Online and Mobile Device Safety

Digital Citizenship..." the quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities" via teachthought.com. The rise in technology sales affects us all as parents. So how will we protect our children from the dangers and unknowns when using technology?

To help parents with this task, we've compiled a list of resources for internet safety and tips/tricks for using devices.


On the CISD home page, under Departments / Technology and then Tutorials and How Tos / Digital Citizenship.

Read more for explanation of some of our favorites.

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media website has a review page. On this page, they discuss movies, video games, apps, television shows, books, and websites. The review page is filtered by age, entertainment type, topics or ways to browse. 

Family Online Safety Institute

The Family Online Safety Institute states that their "work encompasses public policy, industry best practice as well as good digital parenting." There is an entire section devoted to good digital parenting. 

Eanes ISD Digital Parenting Course in iTunes U

The description of this course according to iTunes: "In this course, you will find resources, projects and quizzes designed to enhance parents' knowledge of the world out there and what tools do families need to be equipped with to better travel the digital road ahead."

The Truth about Teens - Everything is Social Media

Carl Hooker, the Director of Instructional Technology in Eanes ISD, wrote this blog post about teens and social media. Reading this post would be a good place to start as a parent of pre-teens and teenagers. 

There are hundreds of resources available for parents. These are just a few. Feel free to comment on resources that you find helpful in helping your children become good digital citizens. 

"Eanes ISD Digital Parenting Course-Free Course by Eanes The Truth about Teens-Everything is Social Media, Web 26 Apr. 2016 <https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/id868356158>

#TCEA16

Now that the Instructional Technology and Dragons Go Digital teams are back from TCEA, it's time to share our favorite finds! If you attended the conference and want to contribute a guest post, please contact your campus ITS; we'd love for you to share what you learned!

Here are my favorite finds from #TCEA16:

1. GIFs for instructions -- A GIF is an animated image that plays in an infinite loop. You can create your own GIFs by uploading screenshots or other images to a GIF maker (Google it to find free options). Afterwards, download your GIF and display it on the Promethean, your website, or your LMS for students to refer to when they're stuck. You could create a GIF about how to log in to a particular website, the steps of an app-smashing lesson, directions to a project, or any other instructions.  

2. Free images -- so often, we grab images from Google without even thinking. To make sure you have permission to use all the images you see, either restrict your search by usage rights, or find images on a site that only shares photos that are free for public use. Below is a printable image with QR codes linking to 5 free image collations, courtesy of  @KTyler_ITS on Twitter:

Ss & staff stealing pics from Google images? Post this & scan as needed #TCEA16 #rrisdtech @amyelott @siebershan pic.twitter.com/UoXsG2YwJ4

— KTyler_ITS (@KTyler_ITS) February 3, 2016

3. Curate tweets from a conversation -- Storify is a neat tool that lets users create a "story" from social media elements. Tina Berumen suggested using Storify in a classroom newsletter to give parents a snapshot about what the entire campus is doing. You can see the idea I added to that thought below:

Could also create a class hashtag for Open House discussion &/or student work & @storify that! #TCEA16 #TCEAdragons https://t.co/x7RCr60yy2

— Candice Karas (@ckarasedu) February 2, 2016

4. Tech talk -- integrate technology vocabulary without ever even touching a device! Check out Alli Pryor's idea below: 

When folding paper, ditch hotdog/hamburger and start talking portrait/landscape. #TCEA16

— Alli Pryor (@dlcoachalli) February 2, 2016

To read the entire conference's tweets, search for #TCEA16 on Twitter. Or click here to read just what fellow Dragons had to say on the #TCEAdragons timeline.

Data breaches and vulnerability: Data thieves, your private info and passwords, shopping online, using Wi-Fi and storing in the cloud.

The upcoming holiday season and the recent deluge of password security breaches at major retailers, leaves us feeling at risk of cyber-criminals.

This blog provides some basic points about vulnerability, password information, resources and provides you with some tools that can help protect you from the bad guys.

