Pages User Guide

What do I do with Pages? Pages is a desktop publishing software. It differs from word processing software (like NeoOffice or Microsoft Word) in that each element- text, titles, graphics, charts, etc. is contained in its own box and can be moved independantly of the other elements on the page. This makes it easier to create columns, arrange photos, and layer elements. It comes with pre-formatted templates in a variety of layouts for different uses, or you can create your own layout. Apple provides a simple to use Users Guide and tutorial series here. You can download the entire document to your desktop or just use the link for the issue you want to resolve. DO NOT PRINT THE DOCUMENT! It is over 200 pages long.

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Parent Meeting 3/26/09

The intention of this meeting is to let you know what is going on both inside and outside of our building as it involves your children. Technology is growing quickly, and proves to be a useful and sometimes essential tool in our lives. Ready internet, social networking sites, cell phones, cameras and texting are some of the tools that create a virtual world for your child. Unlike many of us, your child navigates this world with ease- our hope is that we can help you become more comfortable in this world as well. We also hope to give you some idea of how these different technologies are managed at school, and what you can do to manage them at home.

Cell phones
Many students are able to access texts, calls, and emails on their phone. Most students have cell phones with access to a camera capable of taking both still and video shots. These shots are saved on the phone and can also be transferred to computers for further editing and sharing. The network for cell phones is provided by you by virtue of the fact that you have purchased a plan. The ability to connect to the internet from a cell phone is not dependant upon our network -while students CAN connect through our network (and are then working within our filtering systems) they do not necessarily have to do so. They can access your carrier’s service- giving them wide open internet access within the confines of our building.

A nationwide problem with cellphones and teens has been the ability to send inappropriate photos to friends. CBS, NBC and Newsweek have all reported on the problem of “sexting”- sending questionable pictures with a brief message via text to people in their contact lists. These photos invariably get forwarded onward to people that your child does not know.

How can you know what you child is doing with their phone? You have several tools at the ready:

The phone itself.
Kids often think that the phone is “theirs” and they expect privacy at all times with it. As the payer of the bill, that phone technically is yours.

Take a look in the Messages file- this will save all sent and received messages until they are deleted manually, up to a finite number determined by the phone’s memory capacity.

Cell phone bills
Your phone bill provides a lot of information for you. You can often get a detailed bill online or request one be sent to your home. This will detail all activity on the phone – who your child is calling or texting, what time those contacts are made, and whether there is a Data transfer” or “data download.” Statements will vary based on your plan.

Question your child about data transfers that you find unusual- be they very frequent during a particular time, in large numbers, or of a large size (you will see a column for data size- 2KB is not big- 1060KB is. It could be pictures, music, ringtones, games, or webpages. Ask, ask, ask.

If you are finding that your child is spending time texting or talking rather than sleeping, it is not unreasonable for the cell phone to have a bedtime…in your possession.

Laptop management techniques
MSAD 16 and the MLTI program provide a laptop for each student to help enhance learning. While at school your student is randomly monitored to make sure that they are using it for educational purposes. Internet access is filtered to help keep students from straying from educational sites, but it is important to understand that the internet grows by 10 million static pages a day. That makes it hard to keep up! And, the reality is that the ability to access the internet with cell phones can make filtering a moot point. An important task for teachers and parents is to help develop good digital citizens by teaching students safe internet use.

Having said this, we understand that they are kids. And, many of you have other computers at home that your students use. How can you keep your kids safe on your own networks? Like Dorothy in Oz, you already have the ability through your internet provider. I called both Fairpoint and TimeWarner- both have Parental Controls available at no cost for the first three computers, and at a minimal monthly cost after that. You have the ability to limit the hours that your internet is available as well as what sites (or sorts of sites) your child has access to. The handouts in front of you outline the different services available. Contact them directly.

We recommend that all computers in your home are in a common place that has high visibility. If you allow your child to have a laptop or computer in their room, be sure that you are checking what they are doing on that computer. Again, if you are concerned about your child being online later than you would like, it is reasonable for you to “repossess” the laptop at a certain time and return it to your child in the morning.

Most browsers (the software you use to access the internet- on your child’s laptop this will be Safari) collect a list of sites visited by day. To access this, open the browser and choose History from the menu bar at the top. This will show you what your child has been doing. If the history is blank, and you know your child has been on the internet, you should ask your child why they have erased it. The default for Safari keeps a web history for a month at a time before it deletes the oldest entries.

Hey - did you know you might be stealing and not even know it? If you use photos from the internet for class projects, and you don’t cite the sources, you are guility of copyright infringement.

Imagine you had worked hard to learn how to take great photos. You went to classes, spent hours practicing what you learned, and spent money on a good camera. After months of study, you were able to produce high quality photos, and you were proud of your work. You put the pictures online and included them on your website.

Then you found out that someone was using them on their own website where they made it sound like THEY had taken the photos. Wouldn’t this make you upset?

Copyright is a funny thing. You CAN use photos from the web without permission for CLASSROOM projects (unless the author specifically says you need their permission) as long as you give credit to them by citing the source. You CAN’T use photos for profit (lets say you have an online business) with out permission from the creator.

Today we’ll learn how to use iPhoto to collect both photos AND the citation information you need.

week-2-iphoto-and-copyright

Each day, 6th grade students will be doing 10 minutes of typing work aimed at improving their keyboarding skills. The expectation is that students will work on both posture and correct finger positioning for this exercise. The rubric is below:
Type to Learn Rubric

Hi- before we get started this trimester, I’d like you to take a short survey that is aimed at collecting some information about your knowledge of computers. It’s not a test - it will help me design curriculum that will be new for you rather than reviewing what you know. There are only 10 questions so it shouldn’t take too long, and your name will not be included. Please answer honestly!

Here’s the link:
Click Here to take survey

In an effort to help keep students both safe and on track academically, the decision has been made to filter all student laptops both at home and in school. As of the first week of March, students will be filtered on their laptops wherever they take them. This change does NOT affect personal laptops in your home.

Scenarios of how blogs can be used in pedagocial practice

Blogs for knowledge construction: Students choose a topic (from a proposal list) they are interested in and regularly write blog entries about their own research, their findings, their progress and difficulties. By generating a blogroll students identify and target a particular subject related audience and discourse community. Community members can assist with feedback and comments. Subsequently, such a group of subject related blogs becomes a “knowledge creation community”.

Blogs for reflective learning: Students use blogs to report about their internships (e.g. in schools, companies, etc.) or field work and critically reflect on their experiences, progress and deficiences. Thereby, they can gain knowledge and meaning for further professional development.

Blogs to enhance writing skills: Students use blogs to post their responses to class readings, including interpretations, critiques, comments and personal thoughts. Maybe a journalist or professional writer can be won to volunteer as editor. Also, pre-service teachers could collaborate with K12 students and give them feedback about their writing. In return, they would gain valuable experience.

Group Blogs: Students participate in a field trip, student exchange or work placement program (e.g. Leonardo Mobility Project) and blog the trip live each day. Parents and peers can participate in the students’ experiences and add comments. An online school or faculty newspaper could be another scenario for a group blog.

(from Blogs as a Teaching/Learning Space) http://www.sbg.ac.at/zfl/eTeaching_Skills/eTeaching_Weblogs/blogs_as_teachinglearning_space.html