversation with a large group of people who provide IT Support. Many do not work in education, which is why I like the group. One of the members was recently asked in an interview to rank the …

Cubit Robotics: Probably Better Than What Your Are Doing

By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have been working with robotics since 2005. I have worked with students from US Grade 4 to students competing in university competitions. As of late, I have been shocked by this trend: remote control. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=2082 Remote control is not the future. …

Are Your Files Public? The Edlio Example

By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have written before about cloud security and file security. I was doing a simple pentesting job for a school recently and found a service they were using called: Edlio. I cannot say if Edlio has a security issue, or if what …

Going Phishing with Finalsite

By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn This video reviews a method to extract staff email and names from the popular Finalsite CMS used by K12 schools. Disclaimer: This video is not documenting any known bugs or issues with Finalsite. This video is demonstrating how Personal Information can be …

CyberSecurity Part 1: Social Engineering

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsVtHqICeKE By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have noticed an uptick recently in schools moving resources, money and time, to address cybersecurity concerns. The motivation for addressing security issues is genuine, but the approach and implementations I am reading about are less than effective. Over the …

Swimming in the Data Lake

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Educational organizations are face with the constant influx of seemingly new technology. This creates pressure (even a demand) to review, to compare, to challenge, and often, to change. The business around software is not understood nor recognized by most educational institutions. Schools …

NASA, Still Pretty Cool and Open for High School

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn NASA has a program for High School Students. Take a few minutes, and see if your students can participate. Be bothered. Be engaged.      All details can be reviewed with this link: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/stem/High_School_Aerospace_Scholars.html Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast

When TurnItIn Fails

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn   Plagiarism is serious issue for most high schools. It is rare to find a school without a detailed plagiarism policy. Most of these policies have a few tiers, because it is common for students to commit plagiarism more than once in …

Scan Your School for Unsecured Public Documents

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn How many documents do you have open to the public? When was the last time you checked to see what anyone with internet access could download from your school website, your PowerSchool or SIS public folder, or even your various cloud services? …

A Positive Start Matters

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Stress at the start of the school year is normal. I firmly believe that a positive start leads to a positive year. Here are some suggestions I like to give to people at the start of the year. What do you need …

STEAM/STEM Core Skills

  By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato   Developing STEM and STEAM programs (Science Technology Engineering/Art Mathematics) is very exciting, but I have noticed recently there is a lack of cohesive standards to measure progress. Like many people, I am working on building a set of standards. …

Run Self Hosted Tech Without Your School Building

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Imagine you have had to evacuate your high school. Could you facilitate your classes and business processes without physically being in your building? If most of your infrastructure is  in a cloud based environment, odds are you can maintain business continuity …

Subscriptions: Get the Best Deal Possible

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato I am often shocked and amazed at the prices people are paying for subscriptions/services. Believe it or not, schools pay different prices for the same products. There is usually a deal to be made, and here are a few simple tips …

Scheduling , Why Wait?

        By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato If your phone battery is not at 100%, would you still use it? Or, would you sit and wait for it to charge? If your water bottle is 50% empty, would you continue to use it, or …

Tech Savvy, Are Your Sure?

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato There are many uncomfortable situations people in technology leadership have to endure annually. Normally, uncomfortable situations are created because someone did not understand the far reaching ramifications of a single bad decision. Often, these are not isolated incidents. Too often, in meeting rooms or …

The Accidental BYOD Solution

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato After reading Patrick’s recent post about iPads and Chromebooks, I decided to wrap-up an article that follows along those same lines. The problem is, right now, (and how do I put this) our options for EdTech SUCK! In 2008, I would have said Apple …

Controlling What Students Can Access

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Recently I have been discussing multiple new security measures for academic networks. From these discussions with other schools, engineers, and suppliers, I have created set of goals to help keep the development of network security on track and within budget. Physical Access Physical access …

Tech Support Problems, Apathy, & Solutions

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Recently I was reading a Technology Directors’ forum, and noticed that a few very well established schools were explicitly looking for people to assist them in improving their technology support system (Help Desk, Help Tickets, etc.) Reflecting on how I design and implement such …

It’s Time to Regulate Social Media in Schools

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato It is spring time, and once again I am planning a new network security plan for a school. The same issues as always, and the same questions. All questions usually have answers with a price tag attached. Value in such planning …

Mobile Phone Shutdown

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato During the first few weeks before my new campus opened, many people wanted to know what the mobile phone policy would be for students, especially those students living on-campus. A decision was made to allow teachers to set their classroom norms, …

Project Based Learning and Class Size

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The Class Size Issue in Project Based Subjects The relationship between class size and project based subjects is inverse compared to studies that look at traditional courses where instruction is rote, and the differentiation needs to be very focused. Of the …

Redefine PD with the 80/20 Principle

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato A very significant part of Educational Technology Leadership is devoted to professional development, new systems implementation, and the long term planning of support. Every year as the semester starts-up, administrators around the world are planning for professional development (PD). There is …

