How to Keep Students Safe Online?

The internet may bring the world to our fingertips, but that means both the good and the bad aspects of what you can find online. Along with easy access to research materials, online museums, connections via social media, and purpose built for education apps and web tools comes inappropriate content, peer bullying, and online predators. So how to make sure the content is appropriate and your students are safe when they’re using the web for appropriate and necessary work and leisure? The handy infographic below takes a look at what students are doing online and some of the problems they may run into, along with some recommendations for teachers. 

Keeping Students Safe Online

• 95% of teenagers 12-17 are online
• 62% are visiting social networks, while only 15% are doing research/work for school
• 74% access the web on mobile phones
• 52% say they have been a victim of cyberbullying
• Less than 1 in 5 cyberbullying incidents are reported
• 37% of students report being bullied at school
• 50% of 12th grade girls spend at least 10 hours per week texting on their cell phones
• 22% of teens say they have ‘sexted’
• 15% of teens say they have sent nude photos to someone they have never met

What Are Some Issues Resulting From Internet Threats?

• Violence/Harm to self
• Violence/Harm/Abuse/Rape to others
• Nudity/Sexual content (sexting, porn)
• Inappropriate content (skipping school, linking to inappropriate sites, cheating)
• Alcohol/smoking/drug abuse

What Can You Do?

• Help students understand that some information should be private
• Talk to students about cyberbullying
• Educate students about the threat of online predators
• Encourage students to report concerns to authorities
• Implement a safe learning solution that will filter and monitor communications

Dealing With Inappropriate Content

• Do not forward, copy, download, or share the content
• Determine if the person in possession of the content has shared it
• Minimize the number of devices and people involved
• Contact law enforcement if appropriate
• If a document or conversation needs to be saved, do not include images

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/quick-guide-keeping-students-safe-online/

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Teachers Are Role Models

“I want to eat healthier, Miss,” my student said. “I eat too much fast food.”

“Go to the farmer’s market, or to the store. Don’t buy Pop Tarts.” Our farmer’s markets aren’t what they used to be. They used to be a few stalls with carrots and broccoli. Now, they’re everything from the basic organic foods to things that’d keep a foodie busy for a month.

“I don’t know what to buy.” She needed ideas.

“Asparagus is in season–”

“No! That’s gross. It’s slimy.”

“Only if it’s canned,” I told her. “Cooked it fresh with some garlic and…”

“No!” This was going to be a tough sell.

“How about some green beans with–”

“Eewww…I don’t eat green beans.” A crowd was gathering to see who would win The Battle of the Veggies. I’d need to think quick and come up with a good suggestion. I never lose.

“Oh, I got one,” I said. “How about some Doritos with a side of french fries?”

Game, point, match. Victory for me.

“Healthy living is a lifestyle,” I told the group forming. “It’s not because I live in the forest. I used to live under the airport. I choose to be this way.”

I choose to be this way…Teachers are role models.

Teachers, like famous athletes or rock stars, don’t sign on to be role models. We sign up to teach. Role model is the default, though. People get nervous about this. I’ve known many teachers who lived well outside their teaching communities so they could “have some space.” Now that we’re digital, the line between public and private has blurred further.

I think of all the teachers I looked up to–in some cases venerated. As an adult, I know no person’s a saint. I know some of my teachers probably used the “f” word in their lifetime and weren’t immune to a tirade or a social gathering of the Roman style once in a while.

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Online STEM Learning

By Matt Vangalis

From millions in White House grants to private tech companies’ awareness programs, the push is on to engage students in the critically important fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career possibilities.

It’s a hot button issue. The demand for well-educated students, especially in the STEM fields is growing with no signs of slowing down. Still, according to the National Math & Science Initiative, 54 percent of high school graduates are not ready for college math, while an astounding 70 percent are unprepared for college-level science.

A main issue that prevents students from becoming engaged in STEM is a lack of access to the courses, the content and the right teachers they need to succeed. Many schools lack the resources to fully push STEM to all students. The good news is that students don’t need to be in a brick-and-mortar school to effectively learn STEM concepts.

Online learning is a critical tool because it gives more students access to STEM education coursesand resources that might otherwise be unavailable to them. Students who don’t have access to STEM offerings at their schools can access high-quality courses online. It also serves as an outlet for schools and districts to augment their STEM offerings, which are often only offered as electives.

