Quintura is a the search tool that displays results in a text list, and with a tag cloud of related words. Tabs divide the results by web, images, video, and Amazon. To refine your search, hover your mouse over words in the tag cloud to see a new set of related words displayed. You can exclude a word with a click of the red X. I can see how this visual tag cloud of related terms could assist you in further defining a search of an unfamiliar topic.

Quintura includes an option to embed flash or java code in a webpage to display your interactive search results tag cloud. Try out the coffee example below:

• Hover your mouse over a word to tweak the search and watch the cloud change.
• Click on a link in the list below to visit the site.
• Enter a new search term in the field at the top and click the magnifying glass.

Quintura also has a share button to email a search cloud. You could also use the provided link from this email message to create a hyperlink to the search cloud on a webpage, blog, or wiki. You can save your search results as a bookmark/favorite, or an html file on your computer.

Quintura for Kids is a filtered search engine that includes a tag cloud and icons for browsing. I like this version. I’ve added it to my daughter’s Pageflake. It offers only java code for embedding in a webpage or a wiki, (Java code won’t work in Edublogs).

Some other search tools:

• oSkope visual search of Amazon, Ebay, Flickr, Fotolia, Yahoo!Image Search and YouTube.
• Sputtr.: build your own personalized search page
• searchCrystal: visualization tool to compare, remix, and share search from the web, image, video, blog, tagging, news engines, or RSS feeds.
• Touch Graph: explore the connections between related websites

tag: search k12 edtech Quintura kid safe search oSkope Sputtr. searchCrystal Touch Graph

A Technology Usage Policy is signed by all staff, parents, and students with the goal of insuring dependable access to technology resources for all. Unfortunately, to be legally binding, these policies often are written in a language unfamiliar to students. It is important to discuss this policy with your students in terms they can understand. Go over expectations and consequences. Provide examples of appropriate and inappropriate use. Model appropriate use for your students.

Examples of Appropriate Use

• Requesting permission/assistance from the technology administrators prior to installing any software or hardware
• Deleting unwanted messages or old files
• Acknowledging the receipt of documents or files
• Using copyright free/Creative Commons licensed images on web pages or documents
• Using e-mail to collaborate with other classrooms on activities
• Using e-mail to communicate with peers to discuss educational issues
• Using the Internet to locate curriculum related resources
• Scanning a flash drive for viruses before using it on a school computer
• Limit using your email address on forms and do not post it on your web page or blog

Examples of Inappropriate Use

• Using inappropriate language in an e-mail message
• Sending or receiving an e-mail message with a large attachment (over 1 meg), such as a family photograph
• Providing your name, address, phone number, or credit card information to a web site or in an e-mail message
• Downloading music files or games from the Internet for non-curricular purposes
• Downloading and installing freeware
• Downloading/streaming videos during school hours
• Sending unsolicited chain mail
• Sending an e-mail message for solicitation or advertisement purposes
• Installing software from home on a classroom computer
• Accessing inappropriate sites
• Using someone else’s ID and password to log on to a district’s server or into the SIS program.
• Accessing chat rooms for non-curricular purposes
• Downloading podcasts during school hours
• Opening attachments from people you do not know

Students

• Use SIS to see the permissions granted by parents when signing the Tech Usage Policy (use Internet, post work online, use email, etc.)
• Students should at no time be left unsupervised at a workstation.
• The filtering software is used to strain out inappropriate sites by locating offensive words in their content. However, you cannot depend solely on this filter to insure that your students are visiting only appropriate web sites.
• For elementary students, make it very clear they may never type in a URL. The teacher provides links to sites he or she has checked. Some teachers create a links page as part of their class websites; students may then access the sites at school or home.
• Students in grades 3-8 can use kid safe search engines. Students in grades 6-12 can use general search engines but always with close supervision. These students need to learn how to successfully search the Internet.
• Make sure students understand that they should not give out any personal information over the Internet.
• Discuss pop up advertisements and flashing banner ads. Explain to students that they should not click on any of them, even if they have “won.”
• Instant messengers and chat programs may not be used in the classroom by students. It opens a way or students to communicate with people outside the classroom — very dangerous since here is no record of the transaction.
• When blogging, comments should be moderated, approved prior to appearing on the blog.

