Week 3 - Acceptable Technology Use

Technology - AUP Policy

This week's assignment was difficult to add my personal touches to the Technology Acceptable Use document for my district.

I read over our district's policies and we have three school board policies. (815, 816, 817) The first is for students using the Internet, Computers and Network resources.  The second is electronic communication and social media.  The third is freedom of speech related to appropriate online communications for staff.  Each board policy is several pages and very specific and detailed.  Here is my own version of the technology acceptable use   -

Central Bucks School District (815)

ACCEPTABLE USE OF INTERNET, COMPUTERS AND NETWORK

RESOURCES

The Board supports use of the computers, Internet and other network resources in the district's instructional and operational programs in order to facilitate learning,

teaching and daily operations through interpersonal communications and access to

information, research and collaboration.

Computer use is restricted when a picture or image is deemed harmful to minors including images that:

Depicts, describes or represents in an offensive way with respect to what

is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual

or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhibition of the genitals;

and taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

The Board declares that computer and network use is a privilege, not a right. The

district’s computer and network resources are the property of the district. Users shall

have no expectation of privacy in anything they create, store, send, delete, receive or

display on or over the district’s Internet, computers or network resources, including

personal files or any use of the district’s Internet, computers or network resources.

The district reserves the right to monitor, track, and log network access and use;

monitor fileserver space utilization by district users; or deny access to prevent

unauthorized, inappropriate or illegal activity and may revoke access privileges

and/or administer appropriate disciplinary action. The district shall cooperate to the

extent legally required with the Internet Service Provider (ISP), local, state and

federal officials in any investigation concerning or related to the misuse of the

district’s Internet, computers and network resources.

Administrators, teachers and staff have a professional responsibility to work together

to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discern among

information sources, to identify information appropriate to their age and

developmental levels, and to evaluate and use the information to meet their

educational goals.

Students, staff and other authorized individuals have the responsibility to respect and

protect the rights of every other user in the district and on the Internet.

Personal additions to the AUP Policy - 

•   Use restricted to specific activities related to classroom curriculum

•   Filtering will be used at all times

•   Use limited to information directly related to course content or other approved topics

•   students may not obtain, view, or download inappropriate information (illegal, non-school related activities, offensive materials)

•    students may not share username, password

New Hope Solebury – AUP (Small school district right next to ours & similar to our AUP policy)

http://nhsd.schoolwires.net/cms/lib03/PA01001961/Centricity/Domain/64/AcceptableUseForInternet.pdf

Lower Merion School district - AUP (Large district similar to ours.  Students must take several comprehensive technology use classes in middle school and then are given a laptop for (4) years o high school.)

http://www.lmsd.org/data/files/gallery/BoardPolicies200/Policy_AR234.pdf

http://www.lmsd.org/data/files/gallery/BoardPolicies200/Policy_P234.pdf

I read over the federal laws and I understand what each school district needs to include to meet the requirements.  I also enjoyed listening to the interview with Bud Hunt, Joe Wood and Mike Gras.  Several takeaways that I got from the interview are - First,  the IT department is not looking to restrict teachers, they want what is best for teachers and students alike.  Second, restrictions on the network could be from bandwidth and also recommendations from system providers.  Last, social media and iPhone's have changed district computer use and it is very important for teachers and schools to guide students through acceptable technology uses. 

EDIM516 - Sustaining Digital Literacy

Week 2 -

I was very impressed with the information from the web interviews this week.  The interview with Larry Fleriazzo was very informative.  The details that he provided about how picky he is selecting websites and Internet tools was surprising to me.  I also liked his website.  As  I scanned the website, the  information and articles about national education policies and news are unique and details the "big picture" in education.

Richard Brynes' website has many great ideas for teachers.  The initial article and Econ Ed link is a website that I currently use.  He also has a link to a game that I am going to check out and possibly use in my Personal Finance classes.

