When it comes to setting goals I like the SMART concept:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timely

The goals we set for our program or project must be transparent.

The goals and objectives we set need to be very specific. When examined the goals and the  benefits derived from them must be clearly and easily seen. How often have we seen objectives and goals that clouded, complex and broad. Many goals also tend to be fluid and dynamic, a moving goal like a moving target is much hard to hit.

Part of any successful project, and therefore its goals is being able to measure when you have achieved it, how far you have progressed and how far you have to go. Hence our goals & objectives should be measurable. We need to be able to accurately set the goals and the milestones we need to reach them. To be measurable we need to breakdown the task, project or program into small steps or increments.

Each step we take in completing our task should be achievable. For it to be something we can complete we should consider several different aspects:

• Cost – can we do it within our budget?
• Skills – do we have the skills to complete this or do we have to use other skills sources
• Resources - do we have the resources available to achieve the goal?
• Do we have time to complete this task? Can we do it within the time frame we have?

One of the biggest questions to ask is “Is this project Relevant?” This refers back to the expectations of the community that is driving the project or program. With in relevance we should ask “what are the benefits of this programme or project?” What will we be able to deliver? Will these be relevant, useful and appropriate to our end users?

Our goals must be timely. We need the project to be delivered and available when we need it and when our students need it. The timing for the goals & objectives and there milestones we take must be specific, achieveable and realistic.

Our goals and objectives must bring benefits to us. To obtain these benefits these outcoms we must be able to plan to reach these goals. Setting and planning for goals should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

2. For the history educators – this site is looking at “the man behind Hitler” Joesph Gobbels – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goebbels/ and some of the propaganda he produced – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goebbels/gallery/index.html

3. From History on the Net http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/nazigermanymain.htm This site looks at Nazi Germany

4. Open Chemistry - http://openchemistry.co.uk/ this is an open chemistry site producing free resources availzable to all. Another good one for chemistry is http://periodictable.com/ and also http://www.periodicvideos.com/

5. Crime mapper - http://maps.police.uk/ this is a UK police tool that mashes data from various sources with maps to produce interesting results – searchable by area. This is a great tool for Humanities and information technology.

6. Commoncraft show – Cloud computing in plain english http://commoncraft.com/cloud-computing-video This is another BRILLIANT resource from Lee LeFever and the guys at Commoncraft. This is a very useful professional development resource and resource for teaching computing and computers.

7. Firefox turns 5 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ULDH90H530&feature=player_embedded This is a video celebrating 5 years of Mozilla’s firefox browser. The video is fun and raises some interesting questions from its unique perspective. This is another great resource for teaching computing and professional development.

8. Darwin, a naturalists voyage -http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/dossiers/dosdarwinE/darwin.html This science, biology and history themed site provides an interesting insight into the Journey of Charles Darwin. Click on the link and watch the animation and listen to the sound track.

9 And finally from a blog I subscribe to – Information is beautiful – http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/interesting-easy-beautiful-true/

This is a brilliant aid to the science teacher and the senior biologist. So lets see what this site has for us…

1. Homepage (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/) – this links through to a variety of pages, most with a genetics theme but also an interesting look at the ecology of salt lake.

2. Amazing cells (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/) – this is the portal page for animations, interactive activities, videos and alike – a couple of stand out pages are: Cell size and scale http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/(a brilliant interactive resources showing cell etc) and Inside a cell http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/insideacell/(this interactive allows you to select cell compenets and have these explained to you)

They also produce resources for teachers – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/ for cell biology.

3. The Genetics section is also very well resourced with sections on:

• Protien synthesis – http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/dna/
• Heredity - http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/traits/
• Epigenetics – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/
• Cloning – http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/

Plus a great resource page which indexes their easily accessable materials and lesson plans – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/

4.Tap into the world of comics - http://www.slideshare.net/shend5/tap-into-the-world-of-comics this is a slideshare presentation on 21 uses for comics in the classroom and contains some great resources

5. Finally a quick one from the read write web  – what will the internet look like in 5 years time – http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_web_in_five_years.php – This is from Google’s Eric Schmidt

The Digital Citizen Acceptable use agreement details six facets of behaviour that a digital citizen should follow to be an appropriate and respectful digital citizen. The statements are kept deliberately broad and generalised and provide outlines for suitable behaviour.

As we are working to implement this, I have been asked to expand on the different aspects or facets and give the students some more concrete ideas about what they need to do to be respectful and protect themselves. So the list below represents some starting points for taking the Six facets of digital citizenship into the real world we operate in.

Respecting and Protecting yourself by:

1. looking after your hardware appropriately, carrying your laptop/mobile device in a bag, securing it in a safe place and keeping it charged

2. saving your work regularly

3. backing up important data regularly (recommended minimum is weekly)

4. scanning your computer for viruses regularly, update the virus definitions regularly.

