Safer Internet Day 2016

Today is Safer Internet Day.

"Safer Internet Day is an event for promoting safer and responsible usage of online technologies among young people. It also raises awareness of emerging concerns such as cyberbullying and social networking privacy. The theme of Safer Internet Day 2016 is “Play your part for a better Internet!”  -Forbes Tech

Here are some tips that will keep you and your students a little bit safer when working online.

Keeping Your Password Safe

1. Never, EVER, share password, especially over the internet or through your email.
2. Make sure your password is strong.  Many passwords I have seen (from people who have shared them with me - ACK! Don't do that - see number 1), have not been strong passwords.                        
3. Don't use the same password for all of your accounts.  Change them up, each account should have it's own unique password.
4. Change your password frequently.  If you have never changed it, it's time. To change your district password (for GAFE, School Loop, etc.) click here.

Protect Your Google Account with Two-Step Verification

If someone hacks your Google account and figures out your password, you can prevent them from accessing your Google account using Google's 2-step verification.

If you set up 2-step verification, you have to log in to your account using your email and password, and then a generated code that is sent to your cell phone.  Most likely, if someone hacks your account, they won't have access to your cell phone, so your account will be safe.

Here are instructions on how to set up 2-step verification:

**I would only recommend doing this if you always have your cell phone with you.  You can also print out some codes that you can keep in your wallet in case you don't have access to your phone.  If you are using your own personal computer, you can make it so it doesn't ask you for the code each time you log in.

If someone does hack your account, and is able to gain access, the first thing you want to do is change your password.  To change your @seq.org password (for Google, SL, IC, etc.), go to this website.

Free 2GB of Google Storage to do an Internet Security Checkup

Google is providing 2GB of free storage if you do a internet Security Checkup today.  (You already have unlimited storage on your @seq GAFE account, but it doesn't hurt to do a checkup anyways.  But, if you have a personal Google account, 2GB is a great deal!)  Click here to do a security checkup.  Here are instructions on how to do the checkup if you need help.

Safer Internet Day Resources

Click here for additional resources (including lesson plans) that you can use with your students.

Using Revision History in GAFE

Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings have a really great feature called Revision History.  Revision History allows the editors of the document to see all changes made in the history of the document, and who made those changes and when.  You can also go back and restore previous versions of the document.  In order to see revision history on a document, you must have editing rights.

Here, you can see on May 22 at 3:55pm, a student made the changes in orange. (Student names have been blurred.)  

Why would you use Revision History?

• If you are using a document as a part of your lesson, and make changes during the class period, revert back to an earlier version to "reset" it for the next period.
• Check if students followed suggestions from peer or teacher editing - You can go back and see if students made changes that were suggested.  (You can also always see all comments and suggested edits, even if a student resolved them, by clicking on "Comments" at the top of the screen, next to the "Share" button.)
• Plagiarism check - if a huge segment of text gets added at one time, a student copied/pasted it into the doc.  (Be sure to click "Show more detailed revisions" at the bottom of the revision history window to check this.)
• Accidents - sometimes when working in groups, a student may accidentally change something.  Anyone who has editing rights can go back and see the previous version, or copy something from a previous version and then go back to the most recent version and paste in "old" text/images.
• Sabotage - sometimes students don't behave as they should in a document that is shared with multiple people.  You will always have a history of who did what, and can restore previous versions.  (The document must be shared w/ specific people, not "anyone with a link" to see the names of who did what.)

How do you access Revision History?

There are two ways to access Revision History.

1. Click on "All changes saved in Drive" at the top of any document.
   
2. Go to "File" and then choose "See Revision History."
   

Review Games - Add Some FUN to Review Week

Reviewing for final exams can be a little tedious, both for students and teachers.  There are some great technology tools that can add a little (or a lot) of fun to reviewing past material.  You may already be familiar with Kahoot, but have you heard of Quizizz?  

Both tools are free, gameshow-like quiz games, where you can enter in your own questions, or choose games created by other teachers.  The teacher projects the game, and the students use their cell phones or chromebooks to answer the questions.

Many teachers in our district have been using Kahoot, and students love it.  I have heard stories of students playing Kahoot in small groups on their own time, because it is fun.  And the best part, they are learning and reviewing at the same time.  Quizizz is a newer game, that is very similar.  But it has some additional tools and benefits that put it a little over the top of Kahoot:

• Quizizz allows students to go at their own pace.  This gives students the time to really think through the questions, instead of just choosing an answer to be the fastest.  (You can also run it so it is time, like Kahoot.)
• Quizizz displays the questions right on the students device, so they don't need to look up at the screen to see the question.  This makes it much easier for the students to stay engaged, and not get confused.
• Quizziz has fun memes after each question that students love.
• Quizziz allows students to take the quizzes at home for homework assignments.  You can leave a quiz open for up to two weeks.

For instructions, an overview video, and a walkthrough to use this with your students, please check out this link.

If you need any help creating your first quiz, or want me to help you run the game with your class, please book an appointment or contact me.

Use the Hour of Code to Teach Important Skills to ALL Students

Why should ALL teachers participate in the hour of code with their students?  You may be thinking, "I don't teach computer science, and I don't want to give up an hour of my valuable class time". 

While you may not be teaching a computer science course, coding teaches students problem solving skills, critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance.  These are all skills that any teacher, in any subject area, would love for their students to have and practice.  And, coding is used to help people in all job fields, so it is a great way to share with your students applications in the work force to your subject area.

Getting started in coding is actually easy, and as a teacher, you do not need to know how to code yourself!  But honestly, it's a lot of fun.  Here's a Star Wars game I created after completing a Hour of Code tutorial.  (Stay away from the Storm Troopers, and try to get the Tauntuans.)

How do you participate in the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code takes place during Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13.  All you need is an hour (or 50 minutes if that is all you have).  You don't even need devices, but it is a little more fun if you do.  

1. Go to the Code.org tutorial page and choose a tutorial for your class (or let your students choose their own).  I recommend the Star Wars one.  It has a Java version which is geared for older students, and students can create their own game at the end.  Also, students can complete these tutorials using a computer, chromebook, or even on their phones using an internet browser.
2. It helps if you go through the tutorial yourself ahead of time.  But honestly, you don't need to.  The students will be fine doing it without you having to be an expert.
3. Have the students create an account, and work on the tutorial.  You will be amazed watching your students create, think critically, and fail and try again.
4. If you don't have devices, go to code.org/learn and scroll down to "unplugged computer science".