The tool I am going to explore is Diigo.  I used this tool a few years ago because it was required for the class.  I also have co-workers who use Diigo and find it very useful for saving important websites and referring back to the sites and a description of the main purpose.  An advantages to using Diigo is that I can continue to talk to colleagues about it, ask them questions and view their pages.  I like how you can highlight parts of the website and also write notes about the website using Diigo.  

When I'm thinking about using websites I select sites that contain information that brings something new to the class.  I don't want to repeat or reinforce something that I already cover in class.  I want something that bring a class concept to life or adds a new perspective.  

I have many sources that I use in class including Econ Ed link, Financial websites and National Economics council on Financial Literacy websites.  I also use Ted talks and interviews with Business/Industry leaders.  I do not use websites from other teachers or partitioners, that is something I should look into.  

Reflection

Over the last several days I looked at the curation tools again to get a better handle on what is the purpose of online curation programs.  I looked at Paper.li and that seems to be similar to Glogster but more professional looking.  It seems very simple and easy to create an online professional looking newsletter.  I also looked at Flockler and something that they promoted is how easy it is to go from viewing your content from one to device to another.  I also reviewed Scoop.it and decided to use this online tool to create an online magazine.  Scoop.it looks easy to use and reminds me of Prezi which I use all the time.  I like to try out new online programs with my students and this may be an interesting way to create an online magazine.

Here is a link to what I have so far - Scoop It

EDIM-513 Inquiry Based Learning

EDIM-513 Inquiry Based Learning

 Week 1 - Initial blog post When I first started reading about Inquiry based learning I thought it could be very different than the current structure of teaching in my classroom. The first part is to create student interest (ASK). Next, is for students to INVESTIGATE or find background information and research the topic. Next, students should CREATE something such as a presentation or some type of product (brochure, Glogster Poster, Prezi presentation. Lastly, students PRESENT, DISCUSS and REFLECT. Most of the projects and activities in class already include similar components of class discussions and student reflections. When I looked back at the structure and also an example of an Inquiry Unit on careers I found that what exists in my classroom is not that different.

What new insights have I developed? I am hesitant to loosen the reigns of my class and have lessons be more students driven. I think that I am looking for certainty in each lesson. The students are programmed to look for certainty also. In many lessons students needs a specific desired outcome to achieve the level of expertise and grade that they want.

The questions that I have are how do you use and implement Inquiry based learning and also make sure that students are prepared for the assessments and exams? If the students drive the direction of the lessons how do you make sure that they are getting exactly what they need?

EDIM 516 - Sustaining Digital Literacy

My Introduction -

I live in Doylestown, PA with my husband and 3 children. I have a son at Penn State and a daughter at the University of Pittsburgh. I also have a son who graduated from Penn State and has a full-time job. I worked in finance and business for a number of years before starting my teaching career. I teach at CB South High School in the Central Bucks School District. I teach Personal Finance and several technology classes. I love teaching at the high school and the kids in our district are terrific. I am currently enrolled at Wilkes as a graduate student in Instructional Technology. This is my fifth class in the program.

Week 1 - Sustaining Digital Literacy blog questions I find many of teaching resources from the school districts website on staff professional development. The district has links to PA Business standards and CBSD course standards-based objectives. The district also has links to sample formative and summative assessments. We also focus on implementing strategies and lessons that promote growth mind-set, deepening learning and how to give effective feedback. I also use an online lesson planning system from the National Economic Financial Literacy program. (NEFE resources) The resources are free and provide up-to-date financial literacy content. I like using the NEFE resources because they updated their entire system with strategies for financial well-being based on economic changes since the 2008 Financial crisis.

I also review current financial websites - CNN Money, Yahoo Finance for articles and video on current events. I also reach out to the community and business owners who would like to participate in our class discussions and learning modules. I've had guest speakers, Skype interviews and email and chat interviews. The challenges that I face have to do with timely access to outside resources. A lesson or activity on Investing or the stock market often needs to be changed as our economic situation changes. I also run into our district blocking access for students to financial websites and our district is very cautious with the use of technology. We are not usually front runners in allowing students to try new technologies.