5. applying patches and updates to your operating systems and software

6. selecting suitable online names, that you can use in professional communications

7. selecting strong passwords and changing these regularly. Recommendations are:

• 8 characters or more

• Number and letters

• Special characters

• Upper and lower case

8. protecting your passwords, don’t share these with anyone. Locking your computer.

9. managing your files

10. using descriptive file names

11. creating and organising into folders

12. considering what personal information is made public. This can be on your social networking site, when you sign up to services or register software.

13. only put required information in online profiles.

14. considering who you allow to be your friends online.

15. building positive relationships online, keeping these open and transparent. Being cautious in who we share information with and who we meet.

16. posting only material that portrays you in a positive light.

17. consider which images of yourself you publish

18. keep email addresses and personal details private

19. considering carefully when and where I use my credit card details etc

20. remembering anything you say online is public and usually permanent

21. reporting any attacks or inappropriate behaviour directed at you

22. acting with integrity and respect.

Respecting and Protecting others by:

1. reporting abuse to appropriate authorities when I see it.

2. not flaming or abusing people

3. not forwarding junk mail, spam or inappropriate materials

4. not visiting sites that are degrading or inappropriate

5. not entering private spaces or change other people pages

6. informing people appropriately when they have left open their profile etc

7. not using anyone else accounts, log ons etc.

8. asking permission before I publish images ot content that may contain details about other people.

9. respecting other people’s rights to privacy and anonymity

10. respecting the trust others have in me by protecting other people email, IM and skype addresses and contact details.

11. protecting other on my network by having a protected, updated and antivirus checked computer.

12. always acting with integrity and respect.

Respecting and Protecting Intellectual Property by:

1. having an understanding of the rules and laws applying to:

• copyright
• intellectual property
• Fair use
• creative commons

2. asking permission before I use materials and respect the owners decision regarding this material.

3. only using software and media that I have permission to use. This can be material made available under creative commons or the public domain, material I have purchased etc.

4. not sharing my media or software with others unless the license allows me to do this.

5. using free and open source alternative software and medias instead of pirating licensed or copy written ones.

6. registering my software and alway considering what information I need to provide the company. I will read the options and make sure that I understand that my information and details may be distributed and sold.

7. validating all information sources

8. citing my information sources using a suitable bibliography method.

9. giving credit to and acknowledge people and sources that have influenced my thinking or products.

10. Acting with integrity and respect

This is not meant to replace the six facets rather is an expansion and some detail on what each means. I would as always appreciate any feedback regarding this.

This material is available as a PDF or in an expanded form on the Edorigami wiki

]]> http://edorigami.edublogs.org/2009/10/29/digital-citizenship-aup-expanded/feed/ 3 http://edorigami.edublogs.org/2009/10/26/new-tool-livebrush/ http://edorigami.edublogs.org/2009/10/26/new-tool-livebrush/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:08:49 +0000 andrewch http://edorigami.edublogs.org/?p=1073 This is the first Adobe Air tool that has really caught my attention. It is graphic design motion based painting program. It allows you to select a wide range of brushes and the decorate your canvas. Livebrush

Available as a free download or as a low cost pro version this is a neat tool. As it is an Adobe Air tool it does require Air to be installed and this is available from the adobe website

Worth a play certainly – age groups  – I would have to say all ages with a slightly more senior focus due to the formal interface. But really anyone with a bit of creativity will have fun. The end products are exported as an image in PNG format.

1. The Maths Apprentice - http://www.mathapprentice.com/Activity/explore.html – this is a fun primary and middle years site for mathematics. Directed at the younger audience. Worth considering using with an IWB.

2. Kids online – me and mymaths - http://www.kidsolr.com/math/math.html – again for the yiounger middle years audience, but a useful amth site with potential for IWB use too.

3. Dan’s Maths - http://www.dansmath.com/ – this sit is directed at the more senior school audience but is still applicable to midle school students

4. Maths helpAtube - http://www.mathatube.com/ – Video tutorialsa dn resources for mathematics – this is a great site well worth a forage. While not directly associated but worth investigating is teachertube – http://www.teachertube.com

5. US Government Data - http://www.data.gov/ this is a great source of accurate information and statistics. Applicable to mathematics, humanities and many other subject areas. This is a great resource.

6. Infographic Maps – http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/10/30-superb-examples-of-infographic-maps/ Web designer depot is a blog I subscribe to and it provide a wide range of interesting sites and resources. This one has some excellent examples of inforgraphics that are well worth looking at.

