Spending Time in a Session
Lesson Planning: Use CloudApps Classroom sessions when creating your lesson plans to familiarize yourself with the environment.
Demonstrations: Utilize CloudApps Classroom sessions when demonstrating lessons to students. This helps you understand the app better and transfer effective techniques to your students' learning experiences.
Browser Compatibility: CloudApps Classroom is compatible with Chromium-based browsers like Chrome or Edge.
Maximizing Instructional Time with Spin-Up Management
Best Practices:
Plan Ahead: Inform students to launch specific applications at the start of class if needed.
Monitor Spin-Up Times: Track the average spin-up times to better plan class activities.
Creating a Session Schedule so CloudApps is pre-loaded for your students
Log into the Labs Admin Portal and navigate to the Classes tab.
Create a new Class or select an existing Class.
In the Session Scheduler section, click +Add to create a new schedule.
Enter the schedule details (name, days, start time, students).
Click Add to activate the schedule.
Tips for Session Schedules:
Set the start time a few minutes after class begins for smooth transitions.
Note that sessions will shut down after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Managing CloudApps Classroom Sessions
Ephemeral Sessions: Remember, CloudApps Classroom sessions are temporary. Ensure all work is saved to the cloud.
Build Student Habits: Create a classroom routine where students log into their cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive) at the start of each class.
Stay Active: Encourage students to keep moving in the session to avoid timeouts. Set reminders for students to save their work frequently.
Saving Work:
Avoid Relying on Microsoft Office Autosave: Autosave is not reliable in an ephemeral session as it only works on the same device. Encourage students to save their work to Google Drive or One Drive to ensure its up-to-date and safely stored.
Full Screen Mode: Remind students to work in full screen mode to activate keyboard shortcuts.
Optimizing CloudApps Classroom Experience
Click the browser refresh button for minor stalls.
Clear Browser Cache: Regularly clear the browser cache to declutter storage.
Rebooting Devices: Fully reboot devices (powering them down and back on) at least once a week. This allows district updates to be installed.
Manage Open Tabs: Avoid having too many open tabs.
Save Often: Regularly remind students to save their work.
Understand the following terms:
End-user: A student or instructor who logs into the labs and works with the installed applications.
Instance / Ephemeral instance: A virtual machine hosted in Google Cloud Platform. An ephemeral instance exists only during the user session.
Lab: A remote session hosted by itopia, providing a Windows experience with access to specific applications needed for curriculum.
Shadow Session: A session initiated by an instructor to view a student’s session real-time and provide assistance.
Virtual Machine: The virtualization or emulation of a computer system, providing the functionality of a physical computer.
By implementing these best practices, teachers can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their CloudApps Classroom sessions, creating a more productive and engaging learning environment for their students.