Technology

Technology Grants

If you have visited a BACS classroom recently you may have noticed a computer projector on the ceiling and a "Smartboard" on the wall.  These have been made possible by a series of generous grants over the past several years from the Asplundh Foundation specifically for classroom technology. Teachers are very excited and energetic about integrating these technology tools into their classrooms.  Below are a couple of examples of how this technology is being put to use. Some classrooms are making use of "Google Earth", a free program that shows photos of the earth from satellite cameras,  to teach about  geography and maps.  Math classes make use of a giant movable transparent compass that allows students to explore angles in a unique way.  Bryn Athyn Church School would like to thank the Asplundh Foundation for their support.

Lucas Mergen, BACS Director of Technology

Gaggle.net

Bryn Athyn Church School is excited that this year 7th and 8th grade students will be using an internet service called Gaggle.  Gaggle is a suite of tools that include email, online document storage and editing, calendars, blogs, homework dropboxes, class pages and many other tools.  The beauty of Gaggle is that it is available to students at school and home through the same internet-based interface!   For more information about Gaggle see www.gaggle.net.

Why Gaggle?
There were many reasons to move toward this type of internet service for the school.  However, several key reasons are worth mentioning:

  • Student productivity: Prior to Gaggle it was not unusual for students to have challenges moving documents between school and home:   Students would forget flash drives, would have trouble managing multiple copies of the same document or would need to email their teacher a document.  We hope that Gaggle, which allows documents to be stored and edited online, will enable students to work both at school and at home seamlessly.
  • Cost: While the there is a cost to Gaggle it will enable the school to reduce costs for software, hardware and IT support.
  • 21st century learning environment:   In an effort to recognize the ubiquity of electronic communication, BACS sees the need to update to include electronic tools such as those Gaggle offers.  This is not being done to blindly follow an educational trend, but because of an acknowledgment of who the students are in the 21st century and that communication and collaboration skills are increasingly important in today’s environment.  Gaggle offers a variety of communication tools such as email, chat, message boards, and blogs, and fosters collaboration through the sharing of documents with other BACS Gaggle users.

Is Gaggle Safe? 
Safety is often a concern that is raised when children use the internet.  One reason that Gaggle was chosen over other services was its security and safety tools.  In fact, Gaggle describes itself this way: “Gaggle has been providing safe online learning tools for the K-12 market since 1998. Our focus is and always has been on student safety, so educators can have the confidence to allow learners to take advantage of current technological tools for communication, collaboration, and productivity.” Because Gaggle is designed exclusively for schools, it has developed itself to meet the needs of schools, including their safety needs and is compliant with COPPA, CIPA, FERPA, and HIPPA.  It gives schools the ability to restrict email, blogs, and other tools to the school only or open them up to a wider audience.  All content, including photos, are electronically scanned for inappropriate content.  For more information see Gaggle’s Safety page at https://www.gaggle.net/home/safety/

This is an exciting new direction for Bryn Athyn Church School and we are looking forward to using the tools Gaggle offers with the students.  


Electronic Safety

or E-Safety provides ideas for parents on how to keep children safe when using computers for internet browsing, playing games or electronic communications (including email and social networking sites, such as Facebook).

Facebook Information

Facebook Safety Night Handout

Facebook www.facebook.com

Children Online  http://childrenonline.org 

Facebook Effect Presentation by Lisa Sjogren http://wiki.ties.k12.mn.us/TIES09_110

General Information

Suggestions:

  • Sign up for the Children Online email newsletter at www.childrenonline.org. This is a short monthly email newsletter concerning issues kids and teens face when online with ideas for parents and teachers.
  • Put the internet-connected computers your children use in a public room in your house. Avoid internet-connected computers in bedrooms.

Parent Information Websites:

Child-Friendly Search Engines:

Books and DVD's to Borrow contact Lucas Mergen at 215-947-4086x249 or lucas.mergen@bacs-gc.org

  • PBS Frontline: Growing Up Online DVD
  • Raising a Digital Child: A Digital Citizenship Handbook for Parents A Digital Citizenship Handbook for Parents
  • Digital Citizenship in School
  • Safe Practices for Life Online: A guide for middle and high school - Teacher's edition A guide for middle and high school - Teacher's edition
  • Safe Practices for Life Online: A guide for middle and high school students - Student edition
  • Racing to Keep Up: Strategies for parents to talk with their kids about tech use and ways to keep the home computer safe

Webinars and Videos to watch:

Recommendations of Children Online www.childrenonline.org

Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe, reprinted with permission

1. Do not allow any chatting functions for children under age 9. Allowing chatting access to these sites at a younger age encourages and trains kids to consider the Internet to be fun and the easiest source for finding friends or communicating.

2. Spend time going over the sites alone and then with your children. Create rules and structures before your child begins playing on the sites.

3. Maintain a healthy balance in your child's play to include more time for friends, family or isolated off line play. While the kids may complain about limited time online, encourage group sports, family events, and manipulative games such as Lego's or puzzles.

4. Consider putting keylogging software on the family computer that tracks all activity online when the child is young.. With this software in place the child grows up understanding the monitoring that parents have over their exploration of the Internet. It is always easier to take away boundaries than to put boundaries in place that did not exist earlier. [See our website www.childrenonline.org for parental control software information]]

5. Include values and ethics when talking about the Internet. Encourage children to be the same online as they are in person and to be kind and respectful. A great deal of the language and communication online is harassing, mean and inappropriate. It is especially important for families and schools to encourage children to be kind, respectful and appropriate when online.

6. Encourage children to talk to an adult whenever they feel frightened or uncomfortable about something they encounter online. Research shows that children rarely talk to adults when frightened or scared online. The children often worry that their families will "take away the computer" if they report a problem. Talk to you child; explain your worries and your willingness to work with them to keep them safe.

7. Teach your child to avoid providing personal information when asked in pop-ups or advertising.