Technology Medley

In David Warlick’s keynote address for the K12 Online Conference, he states

I was probably the last generation who could look at his father and believe that he is seeing his own future……For the first time in history, we are preparing our children for a future that we cannot clearly describe, and this has profound implications on education, on what and how we teach.

Wow! That’s definitely food for thought. The class of 2020 entered Kindergarten this year. What types of jobs will they be preparing for when they enter college? What types of devices will they be using to communicate with each other  and to educate themselves? How different from ours will their lives be as adults? Can you even begin to imagine?

Here is a updated version of the “Did You Know” video by Karl Fisch that some of you have seen before.  This video  provides some enlightening information about how quickly our world is changing….well worth watching when you have a chance.

Download Did You Know

Occasionally, someone asks me where to find photographs that can be used for classroom projects or web sites.

Pics4Learning

My favorite site for classroom use is Pics4 Learning. Images on this site have been contributed by teachers and students specifically for use in education, so it is a safe site for students to use when searching for images for projects.

Flickr

Flickr.com is probably one of the most popular photo sharing sites on the Internet, but it should NOT be used by students because, unfortunately, there are folks who upload inappropriate images. That being said, if you go Flickr and search for Creative Commons, you will find millions of pictures that have been licensed to share. Read the license agreements on the right side of the page. Click on the “See More” links to go to a search page, then enter your desired topic. If you find a picture you want to use, right click on it and select Save Picture As. Be sure to follow the licensing requirements, such as giving the photographer credit someplace in your project.

Please let me know if you need help with projects using pictures from either of these sites.

Creating secure passwords and changing them often are good strategies for all computer users in this age of privacy concerns. Ideally, a password should be a combination of letters and numbers, but be sure to create one that you will be able to remember. Leaving your password taped to your computer is never a good idea!

Changing your email password:

You need to first add an “s” to the URL in the address bar, so the address looks like this:
https://mail.salem.k12.va.us
or this from school:
https://mail

Log in as usual
Click on Settings
Click on Change Password
Enter your old password, then the new one twice
Click OK and you’re  done!

Changing your network password:

Log into the network as usual.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
Click the Change Password button
Enter your old password
Enter your new password twice
Click OK

Keep your passwords secure, and try not to share them unless absolutely necessary.

Have you ever wanted to attend conference sessions from the comfort of your own home or classroom? Well, now you can! The K12 Online Conference begins with a pre-conference keynote on October 8th. The sessions begin October 15th and end October 27th. Most days there are 4 sessions scheduled. You can see the schedule here. Here’s a description from their website:

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2007 conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 8, 2007. The following two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations.

Most of the sessions will be stored as either podcasts or videos so you can watch them at your leisure. In fact, last year’s sessions are still online too, and you might find something there that you would like to explore further.