Pushing Groupwise Calendar to Your iPad

If you're like me you've found the iPad is a fantastic device, and if you don't have a Blackberry that can access your Groupwise Calendar at any time, having access to the Groupwise Calendar when you're off campus and without an internet connection is very difficult.  While there are some options available in the App Store, there is also a free option, if you're willing to take a few minutes to setup some filters and rules in both Groupwise and Google.

The first thing you will need is a Google Calendar account, and if you have Gmail you already have Google Calendar.

• While in Gmail click "Calendar" at the top and setup your account
• Choose "Calendar settings" from the left-side of the screen and then click the "General" tab
• Scroll down to "Automatically add invitations to my calendar" and click "Yes"

The next thing you need to do is setup your iPad to sync with your Google Calendar.  Go to Settings and then create an account for your calendar:

1. Create New Account and Choose "Microsoft Exchange"
2. The server for the account is "m.google.com" (without quotation marks)
3. Domain is the same as the server
4. Username is your FULL gmail address (ie, thomasrfellerjr@gmail.com) and your password is your gmail password
5. Select "SSL" as "On"
6. Only choose "Calendar" for your exchange account - do not activate Mail or Contacts

This will now allow you to have full syncronization between your Google Calendar and your iPad calendar.  Configuring Groupwise to publish your appointments to Google takes several more steps.  In short, you'll create a rule in Groupwise to automatically forward all appointments to Google, and then you'll create a rule in Google to automatically accept all appointments.  Please note that this is a one-way option - only appointments in Groupwise will show up on your Google Calendar; appointments you make on your iPad or in Google will NOT show up in Groupwise (if anyone has figured out a way to do this let me know, because I'm coming up empty).

Sounds simple enough, so let's walk through it.

First, go into Groupwise and click on "Tools" and then "Rules";  create a new rule and call it "To Google"

1. "When Event is" (the first line of the screen after the rule name) is "New Item" and click "Received" and "Posted"
2. "Item type" is "Appointment"
3. Click on "Add action" and choose "Delegate"
4. In the "To" field type your gmail address (ie, thomasrfellerjr@gmail.com"
5. In comments type "GWAppointment"
6. Save the rule

Next, create a second rule to auto-accept all appointments from yourself (more on the reason for this below)

1. Click "Tools" and then "Rules"; create a new rule and call it "Auto-Accept My Appointments"
2. "When Event is" is "New Item" and click "Received"
3. "Item type" is "Appointment"
4. Click on "Add action" and choose "Accept"
5. Save the rule

Now, you need to go over to Google and create an Accept rule... Login to Gmail and hit the "Create a Filter" link (up at the top of the page next to "Search the web" box)

1. From is your Groupwise email (ie, fellert.wms@pitt.k12.nc.us)
2. Enter "GWAppointment" in the field for "Has the words"
3. Hit "Next Step"
4. Click the options "Skip the Inbox" and "Delete it"

And that's it.  Here are a few things you'll need to remember:

• This only works ONE way - Appointments in Groupwise will be sent to Google but Google can not sent to Groupwise
• This will only work for ORIGINAL appointments; if you change an appointment, delete an appointment, or edit it in Groupwise those changes, deletions, or edits will NOT show up in Google (so if you delete it in GW you'll need to manually delete it in Google)
• It only works for "New Appointments" and not "Posted Appointments" (more on this in a minute) - that means you need to hit the "New Appointment" button in Groupwise if you want appointments to appear in both, if you just double-click on your calendar and do a posted appointment it will NOT show up in Google

So here's how to use all this...  When you want to post a meeting or appointment click on the "New Appointment" button; address the appointment to yourself (which it defaults to) and fill in all other information as your normally would (Date, time, location, category, etc) and then hit "Send".  The appointment request will now be sent to you, your auto-accept rule will accept it for you, and then forward it on to Google.  Once it gets to Google your filters in Google will auto-accept it and then delete the mail that sent it to keep your mailbox clean.  It's really that simple.

One thing you should be aware of is that Groupwise defaults to sending you a reply every time an appointment is accepted (or declined) to inform you of what happened.  These will show up in your inbox.  If you do not want to see these everytime you post an appointment (I don't want to see them!) then just create one more rule in Groupwise to delete the messages.  You already know how to create rules in GW (go to Tools and Rules), so I'll just put the parameters here:

1. Rule name is "Delete Auto-Accept Messages"
2. New Item is "Received"
3. Item type is "Mail"
4. Click "Define Conditions" and selected "Subject" from the pull-down menu and enter "[Your Groupwise Name] Accepted" (ie, "Thomas Feller Accepted" - replace "Thomas Feller" with whatever name shows up when you send emails out)
5. Add action is "Delete/Decline"
6. Save Rule

So, that's it - kinda a pain in the neck to setup but once you get it going everything works very smoothly!

Google Reader

As we have already discussed previously on this Blog, Google has a wealth of resources for educators. Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader) is a tool that can help you, both professionally and personally. Reader is available to you FREE with your Google Account (Gmail). It allows you to "subscribe" and follow content on a variety of webpages at one time. For example, when I log into Google Reader each morning, I am able to quickly skim headlines from a variety of newspapers (Daily Reflector, News and Observer, etc.) and other news websites (CNN, ESPN, or whatever else interests me).

There are also sites that Reader can collect content. For example, it can load Twitter postings (I follow NCPAPA and NCASA through Reader) and even your Facebook postings. Reader can be easily set up by logging in and following a simple tutorial.

One other aspect of Reader is the ability to "share" information with others. I have set up my Google Reader account where I publicly post education related articles that I find for others (my staff or colleagues) to view. Here's my shared address in case you want to check it out: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/kevtsmith01

Here's also a "Getting Started Guide" in case you need specific instructions on how to get started with Google Reader: http://www.google.com/support/reader/bin/answer.py?answer=113517