The Wired Classroom

There are quite a few technology in education conferences taking place in July. As you know, I will be attending and presenting at the Missouri Distance Learning Association (MODLA) Annual Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach (that’s July 9-10).  Ruth, Martha, Nancy and Stacey will head to San Antonio, Texas the first week of July to attend NECC- the National Educational Computing Conference.  In addition, Successlink is holding the 6th Annual Technology Innovations Conference  July 17-18, also at Tan-Tar-A. There, Stacey will present on Web 2.0. Martha and Nancy plan to present at Successlink’s conference on several topics: Internet Safety, SMART Board, and Discovery Streaming.

In other education conference news, CSD’s CHARACTERplus is holding its 14th Annual Character Education Conference in St. Louis this summer. Dorothy White, who does an awesome job on the Midwest Education Technology Conference with Nancy and Joan, also works on CEC with a great group of folks from CHARACTERplus. CEC runs July 16-18.

  Online “Street Smarts:” Being Legal, Literate, & Secure 
  June 25, 2008 from 9 am-4 pm
  $125 CSD member; $195 non-member 
  (One Graduate Credit Available)

 
We still have a few openings left in this tele class! Here are just a few of the topics covered during this Internet Safety course:

The Virtual Learning Center’s tele (technology enhanced learning environment) classes are filling up very quickly- Transforming Learning with a SMART Board on June 3 and Creating SMART Board Lessons to Engage & Motivate Students on June 4 are already full!

There are a limited spaces left in Teacher Timesavers: Free Online Resources on June 5; Using Digital Media in the Classroom (Featuring Google Earth) on June 9; Cross-Curricular Lessons Using Concept Mapping on June 10; and Transforming Learning with a Promethean Activboard on June 11. Sign up today to participate in these early June courses. Teachers from all over the St. Louis metropolitan area participate; bring a friend from your school, or network with other teaching colleagues from different districts. Remember, too, that graduate credit is available for many tele classes.

Courses in the second half of the month are Empowering Students with Podcasting; Differentiating Instruction with Discovery Streaming; Boundless Learning with Videoconferencing; Movie-Making in the Classroom: Creating Digital Stories and Photo Essays; and Online “Street Smarts:” Being Legal, Literate, and Secure. Tele questions? Call Joan Forrest at (314) 692-1259.

Technology is a valuable and relevant tool in the classroom that helps engage students to question, think and achieve at a higher understanding. What tech tools do you use to reach and teach your students and make learning relevant?

METC 2009 is bringing together a diverse group of speakers to share their knowledge, experience, strategies and expertise using established and emerging technologies in the classroom. As educators we must prepare our students for new jobs that have not been created by giving them the skills to question, gather, evaluate and finally produce new solutions or products. Technology is a tool that excites and engages students to learn.

METC 2009 goals:

• Offers a program that shares effective instructional technology programs and management strategies.
• Brings together all stakeholders in a school district to explore new and innovative uses of technology and to learn from each other.
• Designs a program that fits into educators’ individual learning plans and aligns with high quality professional development.
• Exposes educators to the latest in quality products and services.

Online “Street Smarts:” Being Legal, Literate, & Secure 
June 25 9 am-4 pm
$125 CSD member; $195 non-member 
(One Graduate Credit Available)

Educators, what dangers lurk online for children? We teach them how to be safe within the physical community, but what about safety in the cyber community? During this all day tele class at Cooperating School Districts, learn the Internet Safety concepts of: Cyber Security, Personal Safety, Cyber Bullying and Cyber Predators.

Something to think about: do students know how to validate information found on the Web? Too often, information published on the Internet is viewed as truth, but is it really? Also, what about copyright? Do students have the legal right to copy and paste information from a website into their multi-media presentations and/or their own documents and websites? In addition to Internet Safety, learn the new grammar of the Web and how to:

• Read URL web addresses to find their hidden meaning
• Locate owners of websites
• Evaluate the validity of a website
• Investigate fair use as it applies to student-created digital documents

 Participants will learn about iSAFE’s curriculum and the  modules available to them in the classroom. They will  create model lessons for their students that teach  Internet Safety, Literacy, and Intellectual  Property/Copyright. St. Louis area teachers, don’t miss  out on this opportunity! You can register at www2.csd.org/tele. For a complete tele (that’s technology enhanced learning environment) class list, click here.

 This was a busy week! The first half we were at the United States Distance Learning Association National Conference (USDLA). It was good to talk with folks from all over the world, especially those we interact with over videoconference frequently. Something that really stuck with me is that the challenges, as well as the benefits, of distance learning are nearly universal! 
 
 Moving on, mid-week, we had a two-hour evening videoconference. Wednesday night was MOREnet’s Internet Safety Night. Sites from all over the United States (55 over videoconference!) connected for a two hour videoconference on Internet Safety. Cooperating School Districts acted as a site in St. Louis. At the ISN website, you’ll find all sort of resources to educate yourself and your family on the importance of Internet Safety, and ways to implement it at home.

