Lesson 8: Security Implementation in Schools

I cannot believe this class is coming to a halt, and this is our very last week. I have definitely learned immensely in this course and will certainly apply the things I have learned into my own classroom setting. Preceding this course I felt as though I was up to date with technology; however, now that the class is basically over, I have realized that I was not as current with technology as I thought.

Now, for our final lesson topic: Ethical and Social Issues in the Implementation of Technology. This topic consists of security implementation that individuals should put in place in order to prevent malicious software and/or hackers from entering their computer system(s).

Malicious software, aka “Malware” includes the computer virus, computer worm, Trojan horse, etc. that infects one’s computer in various forms. For instance, viruses, Trojan horses, and worms can affect the operational level of one’s computer by deleting and/or corrupting data. These can infect other computers via email, USB drives, CDs, and other types of computer files. Now, the question is: How does one prevent malicious software from affecting their computer? Prevention is key! The best way to prevent malicious software and hacking is by installing virus protection software. Some of the most commonly used anti-virus software are Norton Antivirus, McAfee, AVG, and SpyBot.

School districts typically have a policy for installing and utilizing virus prevention programs. The school district in which I am employed utilizes McAfee, which updates periodically in order to stay current since new viruses are released constantly.

Although the best way of preventing malware is by anti-virus programs, there are also numerous other ways the school district enforces security with their computers. In the computer lab in which I teach, I strongly emphasize the AUP policy, which is a contract between the students, teachers, staff, and parents. I also promote and model good digital citizenship, which is part of the NETS-T. Digital citizenship teaches the students how to use and maintain appropriate behavior when using their computers and the internet. It also teaches the students the significance of virus protection software. I have taught the students netiquette (network etiquette), explained to them not to open anything that they are unsure of without asking permission from an adult, and explained to them the importance of keeping their usernames and passwords private in order to ensure privacy. Implementing anti-virus protection software and explaining the significance of the programs to the students is very important because children often feel too comfortable being online and do not typically understand malware and the risks they pose; therefore, it’s crucial for teachers and parents to teach their children prevention of these threats and promotion of good digital citizenship.

Lesson 7: Software Selection

Software is basically a type of computer program that is utilized to accomplish a particular goal. There are several types of software, such as: application software, system software, freeware, shareware, and educational software.

I use many different types of software in my computer lab. The majority of the software I use is freeware. Freeware can be found on the internet at no cost. Some of the freeware programs that I use online for my students are www.aaamath.com, www.starfall.com, www.factmonster.com, www.thatquiz.org, and many more. There are also numerous educational software programs that I use in my computer lab which are not free of cost. One of my favorites is Pearson’s SuccessMaker Enterprise.

When choosing software in an educational setting, one must be aware of several things before purchasing it. I initially chose to use this software in my computer lab for several reasons. Foremost, the subjects and interactions on the software are all relevant to the instructional objectives of the teachers and students. It is an excellent learning tool. SuccessMaker matches the instructional goals of the school. It is extremely easy to use and is at the appropriate grade level for the students in the school. It also meets the requirements of the hardware. The main focuses of educational software are learning and engagement. SuccessMaker certainly engages the students in various ways and promotes learning.

SuccessMaker Enterprise is aimed for K-8th grade students and keeps them engaged by having the students participate in “games” that are theme-based. Each grade level has a different theme. For instance, the theme for second grade level consists of baby dinosaurs that travel to various exotic destinations. Eighth grade level consists of animated teenage characters on a cross country vacation.

SuccessMaker Enterprise has been proven to increase students’ knowledge and test scores. The software provides accurate assessments and comprehensive reporting along with overall easy administration. Each student is enrolled at his or her individual grade level. The software runs an initial assessment and places the student at the appropriate level based on the results of the assessment. The software then moves the student through the courseware, without the need for additional intervention by the teacher. Reports such as Areas of Difficulty and Parent Reports can be printed and used to further individualize instruction in order to ensure student success. It can also predict how well a student will perform on the CATS exam.