Your passwords, digital safety, basic security and knowing how to attack the problem of hackers along with being a well informed, vigilant individual helps keep you from being a target.

Password Do's and Don'ts

Here are a few tips compiled from the KrebsonSecurity blog   http://tinyurl.com/q8kuwrb

• Don't use a family members name or passwords with combinations of your confidential information, such as your Social Security or phone numbers. 
• Don't use the same password for your secure accounts (banking, financial and credit cards) as you use for your email accounts. It the email account is hacked, your password is at risk for all your accounts. 
• Complexity is good in a password, but length is the key to a good password. The more characters, the harder is is to attack. 
• It's OK to write down your password information but don't leave it in plain site. Best practice is to write down your username and website information which you access and put a password hint beside this information.
• There are several third-party programs that help to manage passwords, such as Roboform and PasswordSafe,. I use Passwordsafe on my Iphone but must remember the Pin to be able to access these.

Protect yourself when you click, browse and buy online. 

McAfee offers a list of scams and keeping your holiday cheer this year. This website provides info on holiday mobile scams, gift scams, not-so-merry mobile apps and deceptive and dangerous E-seasons greeting and online games.

For complete article: 12 Scams for the season  http://tinyurl.com/m8ohefm

Your secrets aren't safe

Consumer reports (July 2014) wrote an easy to read and understand (6 page) comprehensive article which addresses computer hacks, scams, smart phone hacks, malware, social media, at the doctors office, in the cloud, shopping, travel and how to protect your digital life. It includes a field guide to passwords, how to encrypt and software available to assist.

I encourage you to take time to read and apply these tips to help you attack the problem of hackers and keep you from being a target. http://tinyurl.com/q4yrfav

10 Important Password Tips Everyone Should Know

Vicki Davis writes on CoolCatTeacher and suggests switching to a passphrase, never saving passwords in a web browser, using the site name in your password, using a password manage and substituting numbers and letters. Again, the recommendation of using a unique password for your bank account and email is a reoccurring tip and recommended to change now.
http://tinyurl.com/mrjawko

GameUp with BrainPop

Seventy-four percent of K-8 teachers in a recent survey by the Games and Learning Publishing Council reported using digital games for instruction. Gaming can definitely enrich your classroom and further enhance student learning. One great gaming tool is GameUp. 

GameUp is a FREE resource through BrainPop that provides fun, interactive and educational games that will engage and challenge your students. GameUp addresses a wide variety of K-12 content areas, including: Science, Math, Social Studies, Health, English, and Engineering/Technology.

GameUp's Quality Learning Games:

- Motivate and provide goals

- Encourage participation

- Foster creative, interactive problem-solving

- Strengthen critical and systems thinking

- Pose adaptive challenges

- Spark inquiry

- Require very little prep by busy teachers

(View on Youtube)

What you need to know about GameUp:

- Search games by K-12 state standards as well as by lesson plans and grade level.

- Lesson plans, games, and quizzes/assessment tools are FREE.

- Students can also watch related BrainPop/Jr. videos if you are a BrainPop subscriber.

- Teachers can assign different game levels for differentiation.

Have you already used GameUp? What other ways are you gaming in your classroom? Let us know in the comments below.  

Resources
Digital Learning Games Used by Majority of Teachers, Survey Finds
Games and Learning Publishing Council
Jane McGonigal: Gaming Can Make a Better World!
Gamification in Education

How to Become a Connected Educator

It's the day before the start of Connected Educator Month (CEM) and more than 500 events and activities have been added to the calendar, with many more still on the way.

What is Connected Educator Month?

Connected Educator Month: All month, all free, all around the world – A celebration of community, with educators at all levels, from all disciplines, moving towards a fully connected and collaborative profession.

October is "Connected Educator Month" and the U.S. Department of Education encourages teachers to share ideas, resources and instruction about how to use technology.

Why should I connect?