7. Ofcom report on Children and Media – http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consumer/2009/10/more-children-have-broadband-in-the-bedroom/ OfCom is the Office of Communication in the UK. This offering is a report on Media and children. Here is one statistic worth considering “35 per cent of 12-15s and 16 per cent of 8-11s now have web access in their bedrooms“. Worth also visiting is the mashable post on net usage http://mashable.com/2009/10/14/net-usage-nielsen/

8. Online comic creation tool – Howtoons – http://www.howtoons.com/ – A nice online cartoon/comic tool which allows you to export as a PDF file. Free

9. How to give a lousy presentation – http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/aug2009/sb20090825_379576.htm This is one of those time to refelct articles. As you read through this post do you cringle a little?

As always these sites are also posted on my Delicious account - http://del.icio.us/achurches

Accessing recreational sites during classes and while at work is an issue facing employers [3] and schools alike. The cost, in dollar terms, can be huge and in lost productivity, is significant. Various strategies are employed to manage this but these are often ineffective, draconian or dictatorial. How can we manage this issue better?

The digital world we live in provides us with ample opportunities to work any where and conversely play anywhere. We often see our students sitting in the corridors, on the edge of wireless connectivity, web surfing during their break times, lunch hours and before and after school. The ubiquitous connectivity that modern devices presents us means that essentially we are online anytime. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Recent articles in ITNEWS[2] and the New Zealand Herald [1] have highlighted the cost that universal connectivity can bring to industry. IT News reported that as much as 40% of the companies bandwidth is used for non business related web activity.[2] The New Zealand Herald reported that this level of activity cost the New Zealand economy 2.7 million dollars a day.[1] At work, unlike school such activities can have huge repercussions for the work including dismissal [4].

As teachers, we must prepare our students for the world they live in now, but also for the world beyond the walls and boundaries of our institutions. This includes when it is appropriate to surf and when it is not.

The Digital Citizen [5] has an understanding of when and where it is appropriate to use the internet and online resources for recreational purposes. They know what time it is!

As teachers and administrators, we can help to develop and scaffold the self management skills and attitudes of our digital citizens. These will stand them well in the wider world beyond our gates. We do this, not by having restrictions, rather by gradually removing them; by encouraging an ethical approach to the use of technologies rather than applying draconian measures.

So how can we educate our students? Is it appropriate to unleash unfettered internet access on Middle School students? The answer is no. Students, particularly those in the middle years live in the now. They are in a period of great change, growth and are often experimenting and pushing boundaries. Here we need to provide guidelines and restrictions as they are often morally and ethically immature.

But as the students enter into the Senior School, it is appropriate to shift the focus of control from the teachers to the students. This is not to say “its all open, of you go” rather it is appropriate to gradually release the controls and shift the onus of responsibility on to the students.

We need to have clearly established guidelines for what is and is not acceptable, and we also need to be able to justify why these are not acceptable. For some aspects this is easy. For example surfing pornography is unacceptable for a number of reasons ranging from the legal to the ethical and moral aspects of it being an industry founded on abuse, portraying an unrealistic and inappropriate view of relationships and sex.

But what about facebook, myspace and other social networking sites? These are not fundamentally unethical. Often schools will block these sites as they are potentially opportunities for cyberbullying. But this strategy will not stop them being used for this rather it drives the practice underground and after school.

A better and more constructive approach to social networking sites (and other recreational sites) is to set clear guidelines for their use and make them available. Informing the students that the use of computers in class is strictly for educational purposes and other activities are detracting from their learning, sets the foundations for this. Informing them, Senior Students, that they can in their own time (before and after school, interval and lunch) access social networking/recreational sites, as long as their behaviour is appropriate and acceptable, brings the use of these sites from the realm of proxy tunnels and hidden activity and into the open. Student surfing and accessing social networking sites during learning time are suitably dealt with, while appropriate use in their own time is rewarded by continued access.

This style of approach prepares students for a world where the consequences of inappropriate activity are far more severe and potentially far reaching. We, as educators facilitate appropriate behaviours and chastise those that fail to reach these. The students who use technologies that bypass our restrictions are obviously accessing sites that are deemed unacceptable and inappropriate, rather than just trying to access their social networks or email.

The traditional approach of blocking just drives the behaviours underground and away from school environments. These approaches, blocking and banning do reduce the incidents at school but are hardly a holistic approach. Where as a partnership, based on trust and understanding, supported by the six facets of digital citizenship [5] makes the use of these site open, manageable and transparent. Students develop the skills and attitudes that will stand them in good stead beyond our gates, in the world of employment and further education.

References:

1. Hart. Steve, Saturday Jul 19, 2008 Slackers hurting net result http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment/news/article.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=10522283
2. Williams Ian, Feb 11, 2009 IT Managers losing control of the network http://www.itnews.com.au/News/136844,it-managers-losing-control-of-the-network.aspx

3. staff writer 11 September 2007 facebooks costs businesses dear http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6989100.stm

4. staff writer Saturday, 25 April 2009 ‘Ill’ worker fired over Facebook http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8018329.stm

5. Churches, Andrew. The Digital Citizen. http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/The+Digital+Citizen

1. National Atmospheric and oceanic admistration – http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/ This is a government site with some good visualisations and animations on weather etc. Good use of satellite images  – worth a visit

2. Science net links – http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/systems.html This interactive starts with a voice saying “please help me I have lost all my organs” – from there the students have to help him rebuild his digestive tract, nervous system and others. The base site http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/ is also worth visiting too..

