Going Digital 8: MS Laptop Program

How does it work?
This year as the WBAIS high school begins its first year with laptops, the middle school has moved into the final stage of implementing its 1-to-1 program.
All sixth, seventh and eighth graders at WBAIS are now using school-purchased laptops every day on campus. Seventh and eighth graders have the option of taking their computers home, while sixth graders are presently checking them out on a daily basis. (This policy may be changed later in the year at the discretion of the 6th grade teachers.) Checkout is conducted from our new Laptop Center, located below the library in Room 475, where students pick up their laptops every morning between 7:45-8:07 a.m. and return them at the end of the day.
What do the middle schoolers do with their laptops?
Middle school students use their laptops in a variety of ways throughout the school day. Here are a few examples:
• In science classes, students have digital microscopes available to plug in to their laptop to take photos and videos. They can also use digital probeware to find the temperature and pH of substances they are observing. Also, students manipulate data on their laptops, writing up lab reports as shared documents.
• Humanities students use their laptops for web-based research projects. They sometimes listen to audio books online, complete literature analysis in graphic format and play online vocabulary games. In addition, they visit daily websites that directly correlate to literature and history topics covered. Finally, humanities students produce and share presentations in a variety of formats.
• As part of the mathematics program, students are introduced to new topics by watching brief online videos. Their math skills are reinforced when they visit online puzzle and practice sites like Quia, Math Forum and AAA Math. Later in the year, sixth and seventh grade math textbooks will be available online.
• Laptops are used in many other middle school courses, including ELL and modern language classes and a variety of exploratory classes such as Robotics, Stock Market and Info Tech.
What can parents do to support the program?
Parents of middle school students who take their laptops home should make sure that their children remember to bring their laptops to school every day and that they arrive fully charged each morning.
For those with children who check out their computers on a daily basis, please make sure the students arrive at school early enough to check out their computers from the Laptop Center.
Even with middle schoolers, it’s a good idea to ask about their school day. When doing this, be sure to question them about how they are using their laptops and ask them to share some of their digital experiences!
References
WBAIS library online collections
USB Microscopes
Quia Online Games for vocabulary and more
Brainpop Educational Videos
Math Forum
AAA Math
NY Times article on digital textbooks

23 Things to Do Over the Summer

Whether it began because of Michael Jordan's jersey, someone special's birthday date or just a convenient number, the number 23 has caught on recently as the ideal number of "things to learn" in technology. This spring our library staff guided a group of teachers through the K12 Learning's "23 Things About Web 2.0" program where they learned about things such as podcasts, wikis, and social bookmarking; PC World published "23 Things to do with a Thumb Drive" and the Design for Learning blog has a post entitled "23 Things about Classroom Computers"

With vacation approaching quickly, the tech department is proud to present "23 Things to Do Over the Summer" - a list of technology based activities for both you and your child. We hope you will find these activities both interesting and enjoyable!

At this time we bid farewell to Steve Roberts, tech coordinator and Kim Eggerton, tech team member. We will miss you both tremendously and wish you all the best in your new locations.

Have a safe, fun vacation!
The WBAIS Tech Team

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23 Things to Do Over the Summer