A 2013 report from STEMConnector said close to 60 percent of the nation’s students who begin high school interested in STEM change their minds by graduation. Schedule flexibility and the ability to work at your own pace can take away some of the intimidation factor that many students face in a STEM curriculum – a factor that often leads to a loss of interest.

STEM Should Be Hands-On

Studies show that STEM education is most successful when there’s a multi-prong approach, including coursework, applied activities and career connections. In addition to quality courses, a good online STEM program will offer hands-on opportunities for students to apply what they learn.

Online schools with year-round enrollment have a more flexible academic calendar, so online educators can better incorporate hands-on experiences, assignments and even internships into the curriculum.

Such activities are important learning tools, but are also critical in inspiring kids to think about STEM careers. Participation in internships, job-shadowing experiences and other hands-on experiences in research labs, zoos and museums are critical in helping students determine their interest and increasing their knowledge.

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Tips For Anyone Nervous About EdTech

Dear “Nervous To Try Something New With EdTech”:

You know when you spoke with me the other day and told me that that introducingmore tech into my class was fine for me because I was ‘into it’ and ‘understood’ it? That you were not going to try a new way of doing things (edtech-wise) because your students would see that you weren’t an expert. Well I need to let you in on a secret. Neither am I. It would probably shock you that me, a proponent of choice/more edtech started exactly where you are now in terms of knowledge and confidence. It took, it takes, some courage, and a big leap of faith to step out and try something new in class – in front of 30 teenagers?

How do I do it? I remember 3 key things:

I Am Not the First to Do This

“Search Engine” It – Take the simple voice recorded phone conversation. I am in Canada have no access to Google Voice – so my default is the ‘voice memo’ utility on student’s phones. I use this quite a bit and when I naively did it the first time I received files that my computer couldn’t work with. Disaster or challenge? When you get a file your computer can’t open – “search engine it”. Seriously – when the .amr and .mp3 file extensions come in from your student’s mobile-phone recorded conversations don’t panic. Just type in your problem into your favourite search engine and hit ‘enter’. Amazingly you will probably find out what you need.

I Have Help Available in Every Program/App

Prior to teaching I worked for a developer in the area of school administrative software. My job, in the early 1990′s, was to provide demonstrations of the possibilities of the program to rooms full of educators who had limited exposure to computerized administration tools. One of the biggest selling points for me was the “help” menu item. I knew the people who wrote the documentation for us and the detail that they went into to assist people to understand how something worked. I know to look at the menu items for a software program and locate the ‘help’ one. And if I can’t find my answer there – see tip 1.

My Peers Are A Great Resource

In a school of over 120 staff members the chances are that someone out there has faced a similar challenge/implemented a similar tech tool. And if they haven’t they probably know someone who has. So prior to trying the new tool/trick – send out an email and ask. Before my first on-line discussion I sent a blanket email to all the teachers on my staff with the subject “Have you done any ‘on-line’ discussions?”. Amazingly a teacher in the Social Studies department had. He was invaluable in giving me tips on how to structure and conduct the discussion. All I had to do was put it out there. If you aren’t a fan of the blanket email then ask your school librarian. They see so many classes, and work with so many teachers, that they probably have an idea of who does. And if that doesn’t work – see tip 1.

So go ahead and try something new. It could be as simple as using a wordcloud instead of a worksheet. Or perhaps allowing students to send in files that you will mark/comment on in Google Drive. In any case be sure that someone out there has an answer when you confront a challenge. And if you happen to find success – let your department, you staff, and even perhaps your online PLN know what you have done. After all the way we really know we’ve learned is to help out someone else.

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/nervous-edtech-tips/

Professional Development Tips For Schools Going

By Albert Galeas

As our 1:1 initiative moves forward, I see that there are three kinds of teachers that are part of the process:

1. The teachers who are ready for change (!!)

2. The teachers who are willing to change

3. The teachers who just want to get by

I wish someone would have told me about this! But, I’m glad I had the chance to be a teacher before becoming an Instructional Technologist. That background has led me to approach the teachers as students first & teachers second. I pondered and pondered how 1:1 should be implemented (after I had also read some literature on it). I came up with the idea that because I target three different groups of teachers, my sessions need to be differentiated to meet their needs.

So, here are my recommendations for implementing 1:1 from a professional developmentstandpoint:

1. Create a self-paced online course

Make sure that it utilizes the LMS that will become the avenue of classroom instruction. This will help the teachers learn on their own pace because we all know they are busy people! Editor’s Note: Here are some options for online courses that might help: GEDB Courses, Udemy, Intel Teach Elements, and PBS TeacherLine

2. Create one-on-one sessions

This is where teachers can get their concerns out (their voice matters), have more of a hands on approach to the products being implemented differentiated at different levels (beginners, intermediate, and advanced).