After using this software consistently with my students for six months, the students and I have truly enjoyed it. After looking at the reports, the majority of the students have developed better knowledge on the subjects they have been working on. The goals and objectives, thus far, have been met. The only challenge I have faced with this software is teaching the primary students how to log on and off and choosing a particular component of SuccessMaker to complete. However, with practice, the students are getting better at this task. Overall, I really feel the goals of this software will be accomplished!

Lesson 6: Teaching with WebQuests

WebQuests were developed just a few years ago, and not many people are aware of what they are and their primary purpose. However, after this week’s lesson I have come to the understanding that a WebQuest is simply a website that is developed to break down a large task into several smaller tasks. It’s a visual that aides in the learning process for students, and students are able to interact with the WebQuest to complete various lessons. Individuals or groups can create a WebQuest to teach practically anything.

There are numerous WebQuests available online; however, the one I found most valuable was questgarden.com, which also tends to be my Educational Technology professor’s personal favorites as well. WebQuest is pretty much self explanatory and takes the user through the process of development one step at a time.

In this lesson I was assigned to design my very own WebQuest. Initially, I was very intimated by the assignment and dreaded doing it simply because I was a novice at the topic. I wasn’t even aware that WebQuests even existed, so creating my own was a somewhat difficult task to complete. However, I made it through and successfully finished it! Developing a WebQuest was certainly time consuming, but very rewarding when it was finally complete. I can not wait to present my WebQuest to my computer lab students. The following is the URL to my WebQuest:
http://questgarden.com/119/20/9/110214110615/

Now, for a little description of my WebQuest… Since I am a computer lab instructor in an elementary school, I obviously chose to develop a WebQuest regarding technology. The title of my WebQuest is “Don’t Be a Chicken”. The topic is keyboarding. The material covered in this site is proper keyboarding techniques and homerow keys on the keyboard. The students are to complete a few assignments and are assessed in a test that covers the proper keyboarding techniques and a typing test using only the homerow keys. Some of you may be wondering why I entitled my WebQuest, “Don’t Be a Chicken”. Remember, chickens peck and humans type. A lot of children (and adults) peck like a chicken when they type…using one or two fingers to type whatever keys they need. When we learn the homerow keys and the basics of keyboarding, we no longer “peck”, we type. That’s how the title came about.

Challenges from my WebQuest? I faced several! The biggest challenge was just learning how to use it and what to include in my WebQuest. It was time consuming, and for whatever reason, my fonts did not turn out correctly on my WebQuest. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and can’t wait to use my students as guinea pigs when I present this for the first time. If they seem to enjoy it, I may consider registering and becoming a member on QuestGarden.

Lesson 5 - Online Communication Tools

Online communication tools are a great way for individuals to interact with each other. In school districts teachers, staff, students, parents, etc. can utilize online communication tools to communicate and collaborate for various reasons.

There are numerous different types of online communication tools available, with only two types. The two types include Synchronous and Asynchronous. The Center for Association Leadership states that, “Synchronous online communication tools enable real-time communication and collaboration in a ‘same time-different place’ mode. Asynchronous online communication tools enable communication and collaboration over a period of time through a ‘different time-different place’ mode.” Examples of synchronous communication tools would include: audio conferencing, web conferencing, video conferencing, chat, instant messaging, white boarding, and application sharing. Examples of asynchronous communication tools include: discussion boards, web logs (blogs), messaging (email), streaming audio, streaming video, narrated slide shows, “learning objects” (web-based training), document libraries, databases, web books, shared calendars, and web site links.

One of the ways an online communication tool can be used within schools is by teachers sending email to communicate with parents regarding their children’s school work and to update the parents on the materials being covered in the current unit of study. Teachers and staff can interact with each other using this same method of communication to inform staff on upcoming events, etc. Students can even email their teachers about concerns regarding the material being covered in class if he/she was absent on a particular day.

