Thursday, December 18, 2008
Going Digital 4: ES Tech Program
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!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Going Digital 3: Technology Tools Commonly Used at WBAIS
While working with computer technology, students develop a set of skills with various digital tools that they utilize at school and at home. Some programs have been purchased by the school but as more and more alternate Open Source software is available we are providing students with a wider variety of tool choices to get their work done. Here are some of the programs that are presently installed/used on school computers:
Office Tools (Word Processing/ Spreadsheets / Presentations)
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
Google Docs *
Open Office *
Graphics Editors:
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Macromedia Fireworks
GimpShop *
Internet Browsers:
Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox *
Multimedia:
Photostory 3 for Windows
Windows Movie Maker
Adobe Premiere Elements
Creating and Editing Audio Files:
Audacity *
Learning how to Keyboard:
UltraKey
Graphic Organizers:
Inspiration
Tools used primarily by K-2 students:
Clicker
Kidpix
Please note that all programs marked with an asterisk (*) are free Open Source software and can be downloaded on to your home computer by following the links provided. You may also be interested in other Open Source alternatives, listed in the article The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives, or in reading about the pros and cons of Open Source Software.
We hope that by familiarizing yourselves better with the tools your children use in school you will better understand them as they discuss their laptop and other computer use. If you would like further information about technology tools used on campus, feel free to contact anyone on the tech team .
As always, you can learn more about our school's technology program by reading the WBAIS Tech Talk Blog .
We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
WBAIS Tech Team
Friday, October 31, 2008
Going Digital 2: Future School Plans
As part of our new campus vision, 2007-08 marked the beginning of an initiative for WBAIS to become a laptop school. Following a successful pilot program with 7th grade, plans were put in place to phase in 8th grade, recommend the required use of family owned laptops in high school and explore the use of laptops in elementary classrooms. This initiative supports our technology mission with a focus on Digital Literacy, Digital Citizenship and enhancing the learning opportunities that multimedia and collaborative communication bring about. It is a student centered educational program designed to use digital tools in the learning environment while meeting our growing demand for student access to computers. Students are learning to digitally receive, organize, produce, communicate and submit course materials and how to make choices about learning tools.
The WBAIS laptop initiative is a natural progression from the teacher laptop initiative implemented 5+ years ago. Students' skills and knowledge will be integrated into the instructional program the same way that teacher laptops digitized the way teachers manage, create and present learning materials, as well as report on student progress. The term laptop in this document includes any personal digital assistant tool that can be used to meet the academic computer needs of a student.
As teachers, students, parents and administrators prepare and plan future educational opportunities, the general statements in the box below will be included in next year's school documents to inform the WBAIS community and guide our evolution in the use of laptops as a learning tool. In addition, the MS 1 to 1 laptop project FAQ document will contain similar statements to reflect our current direction in each division. While these statements speak primarily about the distribution of hardware the initiative is very much an educational initiative with a focus on laptop use as a learning and management tool.
In Order to meet the growing demand for access to digital tools in the learning environment and develop a culture of digital literacy, citizenship and productive use of technology in the learning environment,
By the school year 2009-2010:
• ES Program: School owned laptops and handhelds will be used in kits to provide 1 to 1 computer use in classrooms (primarily 5th and 4th grade)for projects and activities at scheduled times. Computer lab will be available for instruction and project use (Primarily K-3).
• MS Program: School owned 1 to 1 student laptop program for grades 6 – 8 to provide 24/7 access to a standard set of digital tools and resource for all Middle School students. Thus developing a culture of productive use of these learning tools. Tech support provided by WBAIS and laptop support partner.
• HS Program: Family owned 1 to 1 laptop program is required for all students following a college model. This program is designed to meet the individual computing needs of the student's program of study. A list of basic computer specifications will be made available. Tech support is the family's responsibility. Two computer labs are used for high end technology rich courses and special projects.