 Finally, today is our official one year ‘blogiversary’.  April 25th of last year was when we really got going with The Wired Classroom. In that year, we’ve posted 210 times with over 650 tags! We’re really excited to continue posting to the blog to update our readers about what is going on in the Virtual Learning Center. Thanks to those who take the time to read the blog. 

On Wednesday April 23, MOREnet hosted its Internet Safety Night.  Sites all over the US connected to this important program- including several St. Louis, MO!  The excellent keynote speaker was James Finch, Assistant Director, FBI Cyber Division.

Finch admitted first thing that at the FBI there was no bigger advocate of technology, including the Internet, than him. He also added he is the parent of three- two daughters in their twenties and a four year old son. All are on line.

Some facts:
+ The United States has highest rate of “computer intrusions” - hacking
+ The FBI has the Innocent Images National Initiative - where undercover agents work to bring on line predators to justice: http://www.fbi.gov/innocent.htm

Finch emphasized “the Internet has changed our lives for the positive and it still holds so much promise… I want to heighten awareness.”

How do we heighten awareness?

It is important to talk to your children about the Internet, as you do when they learn to swim, learn to drive, etc. As Finch noted, “the Internet should not be a babysitter” - it will not take care of itself when it comes to the safety of children.

You must have an Internet Safety talk with your kids.
Here are Finch’s talking points:
+use strong passwords, don’t share passwords!
+maintain your operating system- download updates/patches because they fix programming flaws that become security vulnerabilities
+anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-phishing programs important
+use parental control software (emphasize it is out of concern, not to police them)
+make sure wireless router is configured properly
+change your network name
+using encryption features on wireless routers important
+decide which computers are allowed on your network using MAC filtering list- the unique address for your network card
+set this rule: no Internet after 9 pm  (Internet access policy)
+talk about Internet chats, social networking sites, peer to peer networks, and e-mail
+ask who is on your child’s buddy list
+emphasize once you hit “send,” you can’t get it back!
+let your kids know you will be reviewing their computer time to time

A note: this is NOT a one time only talk. According to Finch, “Internet Safety is not easy, it is not quick, but it is not rocket science, either.”

There are many Internet Safety resources at http://besafe.more.net/isn.
Another website Finch spoke about was www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.

Finch’s keynote was followed-up by a panel of experts who discussed issues like identity theft, spam, legal issues, how to monitor your kids while they are on the computer, and on line predators. Missed it? In St. Louis, Charter Communications will air the program soon. ISN programs will also be available on line: http://besafe.more.net/isn/.

We’re approaching our 1 year anniversary of The Wired Classroom- the end of the month marks when we started regularly posting to the blog- updating our readers about what is going on in the Virtual Learning Center with technology integration in St. Louis area schools.  I decided to have a couple top ten lists- one being the most visited posts on the blog, the other being the ten most popular videoconference-themed posts. Ready to go?   

TOP TEN POSTS for April 2007-2008
About the VLC 
Internet Safety Websites, Buzzwords
Peeking at Promethean
On The Move
NEW! Once a Month All-Day SMARTBoard…
SMART Board lessons
High School Students Videoconference…
Great Things from SMART Technologies!
Inside the Artist’s Studio 2008…
Digital Flat Stanley Project

TOP TEN VIDEOCONFERENCE POSTS for April 2007-2008
High School Students Videoconference…
Inside the Artist’s Studio 2008 Theatre…
Digital Flat Stanley Project
November Mental Health Videoconference-
RoundTrips & MOREnet Present Robots
Economics of Baseball
Critters in the Cold
Connecting, Writing, Global Warming
You can take the girl away from video…
To Establish Justice coming up

… Interactive whiteboards, Internet Safety, collaborative projects, author visits, cold critters, baseball- what a mix! We’re glad to have been able to bring it to you in our first year blogging.

I just wanted to remind our readers about MOREnet’s upcoming Internet Safety Night. The originating site for the Internet Safety videoconference will be in Columbia, Missouri, with connecting sites all over the U.S.  Cooperating School Districts is one hosting site in St. Louis.  If you live in the St. Louis area and want to attend this important videoconference, please RSVP to Rebecca Morrison by April 18.  The 2 hour videoconference is Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m.  If you are interested in being a host site, contact MOREnet directly. 

What will be covered?

• online predators
• cyber-bullying
• identity theft
• + more

The VLC ITT team has been meeting to discuss the new tele courses we will offer this summer, then again in the fall and spring. What we do know is that we will offer both MAC & PC platforms in the MS Office Suite. With our new MAC computers with dual processors and Parallels installed, it is easy to flip from PC to MAC in a few seconds…so cool!

We also know we will offer both SMART Board and Promethean Activboard training. Many are requesting advanced unitedstreaming, more Web 2.0 courses with blogging, podcasting, and social networking.  Internet Safety/Netiquette courses are a growing request as well.

The final course offerings will be posted in April, so make sure to check back. In the meantime if you are interested in other courses, let us know. Keep in mind that most of our technology classes offer University credit through Lindenwood University. Also we can offer any of our classes as on-site PD or through videoconferencing too!