I have used online communication tools in my classroom in the past and still continue to do so. I think it’s extremely important for students to learn young so that as they get older, they at least know the basics of how the tools work and can broaden their knowledge and become more advanced with the tools. As I previously mentioned, I have used email with my 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students to teach them the basics of how email functions. I have to say, they absolutely love it. During their “free time” on Fridays after completing their assignments, the majority of the students just want to send email back and forth to each other.

As I stated in my Lesson 1 blog, I still plan to teach the basics of blogs to my students. I am still working on my school’s webpage, and once it is complete I will develop a blog and assign the students to update it periodically on various topics. I will also add the URL to the blog on the school’s webpage in order for parents and other viewers of the site be able to view the information that the students are learning in the computer lab. I will have them write about a particular research topic and have them all contribute at some point. Once we successfully complete this assignment, I can let them create a wiki to post information on it as well.

Lesson 4 - PowerPoint in the Classroom

Technology offers many great resources for both teaching and learning. One of those resources includes presentation software (example: Microsoft Office PowerPoint). Microsoft Office PowerPoint has become a tool that many classrooms around the globe are now using. It’s much more engaging for students than the traditional transparencies on the overhead projector or even the use of the blackboard. PowerPoint presentations allows for the users to be creative, adding color, pictures, graphics, sounds, animations, and much more to attract its viewers. Teachers can use PowerPoint to enhance the curricula for teaching. Not only does Microsoft Office PowerPoint add creativity, it also allows the students to print the slides without having to take notes throughout the entire lesson and risk losing some of the vital information needed. The program is quite self explanatory and doesn’t take very long to learn how to use. Teachers can display their presentations on the SMART Board so that the entire class can view the presentation at the simultaneously. However, “Too much of a good thing can sometimes be bad”. Presentations can sometimes be overwhelming to students by having too many visuals and/or sounds. This is called the triple “P” – PowerPoint Paralysis. Triple “P” is simply when the author of a presentation includes too many visuals, etc. to the presentation that the viewers cannot absorb the information covered. Therefore, it’s extremely vital to know when to stop inserting things into one’s presentation.
I have used numerous PowerPoint presentations not only as a teacher, but also as a student. One particular PowerPoint presentation I have used in my classroom was “Name that Computer Part”. I showed this presentation to 1-6th graders to assess their knowledge of computer terminology and descriptions at the beginning of the school year. Each slide had a different computer part or other technology device, for example: monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, USB cord, flash drive, scanner, etc. We went over this presentation as a group and explained what each part was and its function. I plan to do this again at the end of the school year to assess what they have learned this school year in my computer lab.
There isn’t anything I would change to this presentation. It’s colorful, has sounds, and animations, and keeps the students engaged. I added as many visuals to the presentation as I could without them over-taking the purpose of the presentation. One of the components in my presentation in which I am the most proud is the fact that I added links to websites on the presentation that pertained to the term being covered. For instance, for the computer mouse I had a link to a website that provides a song about how a mouse works. It’s very basic and was great for the primary students, but some of the upper grade students thought it was too young for them. The following is the link to the computer mouse song if any of you are interested in using it: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs/my-computer-mouse.

Collaboration with DTP and Word Processing

The Digital Revolution of the 20th century brought about many changes for the world. Since then people have used, and are still using, technology for the majority of the things they do. For instance, we use computers, fax machines, telephones, cellular phones, scanners, radios, cassette players, cd players, vcr players, dvd players, iPods, MP3s, iPads, and the list goes on.

Educators incorporate technology in their classrooms in various ways. This is very significant for students because technology is only going to improve. Students need to be aware of what types of technology are available today so that when newer technology is developed it will be an easier transition for them to make.