• Teacher Program: Teachers will continue to be provided with a laptop to serve as their teacher computer for school to home to school use. This will be instead of a desktop not in addition to a desktop. All desktops currently in classrooms will remain but will not be replaced or upgraded
once they are retired. Teacher laptops are upgraded annually by request and recommended on a 4 year use schedule.
Why school owned in ES and MS:
• We are establishing a culture of laptop use as a learning tool not an entertainment and recreational tool. School owned laptops gives us the control needed to begin establishing this kind of culture.
• Equality of computer need is standard in elementary and Middle School. Providing school owned laptops maintains this standard and equity among student peers.
• School owned Laptops can easily be configured for our network, supported through a cloning process and installed with software needed for MS courses ans ES classes. This would be very difficult to manage with family owned laptops and elementary and middle school students may not be as capable as high school students in managing their own tech support and formatting needs.
• We have the option of clearing hard drives and reformatting laptops in instances of inappropriate use with school owned laptops. We would not have that option with family owned laptops.
Why family owned in HS
• The diversity in courses and the interest of the student requires different standards of computers for different groups of students.
• This diversity serves the HS students well because some benefit from inexpensive handhelds, netbooks, PCs or laptops, while others benefit from tablets or expensive laptops.
• We are moving toward the use of a broad range of laptops in the high school instead of trying to implement a uniform program as in the middle school.
• HS students should develop the skills and maturity to care for their own laptops, as they will when they go on to college and universities.
• Managing the Tech Support for this diverse use of laptops is better achieved on an individual basis by the student's family.
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).
Our staff is spending in-service time this year preparing for our expanding laptop program. Families of students entering grades 9-12 next year should be preparing to purchase a laptop for their high schooler if they have not already done so. Suggested laptop specifications are available near the end of the student handbook in the section titled, "Recommendations for Home Computers."
Friday, September 26, 2008
Going Digital 1: Technology-Related Terms used at WBAIS
Currently all 7th and 8th grade students have school owned laptops. In addition, a growing number of our high school students are registering their family owned laptops for use on campus, following a 1 to 1 laptop model that is similar to those used by colleges. This year we also hope to begin exploring the use of laptops as an integrative tool in our elementary school. While working with our computer technology, students develop a vocabulary of digital tools that they use at school and at home. Here are a few of those terms with a brief explanation of each.
- Our Network: The system that connects all campus computers, printers, wireless access points and other devices to each other and provides these devices with access to the World Wide Web (Internet). This is also call a Local Area Network (LAN) because it covers a small geographical area like our campus. Students who move with laptops from home to school sometimes need to reconnect to our network through an IP switcher or other device when they return to campus.
- Servers: are computers with large hard drives designed to store teacher and student files. WBAIS school servers can be accessed from any school owned computer on our network but they cannot be accessed from home.
- G Drive: is how our student and teacher server is identified on our network. As the G Drive is one of our school servers it is not available off campus.
- Novell: This is the WBAIS user management and security system which students and staff must log into in order to connect to the servers on our network. Novell is currently only installed on school-owned computers and it is not available off campus.
- Squirrel Mail: This is the WBAIS web based email system used by students in grades 5-12 and staff. Students are expected to use Squirrelmail for all school communication and they are given the option to use it for private mail from home as well. Squirrelmail is available through the Internet at school or at home.
- Blackboard: Blackboard is a secure online course delivery system that provides students in grades 5-12 with a web based portal to access class materials, have class discussions and turn in assignments. In addition, parents and students in grades K-5 may find class newsletters and other information by logging in to this system. Also referred to as the NE/SA Virtual School (NVS), our Blackboard site is shared by 19 schools in the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools. Blackboard is available both at school and at home.
- PowerSchool: is a WBAIS secure web based system that facilitates communication on students academic progress to students in grades 6-12, parents of children in grades 6-8 and staff. This system is available both at school and at home through the Internet.
- Google Applications: These publicly accessable web based applications are accessed by logging in to Google with any email address. They may be reached from school or at home and are managed by Google.
- GoogleDocs: This system includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentation and online forms. It is used by many staff and students to share documents, collaborate on projects and manage course materials. This system is available to anyone through the Internet at school and at home.