Technology Surveys for New Hires

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Since 2008, I have been working with groups of new hires. There is much stress and confusion when people are relocating to another country. I always try and provide the information new hires need to understand the technology culture at the …

Understanding Ransomeware

                                   By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato On Friday, 12 May 2017, a large cyber-attack using it was launched, infecting more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries, demanding ransom payments in …

The Maker Portfolio and University Admissions

                  By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato I am always focused on the end-game. The end-game for students is the next level after they leave K-12. Preparing students to compete and succeed is difficult. There is always a huge …

There is No App for That

                By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato “Read every line item until you get it.” ~Michael Burry  During the last four weeks I have been reading literature, academic studies, and news articles on finance. I have studied graphs, looked through …

Predictions and FabLabs with Neil Gershenfeld

Anyone interested in STEM/STEAM spaces and equipment should watch this video. It is older, but worth a revisit. He says we need 20 years to make this feasible and affordable. I think we might be moving a bit faster. He compares the evolution of Fablabs (and personal fabrication) to the …

It’s Trendy- So Just Pay for It

  By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato  I try not to rant. However, I saw some terms of service a few days ago that made me angry. I was reviewing program that another school is running. Within the bullet points was this one:     Tuition, for …

Tech Integration: Are you mapping it?

              By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato A few weeks ago I was on a campus, but not my campus. I was speaking with some technology teachers. They would prefer to be called tech-integrators. After a short and very succinct speech …

Hour of Code: It Is Not Enough

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The Hour of Code, is a very popular event and activity hosted by Code.org. Millions of students around the world participate in the large coordinated events, and continue to use the website to learn programming. Code.org is a good resource to get …

Free Books on Programming from OReilly

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato This is not a scam. I actually have already grabbed five books for myself. Yes, these are for either adults or older students, but they are free. In fact, if you are signed into your Google Account you can add them …

Live In the Now with OneDrive for Business

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato A year ago, many people using Office 365 for Education were really angry at OneDrive for Business. When Microsoft made the official switch from the public OneDrive to the Business Version, things were not good. People forget the development most products follow. They forget …

Ecosystems and Widgets

              By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The term ecosystem is normally used in reference to biological communities. When people think about ecosystems they often visualize the different organisms and activities that coexist to maintain a balance of sustainable life. As human beings, we …

My Summer with the Surface Pro 4

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato I rarely do hardware or software reviews. Patrick Cauley, here at IT Babble, is much better at those. However, I did swap my Apple Macbook Retina for a Surface Pro 4 for the summer. After the use and abuse, I can …

Software in a Suitcase vs The Learner Profile

                By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The Problem Curriculum in a Suitcase, this is a common term and point of discussion in international schools. For anyone not familiar with the reference, it addresses the common practice of teachers arriving at …

How Dirty is Your Data?

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato My basic rule for data is, unless there is a life and death scenario unfolding, bad or unclean data is not going to be used. I have yet to encounter a situation where releasing data, which will eventually wreak havoc throughout the …

A CONTINUUM OF LEARNING

  X           By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato School administrators are often faced with complex decisions about curriculum, assessment, and the oversight of both. There is a myopic condition that can occur as conversations lead people into a spiral of good intentions …

Understanding The Cloud

  By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Cloud computing is one of the most difficult concepts to explain to people who spend most of their time working with children, running a school, and monitoring educational processes. Cloud computing is difficult to explain because it is imbued with …

Are You Ready for VR in the Classroom?

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Virtual Reality (VR), has changed more in the last year than it has in the last decade. The cost of using VR, and the various solutions, are prompting many people to start piloting VR applications in the classroom. Many of these VR …

Measurement in the Change Process

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) is a leading global advisory, brokering and solutions company. They did an extensive study on change management. In the study they state immediately and without hesitation, … Continue reading → Source: IT Babble Blog and …

STUCK in a an Authentication Loop being Pwned

By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato There are two things you never want to happen. #1 – You never want anyone to gain access to the root user or super user account of any system or piece of hardware. Even an air purifier or printer can be …

Awesome Office 365 Signatures with HTML

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The process of implementing branded email signatures has changed in the last few years. Most companies have definitely moved on to simple clean designs. The days of the big banners are thankfully gone, the few remaining hold outs are probably filtered …

Curriculum Mapping, Your Biggest Mistake

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Curriculum mapping is not a mistake. However, schools seem to make the same mistake over and over when implementing and using curriculum mapping tools. How do I know? Because I always hear different people, from different schools, make the same statements. …

What is Important is Seldom Urgent

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Before jumping into this post, here is some background on former President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower who developed the methods discussed below. I found an excellent synopsis for those unfamiliar with his legacy and prominence: Eisenhower was the 34th President …

Beyond Hour of Code

By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato A friend emailed me to get some ideas for his IB Computer Science (IBCS) class. We had recently discussed The Hour of Code, and how it was a good activity, but it was not deep enough to accomplish anything real. I …