Teachers and students utilize multi-media collaboration for projects and presentations. One of the many ways to enhance the visuals of a presentation and make it more appealing is through desktop publishing software. There are various desktop publishing programs, such as: Microsoft Office Publisher, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, Corel Ventura, and many other programs that offer graphics, web publishing, or presentation software. DTP (Desktop Publishing) is much more convenient and efficient compared to the traditional paper and pencil presentations.

Word Processing is used for typing information. There are many options in word processing, such as: font options, copy, cut, paste, word count, spell check, thesaurus, etc. Word Processing programs, as well as DTP, can be used to create brochures, banners, flyers, posters, newsletters, certificates, etc. One way I have incorporated Desktop Publishing in my classroom is by using Microsoft Office Publisher to create banners and certificates.

One way I have incorporated Word Processing is through Microsoft Office Word. I am a computer lab teacher. Keyboarding plays an important role in my classes. I give students a keyboarding book and assign them typing on Microsoft Office Word in order to improve their keyboarding skills. Another of the various ways I have used word processing is having the students complete stories on Microsoft Office Word. In doing this the students get to practice their keyboarding skills and become familiar with the program at the same time.

One way I have utilized DTP in my classroom is by using Microsoft Office Desktop Publisher. I created several documents for my students, including computer lab rules, the ABCs of Computers (each letter of the alphabet can represent some type of technology in the classroom), and keyboarding certificates. The following is a DTP file that I created of my computer lab rules. I am a big fan of DTP! It makes documents and presentations much more appealing to students and seems to keep students’ focus more.

The bright colors make the document very appealing to students. It’s much more attractive to students than seeing the black and white or even pale colors. The only characteristic of this document that I find distractive is for an 8.5”x11” handout, the spacing of the words is somewhat close. I hope some of you can find my document valuable.

Lesson 2 - Productivity Software: Using Spreadsheets in the Classroom

Utilizing productivity software, such as spreadsheets and databases, in the classroom can be beneficial but also challenging, especially for teachers and students with no previous experience with this type of software.  However, once it is learned, I feel that the productivity software usage in the classroom can be very effective and can be used in various ways.  Spreadsheets can be used for record keeping, inventory of classroom materials, creating charts and graphs, creating calendars, timelines, and other tasks that can be utilized in the classroom setting.

www.microsoft.com/education/createtimeline.aspx

The above URL is one of the many websites I located that discusses spreadsheet utilization in the classroom.  I was really surprised to see that spreadsheets can be used to create timelines.  Students in a social studies classroom can generate a spreadsheet timeline regarding the history of a particular person, past events such as wars, and even presidents of the past.  Students in a science classroom can create a spreadsheet to show when different elements were discovered, when famous scientists performed their work, etc.  The possibilities of utilizing spreadsheets in the classroom are endless.  Microsoft demonstrates on its website how to create timelines using spreadsheets.  I thought the timelines were very interesting.  Using these can be modified to accustom students of all ages.  Even primary students can use spreadsheets.  For instance, these students can create a spreadsheet timeline regarding their school day and insert pictures to show what they do at particular times.

I have not used spreadsheets very often in the past.  As a matter of fact, I was not introduced to the software until the eighth grade.  During this time our teacher assigned us a simple task to create a spreadsheet of a contact list.  This list consisted of our friends, phone numbers, and addresses (optional).  We were then allowed to insert clip art and word art to spice up our spreadsheet.

Although I haven’t assigned any tasks to my computer lab classes, I have introduced the concept of utilizing spreadsheets.  I do plan to use spreadsheets and give the students assignments.  I will have them create their own monthly calendar in which they will format their cells by changing their sizes, background colors, fonts, etc.  I will have students insert borders, clip art and/or word art for special occasions. I will allow students to complete this assignment monthly in order to gain more knowledge of how spreadsheets work.  Each month I will assign an additional task to their calendar assignment.  The repetition of creating the spreadsheet calendars monthly for the students will allow them to comprehend the effectiveness of the productivity software and it will be easier for them to use with more difficult tasks in the future.