Image: Kim Harron, Computer teacher at Willard Intermediate School designed this sign which hangs outside her lab.

Months ago I heard one of the WOW2.0 ladies use the term Virtual Tattoo. It has stuck in my mind, since it is such a great way to describe the on-line presence we create as social networkers, bloggers, wikiers, podcasters, etc. I’ve heard about employers and universities investigating the on-line presence of their potential employees, students, or grant recipients. Just recently a pre-service educator had her certification canceled because of a photo of her on a social network as a drunken pirate.

All the cyberbullying we are hearing about in the news lately is related to Virtual Tattoos. It is easy for people to impersonate others on-line and add more details to their tattoo, without their consent. Allison Stokke, a California star high school student, who now has a virtual tattoo that includes a fan site, a fake Facebook profile, and YouTube videos, illustrates this point. You may be thinking, “Well, that will teach her. She shouldn’t have been posting all that personal information.” However, in this situation, she did none of the posting. I find this very disturbing. A photo of the champion pole vaulter at a meet, taken by a professional photographer, was posted on a high school website, which resulted in the sharing and reposting of this photo, and spiraled into 1 million Google hits. I read about this in Andy Carvin’s blogpost, When Students Become Accidental Celebrities, What Next? in which he quotes an article in the Washington Post. You may have heard about 14 year old Olivia Gardner’s cyberbullying situation on the Today Show, which has taken a positive turn with supportive letters being sent to Olivia and her family.

Many people think that if they just delete previously posted content, it is gone, but this is not true, thus the tattoo. Google keeps an archive which allows users to view deleted content. It is imperative that we teach our students how to be safe on-line. As a result of this story, I plan to recommend that no individual student photos be published on-line by our district. Group photos and project images are a better choice, but never with complete student names of course. I will do more to educate the parents in our community and provide them with resources about cyber safety.

Resources

• WiredSafety.org
• NetSmartz
• iSAFE
• Play It Cyber Safe
• INOBTR

Related Post: Stop Cyberbullying Day

Image: Mike Monteiro. Toontown Tattoo Parlor. Mike Monteiro’s photostream
22 July 2005. 10 June 2007. http://flickr.com/photos/dorkmaster/27879821/

Technorati Tags: virtual+tattoo wow2.0 cyberbulling Andy+Carvin Washington+Post Today+Show drunken+pirate

on-line+safety Olivia+Gardner

Today is Stop Cyberbulling Day, when thousands of bloggers take virtual action. As educators there are many ways we can make a stand against cyberbullying. Use the resources below learn how to keep our students safe.

• Learn what cyberbullying is by watching this presentation from the Wired Safety group, and then investigate their STOP cyberbullying site. 
• Visit Wesley Fryer’s Cyberbulling wiki  for a comprehensive list of resources.
• Listen to his Ideas for Addressing Cyberbulling podcast, available on his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity.
• Join Stop Cyberbulling, a social network for ”discussing cyberbullying, identifying resources and solutions to address this epidemic of online cruelty.”
• Participate in iSAFE professional development, either a workshop provided by our District or the free on-line program provided by iSAFE.

Badge published by Scott Mcleod. 
Cartoon published by Quentin D’Souza on his Teaching Hacks blog using ToonDoo.

Technorati Tags: Wesley Fryer cyberbulling toondoo Quentin D’Souza Scott Mcleod

i-SAFE Internet Safety Workshop 
Wednesday, March 28th
4:00-5:30
for K-12 teachers
Presented by Amanda Graves
Middle School: Amanda Graves’ classroom Room 241
To register email Janetta Garton by March 16th.

Internet safety education is a vital element in the lives of children today. Kids and teens are growing up in the information age, where acts of communication and socialization are quickly becoming more hazardous. The same technology that enables one Internet user to remain anonymous can be used to expose another to identity theft or an unwanted face-to-face meeting with an online “friend.”  i-SAFE America  has partnered with the Missouri Center for Safe Schools and Missouri’s Regional Professional Development Centers, as well as other school districts and organization nationwide, to teach our nation’s youth how to use the Internet confidently and responsibly. The activities are designed to:

• Empower students to recognize techniques used by predators to deceive them
• Empower students to refuse requests for personal information
• Provide students with the tools they need to respond assertively
• Encourage students to report suspicious or dangerous contact

Read the rest of this entry »