WUSD Tech Update - October 2015

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP WEEK Did you miss last week's posts on the WUSD Ed Tech Blog about Digital Citizenship?  If so, go to http://www.wusdedtech.blogspot.com and check out lesson ideas and resources about your digital footprint, using copyright friendly images, and evaluating the credibility of online resources.

CONNECTED EDUCATOR BOOK CLUB Come join us this Thursday from 4-5 pm in Room 48 at the District Office for an informational meeting on the launch of our Connected Educator Book Club. Find out what we plan to read first and learn about a fun new way to receive ed tech PD. Hint: It involves your bunny slippers!  Let us know you plan to join us: https://goo.gl/HdSuKo

MORE CONNECTED EDUCATOR Have plans for Friday afternoon? Join Melissa and Kim for an informal "Appy Hour" at Wicked West Pizza on Ikea Court from 4-5 pm. You will learn how to connect using Google Hangouts (GHO). Show up ready to learn something new!

WIRELESS Wireless is working for all district laptops across the district.  The wi-fi network is hidden, so if you have wireless turned “On” on your laptop, it will automatically connect.  Information on using the wireless can be found at http://wusdedtech.blogspot.com/2015/08/wireless-update-connecting.html  If you do not need to be mobile, we encourage you to use the Ethernet cord and tether your device for a more stable connection. 

REMINDERS:

STUDENT LOGIN (http://www.wusd.k12.ca.us/departments/information-technology/Pages/Student-Login-Information.aspx)  If your students continue to have challenges logging in with their network, please be sure to do a Help Desk Ticket and we can help you out.

HELP DESK TICKETS (http://helpdesk.wusd.k12.ca.us/) The quickest way to let us know if you are having any technology issues in your classroom or at your school site is by submitting a Technology Help Desk Ticket.  Please take a moment to login with your district/network/email login and tell us if you have are having trouble.  The system can only be accessed through the district network, so the link will not work from home. If we don't know, we can't help!

Go Mobile with Aeries.net

Did you know that Aeries.net is optimized for mobile use? Scan the following qr code with your mobile device and it will take you to the Aeries.net Teacher portal where you can add it to your Home Screen for easy access in the future. Teachers will notice that most features you can do on the full version of Aeries.net are available on the mobile platform.

Digital Citizenship Week: Evaluating Websites

With information being so prevalent and available, how do we teach our students to examine online sources for credibility and think critically about possible bias and inaccurate information? This takes more than one lesson. It must be something that is integrated into teaching and learning on a daily basis whether sources are found online or within text. Here's some ideas to get your students started.

Studying Exploration? Visit AllAboutExplorers.com. It is a website created by a library media specialist and teacher that provides an "authentic" research site for students to explore. There is a lot of truth on the site, mixed with fiction. For example, did you know that Columbus died in 1906 even though he was born in 1951? He also had the pleasure of appearing on Larry King to celebrate being the first person to walk on American Soil. There are a lot more on this website and provides a great resource to begin the conversation on credibility.

Studying Animals and Habitats? Do your students care about Endangered Animals? Visit and learn the plight of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Students can learn more about this "endangered" species and how to help. Lead students in a critical analysis of what makes this site credible and/or possible suspect.

Here's some additional lesson ideas from Common Sense Media to help students become more critical consumers of online media.
K-2: Sites I Like, Things for Sale
3-5: Selling Stereotypes
6-8: Identifying High Quality Sites
9-12: Building Community Online, Becoming a Web Celeb

Sources:

• http://allaboutexplorers.com/explorers/columbus/
• http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ 

Digital Citizenship Week: Using Copyright Friendly Images

Looking for copyright-friendly images to use in your own work and direct students to use? Here's a brief list of Creative Commons and other copyright-friendly sources for images.


Use Google Search within Insert Image Menu in Docs, Drawing, and Slides.

Enter your search term and once you select your desired image, you will notice the source of the image is listed below.  You will want to copy and/or visit this source to provide proper attribution.

Looking for photographs?

Photos for Class: This website has high quality photos that are creative commons and marked for reuse. When you download a photo from this website, it automatically appends the attribution and licensing.

PicsRLearning: This site includes copyright-friendly images with citations listed on the website.  It also allows you to save images directly to your Google Drive.

ClipPix ETC: Students can use up to 25 high quality images for free without further permission within a single non-commercial school project.

Looking for ClipArt?

ClipArtETC: An educational clipart database that allows for the use of 50 images for free without additional permissions. This site has many images appropriate for different subjects.

clker.com: This site has lots of free clipart that is available to download in a variety of sizes.

Art that is in public domain and available for reuse.

National Gallery of Art and Getty Open Art Content: Both sites are a great source for digital images of art that is within public domain and available for reuse.

Other sources:
Creative Commons Search: Choice of different databases.  Best used by staff as several of these sites are blocked for students.

If you have a favorite site for copyright friendly images that you use in your work or your students use that is not listed, let us know!

Supplement with additional CommonSense Media Lessons on Creative Credit and Copyright.
K-2: My Creative Work
3-5: Whose Is It Anyway?, Picture Perfect
6-8: A Creator's Rights, A Creator's Responsibilities, Rework, Reuse, Remix
9-12: CopyRights and Wrongs, Rights, Remixes, and Respect, Retouching Reality

Digital Citizenship Week: Ownership & Responsible Use

Want to promote responsible use of images in your classroom? Here's an lesson activity you can do with students that helps students understand why respecting the rights of creators is important.

1) Have students create an image on a topic that you are currently studying in class.

2) Instruct students to put their names on the back of the paper.

3) This next step involves temporarily changing the authorship of images. It is best done after a transition that will allow for the teacher to prepare and set the stage.