1. Purchase a new family laptop. As part of our one-to-one laptop program in 2009-2010 ALL high school students will be REQUIRED to bring a laptop to school. If you have not yet purchased a laptop for your child to use in school, this summer is the time to do it! Talk to your child about his/her computer use and do research together to find the machine that best meets your budget along with these needs, then go buy your new computer and start using it!
2. Organize and clean up your email. Delete messages that you no longer need, including those in your "Sent Mail" and "Trash" folders. Organize the remaining messages with a folder or tagging system and leave your "Inbox" for new incoming messages only.
3. Create a family blog about your summer travels. You can easily do this by signing up to use Google's blogger tool (http://www.blogger.com) or any other free blogging program.
4. Learn more about the features of your family's digital camera. Read the manual or simply play with the different buttons! Many camera companies also include online instruction on how to use your camera, so be sure to check out the site of your camera's manufacturer for more ideas.
5. Make an online photo album of your family's summer activities and share it with others. There are a number of free online tools to do this, including PicasaWeb (http://picasaweb.com), Photobucket (http://photobucket.com), Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), Kodak Gallery (http://kodakgallery.com) and others.
6. Create a book of your travel photos. Many photo storage sites (like those listed above) include this feature. If you are a Hebrew speaker, you may also be interested in the Lupa program (http://lupa.co.il) for creating photo books and t-shirts.
7. Use Google Docs (http://docs.google.com)to write a collaborative story about your summer, along with your children and others who share in your travels.
8. Ask your child to show you the social networking sites that s/he uses (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Ning, etc.). If you don't already have one, open up an account of your own and get in touch with some old friends in a new way!
9. Find a game you played as a child that now has an online version and teach your child how to play, like Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk, Gin Rummy, Go Fish, etc.
10. Practice keyboarding skills! Use the program we teach with in school, UltraKey, by purchasing it or downloading its trial version (http://bytesoflearning.com/english/view/807), take some online typing lessons at a site such as "Typing Lessons" (http://www.typing-lessons.org), or play some typing games at a site such as "Free Typing Games" (http://www.freetypinggame.net)
11. Go to the Atomic Learning (http://atomiclearning.com) website, log in with our school's community log in and password (available through our library site) and learn something new about various software and programs. Lessons in Atomic Learning range start at less than a minute long so you can easily split your studying into short or long sessions depending on your time.
12. Check out the WBAIS Library's blog for parents (http://aisparents.blogspot.com or click on "Library Buzz - Parents" from the library home page). Their most recent post is about Summer Reading but you will also find past articles full of interesting information.
13. Take apart an old computer and explore its contents, visiting a site such as How Stuff Works (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc.htm) to learn more about what you see.
14. Create a podcast about your favorite hobby. If you do not have software to do this on your home computer, you can download Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) program for free. If you do use Audacity and want to create mp3 files of your podcasts, be sure to download the "lame" file as well at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows.
15. Organize your music files on iTunes or a similar program for storing music.
16. Have your child teach you how to play a game that s/he likes to play on the computer.
17. Send your favorite WBAIS photo to our tech team for posting on the school's web site.
18. Have your child go to the WBAIS Library's blog for students (http://libbuzzstudent.blogspot.com or or click on "Library Buzz - Students" from the library home page).
19. Plan a road trip using GoogleMaps (http://maps.google.com)
20. Make a podcast where you read a book to your child, then have him/her listen to it while following along in the book Your older children can do this for their siblings as well! If you do not have software to do this on your home computer, you can download Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) program for free. If you do use Audacity and want to create mp3 files of your podcasts, be sure to download the "lame" file as well at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows.
21. Download the program Jing (free at http://www.jingproject.com) and create a video to teach others how to do something you're good at doing on your computer.
22. Read and comment on posts in the WBAIS TechTalk blog (http://wbaistech.blogspot.com)
23. Think of your own, original technology based project. Share your idea with others by clicking on the "comments" button below this post in the WBAIS TechTalk blog (http://wbaistech.blogspot.com)!

Going Digital 7: Sharing with Others

On Sunday, May 31 two members of the tech department were invited to the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa to talk about our technology program here at WBAIS. The presentation focused on our current use of Blackboard and Google Apps, as well as the history and implications of our laptop program.

Questions from the Leo Baeck staff reminded us of those that have been raised by our own staff as we have gone through similar stages with our program. It was a pleasure to be able to share knowledge that we have gained with others, discussing how we have worked with our own staff to get where we are today. In addition, various programs and sites* that have been useful to our staff were shared with the group.

Throughout the implementation of our own school's technology program we have looked to others, to learn from their experience and to gain ideas. We look forward to continued collaboration with other international schools, as well as local schools, as we move forward with our own technology program.

