Consumers Duped By Fake Bank in New IE8 Ad [VIDEO]

July 1, 2010 – 5:41 am by JB

Microsoft launched kicked off a new television ad campaign focusing on the safety of its Internet browser. The spot — which can be viewed above — shows real New Yorkers getting scammed into handing over personal information at a Microsoft-fabricated bank.

The fake bank experiment highlights just how gullible we can be when the promise of money is dangled in our face.

This could help the discussing on phishing progress.

Video – Social Media Reading List for School Leaders

June 14, 2010 – 5:30 am by JB

This is a must-watch video by Hans Mundahl, Director of Experiental Learning and Technology Coordinator at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. Not only does Hans have a cool title (how awesome would it be if every school had a ‘director of experiential learning?’), he makes a mean video.

Check out Hans’ 3–minute clip below, where he tries to explain the value of social media to his school leadership team. Then check out the wiki page that resulted from his efforts. Nice work, Hans!

Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers

June 14, 2010 – 5:26 am by JB

Joyce Seitzinger, author of the Cat’s Pyjamas blog, has published a great one sheet guide for Moodle using teachers. The guide is essentially a chart of things that you can do with Moodle and how those things can help you reach your pedagogical objectives.

Here’s how the guide is read, pick a task such as “create a news forum” on the side of the chart then find an objective on the top of the chart. Follow the two columns to where they meet to find a color coded explanation of why a forum might be good for dissemintating information, but not so good for assessing learning.

You can download the chart here or explore the Cat’s Pyjamas here.

Applications for Education
The Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers could be a great resource to share in professional development workshops. The guide is easy to read and quickly answers a lot of questions about effective uses of the many things you can do with Moodle.

Digital Citizenship video resources from Hoover, Alabama Schools and Common Sense Media

June 14, 2010 – 5:14 am by JB

Educational leaders in Hoover, Alabama, have created a superb “teaser” video for upcoming parent education classes on digital citizenship which will begin this fall. The 3 minute, 35 second video includes well-planned scenes depicting the choices as well as consequences involved with cell phone sexting.

This is a remix of videos and images from several places, including the Ad Council’s “Out Of Your Hands” video. (60 seconds - embedding unfortunately disabled.) I think the Hoover, AL version is more powerful and thought provoking because of the way it sets up the scenario.

Also, later this summer, Storychasers will be announcing a new 12 week Internet Safety / Digital Citizenship curriculum program for schools. This targets schools required to teach students about Internet safety as part of their E-Rate compliance.

These are the kind of resources we need to collect because they will  help us move forward and teach essential life long technology skills to our students. Enjoy.

May DTC Meeting Notes

May 25, 2010 – 6:01 am by starkr

District Technology Committee Meeting Notes

May 27, 2010 -  4:15-5:45 in the Tech Service Lab
http://techblog.psd401.net

Here are the topics discussed for the May District Technology Committee meeting. This was our last meeting of the year.

Topics to Discuss:

Regular Topics of Discussion:

  • Nuts/Bolts
  • Ron’s State of Instructional Technology, Support and Training
  • Open exchange of new or unresolved issues

Video: Young Student’s Perspective on the State of Education

Video: iTouch Use for Reading Literacy

Read the rest of this entry »

Does this help make the arguement to teach Information Literacy?

May 20, 2010 – 12:08 pm by JB

Their World…

May 19, 2010 – 6:07 am by JB

A note from the generation we are currently teaching;

It’s funny how there are people saying “I’m glad I do real life things!” well, I guarantee you the entire population of Facebook does not just sit there and wait for status updates. Being that you have never used a social networking tool because of your fear of change, you shouldn’t talk unless you gave it a chance. I’m 20, and have met so many friends through gaming from all over the world. Older generations still think everyone on the internet are child predators, which I find hysterical. ~Anonymous 20 year-old on Social Networking

Maybe, maybe not. Are we listening? Do we know?

Check out this video and share with your staff. Have a conversation. It’s important.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

Social Media Revolution & FYI Kids Don’t Email

May 14, 2010 – 5:36 am by JB

from Free Technology for Teachers

Last week Angela Maiers shared a video called Social Media Revolution 2. Social Media Revolution 2 is an update to the video Social Media Revolution which I blogged about last summer. Some of the statistics from the video that educators should be paying attention to are:

  • “50% of the mobile Internet traffic in the UK is for Facebook…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?”My comment: imagine what this means for education?
  • “Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé – some universities have stopped distributing e-mail accounts.”
  • “2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.”
  • Read all of the statistics here.

I was in a workshop last fall where we indirectly discussed the first two points above. One of the workshop participants complained that his students don’t check email. He wanted to text his students, but his school, like mine and many others, bans the use of cellphones by students. As you might guess, I’m opposed to banning cell phone use by students. As I wrote last fall, cell phones enable teachers and students to get parents involved in a classroom activity. Most cell phones also provide a camera that students can use to take pictures for multimedia projects. Teachers can also use cell phones to collect feedback from students. And those students carrying smart phones, which I see more and more often, can access more information on their phones than can be found in a classroom full of books. So if students aren’t checking the emails you send them, but they are using mobile devices, why are schools banning the use of mobile devices? Or as Lee Kolbert asked last week, when will we stop banning everything?

Here’s the video.

April District Technology Meeting

April 23, 2010 – 9:26 am by starkr

District Technology Committee Meeting Notes

April 29, 4:15-5:45 in the Tech Service Lab
http://techblog.psd401.net

Here is the agenda for the April District Technology Committee meeting.

Topics to Discuss:

  • Approved District Technology Plan: Implications
  • End of Year Building Visits
  • New Portal System
  • Web-based Version of Outlook: Discuss experiences
  • Early look at Staff Development model for 2010-2011
  • Summer Administration Training Opportunity

Regular Topics of Discussion:

  • Nuts/Bolts
  • Ron’s State of Instructional Technology, Support and Training
  • Open exchange of new or unresolved issues

Meeting Notes Read the rest of this entry »

March DTC Meeting

March 8, 2010 – 1:21 pm by starkr

District Technology Committee Meeting Notes

March 25, 4:15-5:45 in the Tech Service Lab

http://techblog.psd401.net

Here is the agenda for the March District Technology Committee meeting.

Topics Discussed:

  • Completed District Technology Plan
    Reminder about School Data
  • Web-based version of Outlook
    Discuss experiences
    Plan for Roll-out
  • Google Groups and Sites
    Development of parameters

Regular Topics of Discussion:

  • Nuts/Bolts
  • Kris’s State of Technology Systems
  • Ron’s State of Instructional Technology, Support and Training
  • Open exchange of new or unresolved issues

Notes from the Meeting: Read the rest of this entry »