3. Create whole group sessions

These will be to target teachers at the beginner, intermediate & advanced levels. This will also give them a chance to share ideas on classroom instructional methods that can be used!

From the Instructional Technologist point of view, this approach is a lot of work, but the benefits outweigh the (effort) cost. All three groups are taken care of and will be ready when the time comes. In addition, our 1:1 is focused around Chromebooks & Schoology; therefore, the professional development revolves around learning the ecosystems of both products and instructional methods. Remember, without supporting the teachers, our efforts to go 1:1 can quickly fail.

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/professional-development-tips/

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Use Of Video In Education

By Katie Lepi

When I was a student, ‘using video in education’ mostly meant showing a movie in class. Which to me, as a student, was clearly much better than the alternative of a lecture. With so much interactive multimedia technology available to today’s students, ‘video in education’ means way more than it used to. The handy infographic below shows how to strategically adopt video technologies into your classroom to enhance both teaching and learning, and how to guide students in the development of their 21st century skills to prepare them for their role as global citizens. Keep reading to learn more. 

The Impact of Video In Education

• Video is becoming a preferred channel of communication
• Internet video accounts for 40% of all internet traffic in 2012
• By 2016, it is expected that number will jump to 62%
• Video helps students become actively engaged in their learning
• Video helps maximize school resources
• It increases engagement and excitement among students
• Video can help facilitate collaboration
• Video is appropriate for various learning styles
• It helps improve learning outcomes
• 68% of teachers believe that video content helps stimulate discussions
• 66% believe it helps increase student motivation
• 55% believe that it helps teachers be more creative
• 62% believe that it helps teachers be more effective
• 91% of UMASS students felt that using lecture capture helped them learn course material
• 44% of high school students in a study scored higher on their exams when material was presented in video format

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/use-video-education/

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Teaching About Sustainable Technology

Having a “greener” lifestyle is becoming more and more mainstream these days.  Recycling, minimizing things like single use plastics, and simply using less are on many more people’s radar than they used to be. Not too long ago, we shared some ideas on how to have a greener classroom (inspired by our friend Jon over at Green Lifestyle Changes).

There’s also lots of green technology out there. That is, technology devoted to alternative resource use, or items being designed to use as little energy and physical pieces as possible. But what about the materials that go into our beloved technology? And what about recycling them? Technology changes so rapidly these days. Our need and desire for the latest model sometimes cause us to quickly discard our once trusted devices for the next best thing or the newer model, leaving outdated gadgets with a shelf life in some cases of a matter of months.

The handy infographic below takes a look at how our love of technology is affecting our environment and why is it important we alter our recycling habits.

Sustainable Technology

Rare Earth Elements

• Rare earth elements are key to maintaining our current lifestyle and technology
• There are 17 rare earth elements
• While more abundant than other minerals, they are not concentrated enough to make them easily exploitable economically
• The US was once self-reliant on REEs, but now imports 100%, mostly from China – due to labor cost issues
• China is facing a number of issues with its supply of REEs. 2/3 have been mined already, and the remaining are of lower quality that will be more expensive to extract

How Do We Use Rare Earth Elements?

So why do REEs matter? They are used for so many pieces of technology, such as:

• Vibration functions in mobile devices
• Amplification
• GPS
• Color display
• Rechargeable batteries
• Making items smaller and lighter
• NFC
• Hard drives
• Camera lenses
• Spindle motors
• Cinematic projections
• Magneto-optic recording
• Hybrid cars
• Hydro energy
• Water treatment
• Fuel cells
• CFL bulbs
• Catalytic converters
• Solar energy
• Wind turbines
• Fuel cells
• A huge host of military defense technologies
• Satellite communications
• Fiber optic cables
• MRI
• XRay
• Lasers
• Neutron radiotherapy
• Drug therapies

Recycling

Companies in Japan are leading the way with REE recycling programs – Honda and Hitachi are just two

• Recycling REEs poses several problems:
• It is expensive
• Very little REEs are harvested from each product
• It is difficult to retrieve the REEs from products

Despite these issues it is still hugely important to recycle your electronics, due to the very low volume of new REEs around the globe.

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/sustainable-technology/

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