Do you want to be more proficient with social media to improve your teaching practices? Would you like to connect and grow your personal learning network online and build stronger relationships with other professionals?

According to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall, authors of the Connected Learner  “Teachers must learn to model connectedness and enable students to develop personal learning networks, made up of people and resources from both their physical and virtual worlds---but first, teachers must become connected collaborators themselves.”

What are the traits of a connected educator?

• Connected educators are "do-it-yourself learners." They don't wait for someone to deliver professional development to them. They seek out professional development and learning that meets their individual needs.

• Connected educators have a "network of collective wisdom" to turn to when information and knowledge is needed. Educators who are connected have fostered and developed, over time, a network of other professionals to turn to for professional knowledge needs.

• Connected educators are "collaborative learners." They rely on others to help provide learning and they contribute to the learning of those in their personal learning network.

• Connected educators have moved away from the "paradigm of isolation and closed doors" to sharing a strong commitment with other educators to learn and understand more and more about teaching and learning. The educator who is connected no longer closes their classroom door and carries on teaching. They actively enlist the help of others and offer their help in return.

• Connected educators have leveraged online networks to solve their instructional problems through crowdsourcing and relying on the wisdom of the crowd for resources on teaching and learning. The educator who is connected does not hesitate to engage others in the face of the issues and problems of teaching. They use the crowd to learn more about the craft of teaching.

Here's the CEM signup link--http://bit.ly/cem_newsletter_signup

To follow connected educators via Twitter check out #CEM14.

View the following video to learn how to search and sign up for free professional development sessions sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Blendspace

Blendspace (formerly Edcanvas) is the perfect, free web tool for organizing and streamlining your media materials. In a matter of seconds, you can sign up for a free account and begin creating lessons using video, Google Docs, images, web links, and so much more. Have a PowerPoint that you've created? Pull that in to your lesson too! The possibilities are endless! 

Classroom Application
Differentiated Instruction
Flipped Classroom
Project-Based Learning
Student Projects (They can create their own “lessons”!)
Sharing materials with colleagues

Creating Lessons
While users have the option of creating classes, it's not a necessary step for lesson creation. After choosing, “New Lesson” users can select a layout and get right to adding content. Content can be pulled from a huge variety of sources and everything is searchable right through the Blendspace site. Once you've found what you need, drag and drop it to your lesson. You can also search the gallery for lessons/collections created by other users. Click here to view a sample lesson from the gallery.

Want to assess your students as they progress through the lesson? No problem! Users also have the option to add multiple choice assessments. Want more options? Create a quiz in Google Forms and add the form as a web link in your lesson!

Sharing and Collaborating
Lessons may be shared to classes that have been created or through a link. Users may also share or embed lessons on the web. Privacy settings can be tailored to fit your needs, and teachers have total control over who can view the lessons. Do you want your team members to be able to add content? Add them as collaborators in settings. No need to worry when sharing lessons with others because the site is web based and works with any device that has Internet.

Creating Classes
Per the Terms of Use, students under 13 may use the program with parental permission. Teachers can set up the accounts or have the students use join using a unique code. No email is required from students. One of the benefits of creating classes is the lesson tracking feature. Students can add comments to the lesson, and they can also check the "Can We Go Over This In Class?" box to notify the teacher that some material may need further discussion. Teachers can view the stats and see feedback from the students.

How do you see Blendspace being used in your classroom? Let us know in the comments below. Then create your free account and get started!

** Shout out to Candice Karas at Old Union Elementary School for sharing this awesome tool with me this summer!

SMORE Fun with Online Flyers

SMORE is a website where people can create beautiful, effective online flyers. These flyers are highly designed single-page websites with a clear purpose - like sharing technology resources with teachers, student book report or research, etc.