EDIM516 – Week 1 Reflection

I enjoyed working this week on the blog for this class.  I haven't used a blog in a year and had an opportunity to make adjustments to the blog I use for Wilkes classes.  I changed the background colors, text titles and links.  I also had an opportunity to respond to comments placed on my blog by classmates.  I only used the discussion reply at the Wilkes site previously.  I also thought that Blackboard collaborate was a very interesting way to view the recorded session on Tuesday, June 26^th.  I was not able to view the session that evening but I did the next day.

I also enjoyed watching the video from Linda Yollis on Engaging in Civil discourse.  She had several very good ideas about how students should use social media and commenting.  The Prezi presentation on content curation was interesting also on making sense of all the information available on the Internet.  It is overwhelming to try to determine what Internet resources are the most useful for students as well as teachers.

Digital Identity

Here is a link to the Visualize me site http://vizualize.me/skutz?r=skutz

Digital Identity

Here is a link to the site Visualize me - Personal Digital Portfolio Project Reflection: I thought that this project was interesting and useful for me as well as possibly for students. The site that I used Visualize Me was easy to use and allowed you to create a digital portfolio that looked good and contained important information similar to a resume plus so much more. I also think that I will use this with students to get a fresh and digitalized version of creating a resume. This could an opportunity to present a lesson to students about showcasing classroom work and projects from high school. I could also include in the lesson information about linking social media sites and how colleges are looking at all aspects of students digital footprint.

Broadcast Yourself

When I looked at this week’s assignment what concerned me the most was how I could learn new web broadcasting technology and also get it up and running well enough to broadcast my own Webinar.  Personally I was not concerned about broadcasting myself, setting up the audio or what the content would be about.  Getting the technology to work for my laptop and others within the group was my #1 concern.

The first step was to identify a broadcasting service.  I looked for APPS that were free that could work with an IPAD or MAC.  I couldn’t find anything but I did select GotoMeeting that I’ve used with Webinars that I attended.  I established a login & password and reviewed several of the online how-to tutorials.  The Quick start included how to schedule a meeting, and all the features on the control panel.  They also had scheduling and hosting a meeting.  The tutorials included how to use the webcam, audio, chat and recording features.  The tutorials were informative and helpful.  I contacted my friend Nancy Potts through a phone conversation and email to coordinate the GotoMeeting session.  I had wanted to speak to her about our upcoming trip to Europe and I also thought that she was tech savvy enough to do the meeting with.

In preparation for the GotoMeeting session the topic I needed to discuss was where are

I did a test broadcast with one of the computers in my house as the attendee and my laptop as the broadcaster/presenter.  I was happily surprised that the session, chat, webcam, Internet presentation all worked.  Next I did a test session with my friend before the official session later in the day.  The test session worked with her computer but she did not have a webcam.  She was able to chat, see me through the webcam and hear the audio transmission.

Next I needed to prepare for the scheduled session.  The main topic of discussion was to summarize her experiences in visiting Spain, what are the main attractions to visit and how to best prepare for our upcoming trip.  I’ve never traveled to Europe and I wanted her advice.  I prepared several websites for us both to view about top attractions and hotels located in Madrid.

We successfully started our scheduled session and started our conversation.  She was able to see my webcam video, chat responses, audio conversation and Internet searches.  I was only able to chat with her and the audio did not work on her computer.  I was able though to have a great conversation despite the technical problem.  We talked about where to visit and what to expect with the hotels and our conversation helped me immensely with my plans to Europe.  She said that the GotoMeeting program was “cool” because she was able to see the Internet search on my computer. 

As I reflect back on the project I am glad that I was able to learn this program and setup the broadcasting session.  I do think that there could be several ways that the project could be improved.  One suggestion could be for our class to have some type of Live Webinar session that could explain how the programs work and what to expect.  I also think that for this project we should be given more time. Possibly one week to learn the software and ask questions and a second week to set it up and implement the session.  I’ve participated in several Webinars and it seems to be very common to run into technical difficulties.  I do however; think that Webinars are a valuable tool for educators and students. 

 Attached is the recorded file from the GoToMeeting session -