Best Digital Citizenship Practices

Alternatives for anyone still using Mobile Me

Apple users that are still using iDisk and Mobile Me should be aware that the service is stopping on June 30th 2012. There are some alternatives out there. Here is an informative blog post about some of the options from TUAW.com Click here for the link

Mobility Emerges as the Next Wave of K-12 Education Innovation

The most exciting aspect of mobility tools in K-12 is the opportunity for schools to liberate young learners from the limitations of the classroom. Students no longer need to be tethered to wired desktops or computer labs. In a wireless environment, every site on a campus lends itself to the computing and communication capabilities that can enable, enrich and personalize the learning experience. Mobility is also tied to the goal of 1-to-1 computing, where students have their own computers.
A recent report produced by the Sesame Workshop urges school IT leaders to embrace the power and value of mobile technology as a force for enhanced learning. “Mobile devices are part of the fabric of children’s lives today: They are here to stay,” states Michael H. Levine, the executive director of the New York City-based organization. “It is no longer a question of whether we should use these devices to support learning, but how and when to use them.”

Khan Academy tries to flip the classroom!

Last Sunday on 60 minutes they featured Salim Khan, from Khan Academy.  He chatted quite a bit about the ‘Flipped Classroom' and Khanacademy.org. The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. The website boasts a library of over 3,000 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 315 practice exercises. The best thing about it is that it is free! By the way they also have an iPad app!

Click here for khanacademy.org

Click here for the 60 minutes segment

Bullying Awareness week

Via MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching

Study: iPads improve Kindergarten literacy scores

This year at District 81 we have tried to give our students more access to devices that inspire learning.  In fact John F. Kennedy School has 2 iPads in every classroom along with multiple laptops.  One school actually did a research study to see if the implementation was working. Click here to read more.

Today is Safer Internet Day

Here is a cool tool to help you give your family safe internet experience.

http://www.google.com/familysafety/

One of the new targets for viruses are children's websites.  The idea is that kids will click on anything and that might invite a virus into your computer.  All the more reason to keep the family network safe.

Ready to go for 2012! .... and CPS opens Youtube...

These are exciting times at SD81.   The technology department has been working hard at strengthening the infrastructure of the district's network.  We recently upgraded Lincoln's computer images and antivirus.  There are more and more viruses everyday on the world wide web, but with a strong network backbone and av protection we can be safe form infection.

I saw today that CPS has opened youtube in an effort to enrich learning through the internet.  District 81 has had the policy for a couple years now.  Again, with the right tools in place to protect students and staff,  we can use the tools of sites like youtube for the good they were meant for.