*Programs and sites mentioned in our visit to Haifa:
Blackboard Online Learning System: http://blackboard.com
Google Apps for Sharing and Collaboration: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html
Quia for Creating Online Activities and Tests: http://www.quia.com
WBAIS Presentation to Staff on Lifelong Learning: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=df79qwfs_229hgsmg5gs
Videos about Classroom Management in a One-to-One Laptop Program: http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management/cm_video_series.htm

Going Digital 6: 1 to 1 Learning - Share your Thoughts!

As WBAIS continues its evolution into a 21st century school, it is important that students have access to the tools that will build their digital literacy skills and prepare them for a 21st century workforce. 1 to 1 learning with the use of a mobile digital device is an initiative that WBAIS has implemented as part of this evolution. Family owned laptops used by all students in high school, school owned laptops used by all students in middle school, and sets of 1 to 1 laptops in upper elementary school will strive to meet the following objectives for WBAIS students:

• Create virtual work spaces
• Explore and develop 21st century skills
• Improve student organizational skills
• Build digital literacy skills
• Practice digital citizenship skills
• Create a culture of academic and productive users
• Increase student engagement in learning activities

Learning activities which benefit from anywhere/anytime computer access include, but are not limited to:

• Production of video and audio for assignments
• Use of multimedia resources
• Reading and writing blogs, journals and wikis
• Creating and listening to podcasts of class notes and assignments
• Online collaboration, sharing and communication
• Digital word processing, analyzing and diagramming
• Management and storage of files online
• Researching and presenting online

School suggested Open Source software suite and Web Apps will provide students consistent access to word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, movie making, sound recording, basic photo editing, and Internet access to a wide variety of resources and digital tools. Some course specific software may be added as needed.

Technology support is shared by users and the school. The technology department provides Internet access to all school community users who agree to follow the school's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Students and parents are responsible for the proper care and maintenance of school laptops as they are with band instruments, athletic uniforms and any other expensive equipment. Laptop maintenance and support depends upon ownership, warranty, configuration and usage and is provided accordingly by the tech support team.

As the use of digital tools in education increases to enhance teaching and learning, we continually seek the input of our community members to assist us in planning, clarification and use of technology at WBAIS. We would like to answer your questions and are interested in hearing what you have to say about our 1 to 1 program! Please visit our ongoing WBAIS Community Technology Survey (http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cEdBY2N6R3JaSmhsdzE4SHY4U21oTHc6MA) to communicate with the tech team on this topic.

Please submit each of your questions, recommendations and commendations separately . Feel free to return to this site as often as you like. Thank you for your input.

As stated in an earlier Tech Talk article, we believe “as so eloquently conveyed in The World is Flat, there is no turning back. New technologies will constantly emerge—and, with them, will come social, political, educational, and civic change. One-to-one learning ensures that students will be ready to seize such opportunities competently, intelligently, and with social conscience.” (From “One-to-One Learning, A Review Analysis” by the Metiri Group).

Digital Citizenship 5: A Message from Ms. Manners

Good manners and civilized social behavior has been traditionally taught by both parents and teachers. The same etiquette we've learned to apply to family, friends and professional relationships, carry into the digital world. It's important that we teach our children to apply these good manners to their use of digital tools. The following ten commandments are presented by Miss Manners as a way of extending our general behavior in society to the digital world.

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.

