Going Digital 1: Technology-Related Terms used at WBAIS

This year marks the second year of our 1 to 1 student laptop initiative. The purpose of this program is to meet the growing demand for access to digital tools and develop a culture of digital literacy, citizenship and productive use of technology in the learning environment.

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

Digital Citizenship 4: Avoiding Bandwidth Wasters

Our growing use of Internet resources brings with it increased network traffic and a concern about Internet connectivity slowdown. WBAIS believes that educating students is the best way to address these concerns so that the same understanding, respect and responsibility that apply 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.”

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.

Help us maintain plenty of bandwidth for academic purposes. Stay away from bandwidth wasters!!

The Tech Team

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

Boston Public Library – Netiquette for Kids

Email etiquette

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.”

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. Any child who is old enough to punch in a few letters on the keyboard can literally access the world. However, that access can also pose hazards to your children. For example, your 8-year-old might log on to a search engine and type in the word "Lego." But with just one missed keystroke, he or she might enter the word "Legs" instead, and be directed to thousands of websites with a focus on legs - some of which may contain pornographic material.

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://www.netsmartz.org

http://www.ikeepsafe.org

http://safekids.com/guidelines-for-parents

http://www.netnanny.com

http://www.cybersitter.com

http://www.radiance.m6.net

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com

http://www.kidshealth.org

http://kb.mozillazine.org

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/clipart(picture)

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.

Digital Citizenship

Got a technology question? Just ask AL!

AL stands for Atomic Learning, our online resource for software training.

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.

1. Go to www.atomiclearning.com
2. 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
3. Type your question in the search box and click on Go!
4. 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.

Our subscription to Atomic Learning includes:

• 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