Welcome Back! A Few Tech Things to Know for 2026–27
Tuesday Tech Tip 
Welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful summer and that your school year is off to a great start. Shannon, Jane and I are looking forward to another fabulous year of helping you with technology, sharing new ideas, and bringing you helpful shortcuts and resources through our weekly Tuesday Tech Tips.
As everyone gets settled in, we’ve gathered a few tech things worth knowing that might make those first few weeks a little easier. Fair warning, this first Tech Tip is a little more packed than usual! We promise they won’t all be this long 😬.
As always, we’re here to help. Please reach out to us with questions about Information Technology or Inclusive Education Technology (see the end of the message for our email addresses and job specifics). For technical support, you can also contact the IT HelpDesk or submit a Tech Ticket yourself here: SD71 IT Help Desk
…and please write if you have any good ideas for Tech Tips to share!
🔐Need to change a student password?
Remember that you can use Teacher Tools to quickly change student passwords yourself.
Click here for instructions for using Teacher Tools to change your students passwords.
Don’t forget about My Apps!
My Apps is your launch pad for you and your students for many of our district programs and resources. Sign in once in the Edge Brower and use it to quickly find the programs and apps that you need. It’s also worth taking a minute to organize it so your favourites are easy to find.
To find My Apps:
You can find a shortcut on the Home page, and the SD71 Bookmarks Folder when using the Edge Browser:
To learn more about My Apps and how to customize it, watch Shannon’s video here:
🪟 Hello, Windows 11!
Some staff are already working in Windows 11, and it will be coming to everyone. Things may look a little different, but most of what you know is still there and there are some great improvements!
Click here to learn more about some of the changes in Windows 11.
Using a new Team with students? Don’t forget to activate it!
When your new Team is ready for students, click Activate at the top. Until you activate the Team, students won’t be added. This lets you get everything set up first and activate it when you’re ready. If you don’t wish to use the Team, just leave it-it will always be there if you change your mind.
⌨️ Typing Pal has some changes for 2026–27.
If you use Typing Pal with your students, take a quick look at this year’s updates before getting your class started. French Teachers, you no longer have to use Tap Touche! You can change your class from English to French right in the settings for the class! Also check out the new practice words in the MOVE ON section and you can customize the words the kids type to save the monkeys in Monkeys in Jeopardy!
Click here for more information about Typing Pal.
If you are unable to open Typing Pal you may need to be added. Please put a ticket into the Help desk: SD71 IT Help Desk or contact Kara: kara.dawson@sd71.bc.ca
📚 Looking for help?
Our previous Teacher Technology Handbook is still available, along with the Parent Handbook and Inclusive Education Handbook, so there are lots of resources to help you find your way-Click on the images to go to the handbooks and scroll down on the page.
And there’s more coming! 🎉 We are currently completely rebuilding the Teacher Technology Handbook. The new version will be a much more robust guide filled with instructions, resources, programs, tips, and answers to those “Where do I find that again?” questions.
Stay tuned for the new handbook, and have a fantastic start to the 2026–27 school year! 🍎💻
If you have a Teach Tip to share or you would like help with technology please email us:
J