When in doubt about my manners in the digital world I ask myself a simple question, 'What would my grandma say?" I think many of us can recall an individual in our life who instilled in us the common since to apply good manners to a variety of settings. It's import that we instill in our children the same common sense when applying good manners in the digital settings. For more information on netiquette and internet safety you can visit the following sites.

http://course.cse.ust.hk/comp102/Info/digitethic.htm
http://www.edutopia.org/whats-next-2008-netiquette-guidelines#sidebar
http://www.edutopia.org/netiquette-guidelines
http://www.bpl.org/kids/netiquette.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Et8PzXHlcA&NR=1
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df79qwfs_149drc2x73g
http://netsmartkids.org/computers.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esj-PBmXjCU&feature=related

Going Digital 5: Laptops Required for all High School Students for 2009-10 School Year

As WBAIS continues its evolution into a 21st century school, it is important that students have access to the tools that will build their digital literacy skills and prepare them for a 21st century workforce. For the past two years we have strongly recommended that students use their family-owned laptops to complete digital assignments at school. Next year, all high school students will be required to follow this college-model 1-to-1 laptop program by bringing their family-owned laptops to school when needed for learning activities. Currently 50 percent of our high school students have registered their family-owned digital assistants (laptops, net books, and/or itouches) for use on our school network. Our requirement is for 100 percent of our high school students to have their family-owned laptops registered and used on campus for the 2009-10 school year.

Why family owned in high school?
As opposed to the elementary and middle schools, our high school has a more diverse approach to laptops, in part because increasing numbers of family-owned laptops have been brought to the high school by students over the last three years. During the 2006-07 school year an estimated 40 family owned laptops were used on campus; this number has more than doubled with the move to the new campus and the increased use of computer resources by high school courses.

This diversity serves the high school students well because some benefit from inexpensive laptops, while others benefit from tablets or expensive laptops. Instead of trying to implement a uniform program as in middle school, this broad range of laptops in high school allows families to address the individual needs of their students. Fulfilling this goal for all students would be very difficult for a school our size. In addition, this makes sense in that high school students should develop the skills and maturity to care for their own laptops, as they will when they go on to university.

Why do we use the term “family-owned laptop”?
We believe in the importance of parent involvement when it comes to the use of the Internet and other digital tools by our students. Our young high school ladies and gentlemen still need parental guidance in the area of digital citizenship, digital manners and laptop care. Family-owned indicates that the laptop is shared by the family. Its use and data should be appropriate for any member of the family to operate and view. It is important that parents take an active role in monitoring the use of the laptop. The student needs to feel a since of responsibility to the family for the care and use of the laptop. While your high school student may be the primary and sometimes only user of the laptop, parents and other family member should feel free to use the laptop when not in use by the primary user. However the actual ownership, responsibility and use of the laptop are a family decision.

What laptop should our family purchase?
Your choice of laptop should match your child’s or family's needs. The educational program of some students only requires them to do Internet research, word processing and occasional multimedia presentations. In this case, simple, somewhat inexpensive laptops known as netbooks (such as the HP Mini Note or Lenovo IdeaPad) may meet their needs. Some 1-to-1 programs are even exploring the use of smart phones (such as the iPhone or Palm Treo) with Internet, word processing and spreadsheet applications to satisfy their school computing needs, but students should check the requirements of their class syllabuses before selecting this option. Some students who take multimedia-rich electives probably will prefer high-end laptops that easily handle video and other large graphic editing.

The nice thing about our program is that the choice and expense is up to you. To help you with this, you can use the following specifications as a guide when purchasing your family-owned laptop. Most school-related tasks can be accomplished with the following generic hardware specifications, the same guidelines we use for purchasing our desktop and laptop computers. Both Mac and PC models will meet these specifications. The laptop you choose may meet more, less or the same specifications depending upon your student’s needs.