3. Climate Challenge – http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/ This is a BBC science/climate game. Well worth looking at. Here is the lead line for it “A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office”

4. Connect2change – http://www.connect2climate.org/Mobile_Games.htm this is a site with a difference as it is games for mobile phones. The theme is climate change. Interesting.

5. Copenhagen Challenge – http://www.copenhagenchallenge.org/ Another climate change challenge game. This one is web based rather than mobile based. Here is the lead line from this Educational game “The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 – COP15, is being hosted by Denmark in Copenhagen in December this year. The Danish government’s goal for COP15 is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement which will apply to the period after 2012..”

6. V Gas – Energy Lifestyles and climate – http://alba.jrc.it/vgas/ This is a download and play game produced by the European Commission Joint Research Center.Also worth a visit is the Joint Research Center – http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm

7. Learning games for Kids - http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/ This is a site for the younger students hosting a variety of different games.

These sites are bookmarked on my delicious site – http://delicious.com/achurches

Here is my weekly catch from the net.

1. Alternative to – http://alternativeto.net/desktop this website is present you with alternative application to common or popular software and web based tools. This is an excellent tool for those of us with limited budgets.

2.Science visualisations – http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/visualizations/all/1# This is a wired science sumamtion of the best visualisation videos of 2009. This is an excellent resource for science teachers and can add variety into your teaching program. This opbviously appeals to the visual learner

3. How are maps made up from aerial and satellite images – http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/question/topographic-maps-created-aerial-and-satellite-photographs-78979.html – this is an article I found recently which explained how topo maps use images. very interesting and useful for the humanities students and particulalry the geographers.

4. What browser – http://www.whatbrowser.org/ this is a useful resource site for IT classes and also for explaining about a web browser. This site looks at trhe web btrowser youa re using and provides you with some insights into it. For those who are interested it also links to a time line for web browsers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_web_browsers#Graphical_Timeline

5. e-Glossary http://www.glencoe.com/apps/eGlossary612/grade.php this site produced by McGraw-Hill provides a useful and age specific glossary of mathematical terms. A useful learning aid for teachers and students alike.

Hope these are useful – As always I ave posted these to my Del.icio.us account - http://delicious.com/achurches

• Productivity suite – this is a word processor, presentation tool (slide style), Data processing tool (Spreadsheet) – this could be iWorks, MS Office or Open Office
• Image editing tool - alter and edit existing images and pictures – there is a wide selection of tools from companies like adobe, Corel or OSS products like The GIMP
• Graphics tool – this is a tool that allows me to create graphics – this can also be an image editor too (See above) add in Paint.net, Tux paint etc
• Mind mapping tool – these are brilliant tools often called graphical organisers – examples are Mind manager, Inspiration or OSS tools like Freemind and C-Map
• Web development tools – this could be a simple text editor or a more complex html tool – there is the standard Adobe Dreamweaver or OSS tools like KompoZer
• Video editor – Most operatings systems come with a basic video editor like iMovie and moviemaker, but these are limited.
• Audio editor - Mac has a beauty in garage band, and microsoft’s offering sound recorder is very poor. For me I like Audacity
• Media player – lots of flavours here, but you want a couple to cover all of the different codec – I quite like VLC
• Internet browser - A wide selection all have good and bad points I use IE, Firefox and Opera
• VoIP Client – Skype – what a stunner
• Communication tools - these are your email clients – Most OSes come with a simple version like Outlook express I like First class but its much more than just a email client
• Instant messaging tools – your choice of course – I use the First class IM tool and Skype
• Desk top publishing tools - Some are powerful and well respected and others are we friendly but not great – my preference is trhe OSS tool scribus
• CD/DVD creation tools
• Archiving tool – Winzip or even the windows archive tool

Specialist tools

• GIS tools (GIS = Geographical Information systems) – got to love Google earth
• Animation tools – I like SAM from TUFT University  – Free and very cool. I guess you could include Microsoft photostory in this category too.
• Comic creation tools - My favourite is plasq’s comic life but there are some online alternatives
• programming tools – I like and use VB.Net 2008 express, Game maker, Marvin
• project management tools - the OSS tools openproj and ganttproject are my favourites here
• PDF reader and creator. For my reader I can go past Adobe Acrobat Reader. For my creator – open office does this natively and cutepdf does the rest

Looking at this list most categories have a FOSS (Free or open source – these are in Bold) alternative. These are worth considering .

So what is missing and what could you add to a list of tools we need.