- GoogleCalendar: This web based calendar is used by students and staff in grades 6-8 to show major projects and tests coming up. Some students in these and other grades have also set up a private calendar through this system. Staff members use Google Calendars to share meetings, events and facilities use with each other and the community at large.
- GoogleBookmarks: This is an online system that allows users to set up a bookmark system with links to individually chosen web sites that can be reached whenever a user logs in.
- iGoogle: This is a web page set up by an individual with links to various applications. For example, students in grades 7 and 8 have set up their own school iGoogle pages with links to their calendars, documents and bookmarks.
We hope that by familiarizing yourselves better with these terms you will better understand your children as they discuss their laptop and other computer use. If you would like further clarification of technology terms used on campus, feel free to contact anyone on the tech team.
You can learn more about our school's 1 to 1 laptop program by reading these upcoming Tech Talk articles: Going Digital 2: Future School Plans and Going Digital 3: Digital Tools. Previous articles are also available to you in the WBAIS Tech Talk Blog.
We wish you all a happy, healthy fall holiday season!
WBAIS Tech Team
Friday, August 29, 2008
Digital Citizenship 4: Avoiding Bandwidth Wasters
Digital citizens use technology wisely, responsibly and for the common good. They understand that using a home computer or small home network is different than using a large network devoted to academic purposes. At WBAIS we strongly believe that everyone should strive to be good digital citizens. This includes being conscious of the effect our use of a shared network has on other users.
The amount of data transferred through a network is called network traffic. Just as traffic on a highway can slow down when use is at its highest, traffic on a local area network (LAN) can slow down its users’ connectivity to the Internet. Good digital citizens help to keep network traffic down by avoiding certain sites when on a LAN, such as our school network, which is shared by many users for academic use. Examples of sites to avoid include the following:
Bandwidth Wasters = traffic slowdowns
- Sites that are dedicated to instant messaging and chat should not be used in school. Even running these sites in the background while waiting for contact from another user causes repeated packets of data to be sent to and from your computer, increasing network traffic. WBAIS network users should make sure that these sites (i.e. Skype, msn, icq, etc.) do not automatically open on their computers when started up and that they are not used during school hours, unless a teacher has specified using them for an academic activity.
- Music and video download sites can cause network slowdowns for other users as these files are often very large. Any downloading for academic purposes should be limited to after school hours.
- Network and Internet gaming sites and software which require a constant connection between computers can also increase network traffic as data is constantly traveling between computers. Unless used for an academic activity, we ask that these sites not be used at WBAIS during school hours.
Other Sites to avoid on shared networks
- Time Wasters – On-line game sites and sites about how to cheat at games. Staying away from such sites helps protect our network from spyware that many of these “free games” sites install on computers. Spyware can open a window to your computer from outside and may also send repeated data packets to and from your computer.
- Inappropriate Content Sites – Sites with content of an “adult” nature, bullying and harassment. Other than the fact that they are non-academic in any way, these sites can often install a series of POP up windows that appear automatically whenever using a browser which slows down a network.
- Up-To-No-Good Sites – Sites dedicated to hacking, virus creation, and defeating content filtering are in direct violation of the school AUP. I suggest you check with your home network providers as using such sites may also violate their policy.
The Tech Team
Friday, June 06, 2008
Digital Citizenship Part 3 - Netiquette
WBAIS believes that through education, students can learn and practice digital citizenship so that the same understanding, respect and responsibility that applies to our social, professional, hardcopy world can be applied to our digital world. The fifth WBAIS Technology Standard, adopted from the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE), includes a statement that students at our school will “advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.”
Using good manners on the Internet are extremely important. The way that a person presents him/herself reflects who s/he is, whether it is in person or online. In addition, one must remember that there is a human being on the receiving end of messages written online so the “Golden Rule” should be remembered and followed at all times – do unto others as you'd have others do unto you.
The term “Netiquette,” a contraction of the words Internet and etiquette, is commonly used to refer to the etiquette of cyberspace. In other words, netiquette is a set of rules that we follow for behaving appropriately online.