* At least a 1.7 GHz processor,
* At least 1 GB of RAM
* 80 GB hard drive or higher
* 802.11 b or 802.11g integrated (internal) wireless network card
* Network/Internet: Built-in 10/100BT network card
* Combo drive DVD-R/CD-RW
* Ability to set multiple network connection location profiles
* Ports include Fire wire, USB x2, Ethernet, sound in and out, and data projector connectivity
* Built-in mic and speakers
* Battery life of 4 or more hours
* Good anti-virus software and spyware protection programs
* Three year repair and replacement warranties

Optional add-ons or replacements
* Software: Vendor’s educational bundle if available
* Protective case and bag for extra care and easy carrying.
* Extra battery of 4 or more hours of use between charges
* Extra power unit (cord and transformer)
* Additional memory and hard drive space is recommended for students doing video editing

To further explain the 1-to-1 family-owned program in high school and address some of your questions, we will have two information sessions during Parent Teacher Conference Day, on March 6, at 11 AM and 12 PM. Please plan to attend one of these sessions as your feedback will help us further customize the program to meet the needs of our school community. At that time we will also have local computer vendors on campus who can talk to you about their laptops and other digital assistant devices.

For more information about our 1-to-1 laptop program feel free to visit our Going Digital blog (currently being developed) and Tech Talk blog (which archives all our technology-related newsletter articles).

Keep Computing!
The WBAIS Tech Team

Going Digital 4: ES Tech Program

Many of our recent newsletter articles have addressed our one-to-one laptop program. This program is being implemented this year in the 7th and 8th grades and will be extended to the entire middle school (school owned computers) and high school (family owned computers) next year. One may ask, “What about elementary school?” This article will address our current technology program for our younger students, highlighting ways we prepare them with 21st century skills.

Elementary school students work both in the lab and in the classroom on integrated projects as well as acquiring and reinforcing basic skills, sometimes through whole class instruction with the use of Smartboards and projectors and other times individually or in small groups on computers.

The kindergarten, first and second graders have a weekly time in the computer lab and third, fourth and fifth graders visit the lab according to projects they are working on. There are times when weeks may pass between projects but there are other times when these students may work in the lab twice or three times a day!

K-2 children’s weekly classes alternate between using educational software and online activities that reinforce topics covered in class and doing integrated audio, video and graphics projects. Some of the programs used include:
• Kidpix - Graphics (Grades K, 1 and 2)
• Mango Plumo Space and Weather (Grade 2)
• Fun with Architecture (Grades K and 1)
• Millie’s Math House, Sammy’s Science House and Trudy’s Time (Grades K, 1 and 2)
• Map Machine (Grade 1)
• Scholastic Keys (Grades 1-2)

Lower elementary students’ activities and work can be viewed by logging in to the class’ Blackboard site. Here’s how you do this:
1. Go to Blackboard by clicking on “Blackboard” on the right hand side of our school site or by going there directly at http://nesa.blackboard.com
2. Log in with the username “esfamily.wbais.il” and password “ShalomK-5”
3. Click on your child’s grade
4. Click on “Computer Projects”

An integral part of our third and fourth grade program is keyboarding. All third and new fourth graders have basic keyboarding classes and returning fourth graders work on improving their skills. Students in these grades also work with images to create presentations (i.e. the third grade rock project) and they do some guided research through selected sites (i.e. fourth grade sea mammals work). Fourth graders are introduced to Inspiration to brainstorm and learn formatting as they word process various projects throughout the year. This year third and fourth graders are also invited to contribute to our library’s WBAIS Book Review Blog, preparing them for future digital collaboration projects.

Our oldest elementary school students jump fully into the world of the Internet and Web 2.0 tools. Participating in the NE/SA Virtual Science Fair for 5th Graders (NVSF5th), these kids contribute to group blogs and wikis, produce multimedia projects and collaborate with high school mentors in another school. In addition, fifth graders learn research skills through various social studies and science projects, produce various types of digital projects, and they participate in grade level Blackboard blogs about literature and more.

Getting school email accounts, independently researching via the Internet and using Web 2.0 tools may be new to many fifth graders. As a result, digital citizenship is emphasized with them and lessons are taught in web etiquette, advanced searching and Internet safety. It is our hope that these skills, along with all technology skills covered in elementary school, will serve as a solid base for our students as they enter our one-to-one program and throughout their lives.

Happy Holidays from the entire tech team! See you next year!