Here are a few things as an educator to know about SMORE:

• Students need to register for a Smore account with an email or using Facebook.
• Students can allow or disable comments on their flyer.
• Many flyers are created for promotional purposes, so kids could be exposed to a number of companies' products and services.
• Flyers created using Smore's free version will be public unless users change their profile settings.
• Smores can be emailed and then printed.
• Educators can search the Smore site for trending flyers, featured flyers or all flyer boards.

Benefits of using SMORE:

• Students can learn a bit about graphic design and how to organize information.
• Making flyers gives kids hands-on design experience, and, with a bit of help, they'll also learn to present a message to a specific audience.
• Teachers can use Smore to share content with students. Students can then comment on the Smore as a way of class collaboration.
• Smores can be embedded on blogs or websites via a link or html code. (also shared on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest)

Type of Smores to Create

Change Design, Color, or Fonts

Content that can be added to a Smore

Ways to Share your Smore

Link to Video

Some SMORE examples worth checking out: (great for ideas how to use)
TCEA Takeaways for Teachers - https://www.smore.com/uu6e
Science Night - https://www.smore.com/kua4
Teacher Newsletter - https://www.smore.com/3y6a
Library Newsletter - https://www.smore.com/va6d

Teachers if you are interested in upgrading your account there is a special price for educators, $59 a year. Upgrading gives you the ability to use your own custom background, make flyers private, see reports on your flyers, and make unlimited flyers. Click here to read about educator pricing.

Resources for this blog post:

Common Sense Review of Smore

Best of 2013

On Sunday, I flipped my calendar to December and immediately felt behind! It gets so busy at home and school-- projects, training, shopping, parties-- and before we know it, semester exams are here! In an effort to get ahead, I thought I’d start the countdown to the new year now and begin making my “Best of 2013” Technology List.

Best of 2013

Best Curation Tool: Pinterest

Favorite iPad Resource: iPad As A… 

Favorite Web Resources: Edutopia, Common Craft, iTunes U

Fun & Interactive: Thinglink, Aurasma                    

Favorite Apps: Notability, Pic Collage, Knowmia.

Something I’d like to learn more about: Creating a paper slide or RSA style video.

What are your favorite resources? What are some additional categories you would add? What resources would make your “Best of 2013” list? 

SAFARI MONTAGE

 

SAFARI MONTAGE

We know that SAFARI Montage brings digital video to the classroom to enhance the student learning experience.  We also know we can search by standards, keywords, grade range, file type, and other criteria.  Now SAFARI Montage can not only facilitate visual instruction in the classroom, but it can connect the student to district content at home.  How?  Come to one of the trainings that the Instructional Technologists are doing on all campuses this month.
                                Spooky SpecTECHular Safari is just plain spooky!!! 

Highlights of the training:

• My Locker:  a place to store digital resources you uploaded

• Creation Station:  allows for the uploading of digital resources that can be stored in your locker. Websites to PowerPoints to Flipcharts to Word documents can be uploaded.  You can add, share, and manage teacher/student created video content. 

• Some file formats that can be uploaded are:   

                Video-MOV, MP4, FLV, MPG
                Audio-MP3
                Image-JPG, BMP, GIF
                Documents-TXT, PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS       

• Home Access:  students can log into SAFARI from home to view a playlist you have created

• Add your own digital resources to Playlist:  upload documents then use them in a content specific playlist with the videos inside of SAFARI

• Bookmark a Video:  determine the start and stop points of all videos by the click of a button

• Share:  share your playlists with teachers in your school or in the district

Check out this playlist.  Click on the link, sign in to SAFARI, and follow the list of activities.

Ghost in your Genes

The video 'Ghost in Your Genes', questions the longtime belief that all inherited traits are passed on through genes.  A weblink follows with a simulation tool to test the effects of selection, mutation and chance on the evolution of a trait.  The PowerPoint on Changes in DNA with a worksheet on Identifying Mutations (with answer key) completes the science portion.  Challenge your math students with Halloween Candy Calories and Pizza Math.  Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has a cross-curricular weblink discussing the author, the scientists of her time, and includes lesson plans for middle and high school.