A few basic rules of netiquette include:
- Avoid hurting someone's feelings with e-mail, while chatting, etc. Remember that the written word is hard to interpret. When you speak to someone, that person can hear the tone of your voice. If they can see you, they can take visual clues from your face and body to better understand your meaning. All of this is lost in text, and sometimes responses can come across as mean or rude, even when you did not intend them this way.
- Always identify yourself and what you are going to write about. Never send e-mail, messages in online social groups, etc. without including a subject on the subject line and your name at the bottom. Similarly, don't post forum messages without identifying yourself, this is seen as rude. If you have set up an online name for your child instead of his/her real one, that's fine – but one name should be used consistently.
- Don't be hasty when you send... if you write a message when you're upset, wait before you send it.
- Respect the privacy of others. Don't share someone's email address or private information without their permission.
- What's perfectly acceptable in one site may be considered rude in another. Before asking or responding in a newsgroup, discussion board, etc, take the time to feel the group out. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. If the site seems like one that is appropriate for you, go ahead and participate.
- Respect other people's time and bandwidth. If a message is personal in nature, send it via email or in a personal message area instead of posting it for large groups. Set up group addresses to send mass messages, i.e. jokes. only to those who have asked to join your group. Unless they are to be printed, resize photos before sending them or upload them to a site and send the link for others to view them. Think twice before sending large audio and video files via email as well.
The WBAIS tech team suggests that before the summer begins, you go over these basic rules of netiquette with your child and explore some of the reference sites below together.
We wish you all a fun, safe vacation – both at home and in cyberspace. See you in the fall!
The Tech Team
References
The Core Rules of Netiquette
A Kid’s Guide to Etiquette on the Net
Digital Citizenship Part 2 - Content Filtering
As mentioned in our last newsletter article, the growing use of digital tools brings with it concerns of inappropriate access. WBAIS believes that educating students is the best way to address these concerns so that the same understanding, respect and responsibility that applies to our social, professional, hardcopy world applies to our digital world. The fifth WBAIS Technology Standard, adopted from the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE), includes a statement that students at our school will “advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.”
It’s important to be aware of what your children see and hear on the Internet, who they meet, and what they share about themselves online. No matter how much content filtering you may try to set up, eventually it becomes a cat-and-mouse situation as new ways of getting around filters are invented. For this reason, the Number 1 rule for content filtering is to:
Teach your child appropriate computer use
Help your child understand what to do if inappropriate sites pop up, who it’s o.k. to chat and email with and how much information can be shared online. Keep your door open to conversations about what is viewed both at home and at their friend’s houses. Help your child understand your own family’s rules about what you believe is appropriate content for his/her age level. There are a number of sites which can help you teach your child about appropriate use, including NetSmartz, iKeepSafe and SafeKids.
In addition to talking with their children, some families prefer to set up content filtering. You can do this by taking the following steps:
I. Talk to your service provider
Many Internet service providers (ISPs) provide parent-control options to block certain material from coming in to your child's computer. If you are interested in having these options set up, talk to your provider (i.e. Netvision, Zahav, Hot, etc.) to see if they provide such a service.
II. Set up Internet Browser Filters
Set the Internet browsers on your computer to filter content. This can be done both in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox:
Internet Explorer
1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click on “Tools” then “Internet Options” then “Content” (tab)
3. Click on “Settings” under “Content Advisor” and set up your filters and password by using the tabs at the top.
4. Click “Enable” under “Content Advisor” Close all Explorer Windows
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox does not include a built-in content filtering system, but you can download free extensions to the program such as Glubble or ProCon to add filtering for this browser.
