Windows LIVE + Bing Photo Contest

What a great contest for those in Photography course and the arts to get their work published for the world to see! 

For those that have not used Microsoft Bing (Microsoft’s Google search)…  Each day on BINGS home page they feature a single photo and anyone going to Bing will see it, they also have the option of going back in history to review previous shots.

You don’t have a lot of time, but this could be a great exercise (project) for your students.  They need take a picture and edit it using photo gallery in a very creative way – you really need to take a read of the contest.

Photo Gallery is the best place on your PC to organize, edit and share your photos and videos with friends and family and social networks in the cloud. With that in mind, we’re looking for some breathtaking and stunning photos of clouds! We are looking for photos of clouds that somehow illustrate and show how Windows Live connects your PC to the cloud – but in a creative way of course! We then want to put one lucky winner’s photo of clouds on the homepage of Bing for the day! So send in your photos of clouds or anything that relates to clouds – rainbows, thunderclouds, airplanes, orographic clouds, etc. You can take pictures of landscapes, cities, objects, and just about anything so long as clouds are the primary focus of the image. FULL ARTICLE

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM)

As I have mentioned many times on many posts – Internet safety always needs to be top of mind for us as technology people and educating those that use the WEB but don’t know a lot about it.  We all have friends and family that we support and don’t always do the right thing online – both Adults and kids.

It was great to see so many large companies participating in this program

“We wanted to come together with one collective voice and have an impact with one clear message – ‘Stop. Think. Connect,’” Beauchere says. “A lot of these participants compete with each other on a daily basis, but they’re all grounded and passionate about this pressing social issue.”

The coalition members included businesses such as Facebook, Google, and Intel; was led by organizations such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA); and government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Beauchere has been Microsoft’s representative to the NCSA Board of Directors since August 2007.

The White House also was involved with the campaign, Beauchere says. Several months ago, President Barack Obama called for a national awareness campaign for computer safety and security. The call coincided with the efforts already underway by the coalition, which had been working on a new message for more than a year.

READ ON

You can get more information from consumer online safety web site and some great tips from Stop Think Connect page as well.

Can Spell Check Make Things Worse? The Most Misspelled Words (via Dr. Diane Hamilton’s Blog )

I will be honest with you, my spelling & grammar are terrible and I use spell checkers and the thesaurus all the time. You also have to be very careful as the spell checker checks spelling, but not if the word is the right one – You can have the wrong word, but the right spelling.

A great article was on another blog with a bunch of suggestions that really make sense and I think everyone one can use. I will be taking this to my kids as I believe it will help them as well.

Today's Ask Dr. Diane:  What are some of the mostly commonly misspelled words? I post a lot of information about spelling and grammar for my students.  There are certain words that many people tend to misspell.  For a list of the top 100 misspelled words, click here.  I often ask students to quiz their family and friends to see how they do with some of the more commonly misspelled words . . . For fun, ask people to spell the following words that … Read More

via Dr. Diane Hamilton's Blog

Violent Games & Kids

Something that has been discussed for many years is how do we control access to violent games and when will the GAME makers start doing the right thing and regulate themselves.  I believe the makers need to do more than they are, but ultimately the control of what my child plays and sees and doesn’t is my responsibility.  We as parents should be very aware of what our kids are doing online at all times.  I am a strong believer in that the home computer is in a public place and not behind closed doors. 

Standards have to be set, better ranking has to be put in place and retailers – brick and cloud have to get involved.  But again ultimately it is the parents who have to police what our kids do online.  My two cents….

 72% of Americans think there should be a law against children playing violent games

More sleep and good eat’s MAKE for better Students….

Something I think no parent needs to be told, but it’s easier said then done.  An article was in District Admin about a study done that showed kids that slept an extra half hour and had breakfast where not as tired and paid better attention in class.  Eight hours of sleep and eating a healthy breakfast makes all the difference.

Changing the start time to school is not easily done for many reasons.  Being a parent of two girls – one in HS and the other in grade 8 we have a mandatory bed time that can be flexible on occasion, but not the norm.  Being that my girls start school at or just before 9AM, makes it easier for me then others that might start between 7-8AM or for those needing to take a bus and travel.  My oldest goes to bed by 10 or a little after and ends up with 9hrs of sleep most nights throughout the school week.  Breakfast has never been an issue, we have always stressed it as being very important. 

What can be done, I am not sure other than doing our best and making sure they get as much sleep as possible.

DistrictAdmin Article – “Research shows HS students benefit from later start time” 

Digital Devices & Learning – Connection?

I read this piece and believe that there might be a lot of truth to it!  I have no personal experience, so I will let you make your own minds up.  They mention a lot of changes in kids over time, but is it the devices or our environment or both?

Take a read

Could digital devices be harming your child’s ability to learn?

Knowledge & Information for PARENTS

I have been thinking…  I have posted before that I believe – we as TECH people have a responsiblity to keep not only kids save, but parents as well when they are on the internet.  We may take the information we know for granted, but many parents just don’t know and really don’t have the time to figure things out.  We need to HELP!

Most districts have parent section for getting information about the school and kids on the WEB, how about putting up important information that can keep them and their children save when at home.  This information would have to be front and center  – opening page of the Parent WEB – it will have to be updated, but keeping a history area of information as well.  You might want to have a TIP of the month put into the NEWSLETTER as well.  Some of you might already be doing this and that is great.

Getting this started at your district would be very simple, I have posted over the last few weeks about 5-6 items that you could include right away.  I will continue to include items of interest on security and internet safety that you can use as well.

Let me know what you think and if your already doing this, I would be interested in hearing about what you have done in this area.  Honestly – I will be looking into starting this in both my girls schools.

Kids & WEB Research

I read an article in District Admin and was first surprised, but when I thought it through I really wasn’t.  I have two young teenagers and they have done research on the WEB for assignments and have done the exact thing the article talked about.  

Kids cannot believe everything they see after doing a Google or Bing search, but a lot do and it’s not just kids.  There is a lot of great information on the WEB, but there is just as much and maybe more junk.  I believe there is a much large number of parents that don’t know, then do know about things like this. 

So how do kids learn what information to us and what not too – What to believe and not?  This becomes difficult as Teachers need to understand this as well and stay on top of the changes happening all the time.  This has to come from several fronts to be successful.  Both Parents and Teachers need to educate the kids, companies need to get involved as well.

Take a read of the article if you haven’t already