• Display student's creations throughout the room
• Using sticky notes, randomly assign other students names to the creations.

4) As students, recognize the disconnect between their art and the name displayed facilitate a conversation with your class. Some possible questions to get the conversation started.

• How does it make you feel to see another name on your creation?
• What's wrong with the teacher randomly assigning illustrators to different pieces of art?
• Have you ever used an image in a presentation or on a poster that you got off the Internet?
• Did you find out who the artist was? Did you have permission to display their work?

Wrap up the conversation, with the following Big Idea, "When we use images created by others, we need to make sure we have their permission to use the image as well as give the original creator the proper credit." Transition into the next stage, by asking students how we can fix the problem of the wrong names attached to the creations. Students will generate ideas beyond what is suggested in #5. Choose the student-generated solution that best fits your classroom community.

5) Provide time for proper attribution of student creations by moving the sticky notes. This is also a great opportunity for students to practice commenting on others work. This can be done quietly by having student write comments on sticky notes and post next to the author's creation. Alternatively, you could invite students to present their work and provide a space for their classmates to provide compliments and ask questions.

It is important that students leave this experience feeling validated for their creation because they got recognition and credit for their original work. You can revisit this experience throughout the year as students are looking for images to add to their work. Your class will have a shared experience of  what it feels like for someone to use their work without permission and not give proper attribution. This is an important perspective for students as they both create and use image sources responsibly.

Look for our next blog post on lesson ideas and resources on where to easily find Creative Common Images and provide proper attribution.

Digital Citizenship Week: Your Digital Footprint

What does your digital footprint reveal?

Looking to KickStart your Digital Citizenship Lessons in your classroom? Next week is a great time to talk with your students about staying safe online and how to evaluate what's true and not true online. Here are some lesson ideas from Common Sense Media for Digital Citizenship to get you started thinking about your digital footprint.

Primary Students:
Follow the Digital Trail. This lesson will teach students what information is appropriate to put online in an age-appropriate way by comparing the digital footprints of fictional animals. Lesson materials include a video and family tip sheets. All materials are also available in Spanish for our bilingual classes.

Intermediate Students.
Digital Citizenship Pledge. This lessons have students working collaboratively to create norms for responsible online behavior. What will your class motto be about digital citizenship?

Secondary Students. 
Trillion-Dollar Footprint. This lesson explores the concept of a digital footprint and how it can be helpful or have real-world negative consequences to one's image. There is a chance for students to consider their own digital footprints now and in the future. Lesson materials include lesson plan and student video.

All of these lessons and much more are available for free from Common Sense Media. I recommend taking a moment and quickly registering for the site so you can download exactly what you need and will also ensure you receive periodic updates from Common Sense with ideas for your classroom and families. If you want to be recognized publicly for your efforts teaching digital citizenship, be sure to view the application process for becoming a Digital Citizenship Certified Educator. You are already doing great things in your classroom in this area, here's your chance to be recognized for your efforts.

Stay tuned to this blog space next week for more lesson ideas to celebrate Digital Citizenship Week.

WUSD EdTech Updates

Do you want WUSD EdTech Updates delivered straight to your phone via text message?

Consider signing up for our Remind Group by texting @wusdedtech to the number 81010.  If you would prefer to receive email updates, you can send an email, with a blank subject line, to wusdedtech@mail.remind.com.

You can expect to be notified of upcoming training opportunities, our latest blog posts, and announcements of any known service disruptions that are occurring on our network.

#CE15: Celebrate Connected Educator Month

We are celebrating Connected Educator Month with a host of events and activities to foster community and promote connected learning. We have a wide variety of events planned from Appy Hours, CoffeeEDUs, Info Sessions, and already scheduled trainings, conferences, and events.

Take part in some of WUSD events throughout the month and/or reach out the larger educational community and connect with events happening world-wide. You can download our WUSD #CE15 calendar with descriptions here.  Visit www.connectededucators.org to learn more.

Cohort 1 Innovative Educator Applications Available

Do you want to add your name to this map and join our existing group of 36 Innovative Educators who are currently pioneering 1:1 learning environments in classrooms throughout our district? Do you have a vision for technology integration to support instruction and student learning? Do you want to collaborate with your colleagues around powerful and meaningful classroom instruction that is further enhanced by instructional technology? If so, our Innovative Educator program may be a good fit for you and your colleagues.

 Applications are now available online. You must be logged into your WUSD Google Account to view and complete the application. If you are not sure if you have activated your WUSD Google Account yet, you can do so by following these instructions outlined in an earlier blog post.

Applications will remain open until October 25, 2015 at 8:00 pm PST.  Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Teams of teachers are encouraged to apply.  If accepted, teams will share a mobile cart for the remainder of the 2015-2016 year once they are delivered to classrooms.  (Delivery of carts is  slated to coincide with the start of 2nd semester in mid-January.)  Team members would then receive their own classroom cart for the 2016-2017 school year.  Teachers accepted into the program would receive specialized training and coaching and have voluntary opportunities to attend local and regional Instructional Technology Conferences.  Additionally, teachers and their students will have a chance to participate in a Technology Showcase for the larger community in late May to highlight some of the amazing things happening in classrooms throughout our district.

You can learn more about the Innovative Educator Program Application by visiting our website, reading our FAQs, attending one of our upcoming Information Sessions on October 7 or 21 (sessions from 3:00-4:00 and repeated from 4:00-5:00 in Room 48 at District Office), reaching out to any of our existing Innovative Educators, or asking Melissa Oliver or Kim Harrison.

We look forward to welcoming Cohort 1 to the Innovative Educator Program when they are named and notified via email by COB on October 30, 2015.