III. Set Google Filters
You can set up your Google search filters as well. If you decide to do this, it must be done in both Explorer and Firefox (and Safari or other browsers you may use). To do this:
1. Go to Google
2. Click on “Preferences” (right of search bar under “Advanced Search”)
3. Under “Safe Search Filtering” choose the amount of filtering you would like to have.
4. Click on “Save Preferences” and “OK”
IV. Purchase commercial filtering software
If you feel that the above steps aren’t enough for your family, you may wish to look into installing commercial software that deals with content filtering, such as Net Nanny, Cybersitter or Naomi Family Safe Internet . A review of some of these software packages can be found on the Top Ten Reviews Site.
References
http://safekids.com/guidelines-for-parents
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Digital Citizenship Part 1: Appropriate Use
The growing use of digital tools brings with it concerns with student inappropriate access and use of information and communication technology. WBAIS believes that educating students is the best way to address these concerns so that the same understanding, respect and responsibility that applies to our social, professional, hardcopy world applies to our digital world. To this end the fifth WBAIS Technology Standard, adopted from the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE), is titled Digital Citizenship. This standard notes that students at our school will “understand human, cultural, and social issues related to technology and practices legal and ethical behavior.” In detail, this means that students will:
- advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
- exhibit a positive attitude towards using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
- exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
Below are a few initial strategies addressing growing concerns with our student's appropriate use of technology tools. These were discussed during the February Technology Team and Technology Committee meetings.
- Revise the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to clarify the use of any computing or communicating device which accesses our network. This includes family owned laptops, cell phones and an assortment of handheld devices, all of which fall under the AUP when connected to our campus network.
- Review the AUP with students and publish reminders in the daily bulletin.
- Post helpful appropriate use hints in high usage areas around campus. For example, “LARK” (below)
- Encourage teachers to integrate Technology Curriculum Standard #5, Digital Citizenship into appropriate lessons and activities.
- Publish newsletter articles focusing on the Appropriate Use of Technology and Digital Citizenship
This article is the first in a series of Digital Citizenship articles that we plan to publish through our school newsletter and Tech Talk blog http://wbaistech.blogspot.com/ . We hope to raise the awareness of Digital Citizenship among all our community members and provide them with some strategies that will help educate our students both on and off campus. This is not a technological issue but a cultural issue. Only through consistent efforts at school and home will our students learn to be responsible digital citizens.
To begin this effort we would like to share the following computer use hints with you. Fell free to use these hints with your students and add comments to our Blog.
Be “LARK”: Make sure your computer use is Legal, Appropriate, Responsible and Kind *
- Legal: illegally copied or downloaded software, music, video or games may never be used on any computer at WBAIS including laptops issued to WBAIS students.
- Appropriate: only appropriate words and images are used, viewed or heard. Any material you would not show to your grandmother, parents, principal or a 1st grader is a good sign of inappropriateness. If inappropriate materials are viewed or received, it is the responsibility of the recipient to see that an adult is informed.
- Responsibility: whether intentional or not, care is taken to prevent damage, changing or misuse, with all hardware, systems settings (including shared computer screen savers, network or system files) and software.
- Kind: the rights or feelings of others in the WBAIS Community are in no way treaded upon by your use of technology.
* LARK is taken from 1 to 1 Learning: Laptop Programs that Work by Pamela Livingston.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Got a technology question? Just ask AL!
Atomic Learning provides a large, online library of short, easy-to-understand tutorials. AL’s innovative approach to software training focuses on answering common questions encountered when learning and using software. How do you cut and paste in Word? How do you crop photos in Photoshop Elements? Just ask AL.
- Go to www.atomiclearning.com
- Enter user name and password. In order to get them go to the library page Online collections: http://wbais.org/%7Eaislibrary/New_Library_Page/library.php?id=520
- Type your question in the search box and click on Go!
- An answer will be provided in the form of a one to three-minute tutorial movie. The movie will walk you through all the steps needed to complete the task.
- Access for staff, students and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Closed captioning on thousands of tutorials
- Numerous Spanish language tutorials
- Al’s Weekly Tech Tips and e-newsletter
- Online training sessions on Atomic Learning
Our school has taken a big step in integrating technology into our classrooms. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality technology resources available. We want to make it easier for you to use these resources. Have a question about technology? Just ask AL.
www.atomicLearning.com