The free GetSmarter Guide to Online Safety includes advice on all types of online risks, and offers plenty of practical advice on keeping yourself and your data even more secure.

5 More Tips to Online Safety

1. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A stranger wouldn’t really give you large sums of money for a little help, and it’s impossible to win a lottery without ever entering it. Ignore emails like these completely.
2. Keep your passwords safe, change them often and make sure they are very hard to guess. Don’t use your name, birthdate, pet’s name or any other obvious piece of information.
3. Never agree to meet someone you met on the internet in real life without having friends present and being in a public space. In fact, it is best to avoid these meetings altogether.
4. Make sure that your computer has good antivirus and firewall programs installed to prevent hackers getting access to your data and viruses infecting your computer.
5. When making any online payments by credit card, ensure that you are using a reputable vendor and that you enter your details on a secure site. To see if a site is secure, look for “https” at the beginning of the web address (instead of the usual “http”), and look for the little lock icon on your browser – a closed lock indicates a secure site.

Want to learn more about the Internet?

Click here to read about the University of Cape Town Internet Super-User course. This course teaches students to harness the power of the internet and use its tools to its full potential.

Having said that, there are many online applications out there, but not all are completely suited for South African teachers. This list comprises the apps and resources that we feel our teachers could benefit from …

1. Book Glutton
   A great application for English teachers. It allows users to read books over the web and and annotate and discuss books in an online community forum.
2. SchoolRack
   Allows you to create a free classroom website or educational blog to communicate with your learners and parents outside of your classroom.
3. AVG
   Most teachers don’t realise just how dangerous and prevalent computer viruses are. AVG is a free, downloadable virus scanner for your laptop or personal computer.
4. BrainHoney
   Move over Moodle, there’s a new player buzzing around. Whether you just want to supplement class room instruction with online content or jump right into offering online courses or a complete virtual school, BrainHoney’s online solution is quick and cost effective.
5. ClassMarker
   The ClassMarker online testing website is a professional, easy to use, online quiz maker that marks your tests and quizzes for you.
6. CreateDebate
   An integrated and dynamic virtual learning environment that will stoke the discussion and participation in your classroom.
7. Curriki
   This wiki-based online application is used by teachers to share educational ideas and coursework. Great for teachers stumped on ideas for activities, this application has a stock of lesson plans, handouts and study guides.
8. Edmodo
   A secure social platform for teachers and students to micro-blog and share files, events, documents, assignments and grades.
9. Edublogs
   An academic micro-blogging platform created with WordPress-powered blogs. Teachers can include class publications and newsletters, online discussions, allowing student blogs and adding multimedia. This free application also suggests tips on how educators can integrate blogs into their coursework.
10. Engrade
    A free set of web-based tools for educators allowing them to manage their classes online while providing parents and students with 24/7 real-time online access.
11. DOC Cop
    Allows teachers to catch plagiarizing learners through software that cross-checks online and offline sources.
12. Footnote.com
    A history teacher’s dream app, with more than 60 million original historical documents to peruse through. Very useful for general world history.
13. Gmail
    Looking for a secure, free e-mail account? Gmail is your answer.
14. Periodic Table of the Elements
    This online periodic table of elements is great for science teachers. When you toggle through the elements, users can essential facts such as atomic number, symbol and weight.
15. Lesson Planner Advanced
    Created by teachers, this tool helps teachers deliver great lectures with digital resources. Throw away the pencil and paper, this online lesson plan grid serves as an amazing tool for teachers to create lesson plans in one place.
16. Mindomo
    One of the most effective ways to organise information and critically think is to visually draw out your thoughts. This web-based mind mapping software helps you do just that.
17. MyStudiyo
    A web app that serves as a portal for online tests and quizzes. Users simply have to add content to quiz templates and create a customized quiz for your audience.
18. Remember The Milk
    Organising your personal and professional life can be a daily struggle, but applications like “Remember the Milk” can ease your pain. This online list management application allows users to create many different lists, schedule tasks, sync lists to email and instant messaging and generate time estimates on projects.
19. SchoolTool
    A free online bookkeeping resource for school management. The application delivers organisation tools for grading, scheduling, attendance, learning assessment and report card generation.
20. SparkNotes
    Helps students learn and practice basic skills, write a paper, study for a test and achieve their academic goals. From summaries of classics like The Scarlet Letter and To Kill A Mockingbird, to Science guides, teachers can utilise this resource for supplementary learning.

Want to see your online app or resource reviewed here? Contact us.

The latest technology is awaiting eager minds hungry to learn, so what do you teach them?

Most schools decide that the only thing that should be taught in a computer centre is computer related skills. Are there common guidelines for what needs to be taught/covered/acquired by the time a learner graduates to grade 8? Most schools follow their own ’syllabus’, some (at huge expense) pay for programs which very cleverly link the curriculum to computer literacy, and others still are not sure what skills they should be doing at all. What does the Education Department have to say about this?

Judging by the software chosen by the highly successful Khanya project, in the Western Cape, they advocate curriculum development as a priority for the computer centre with a major focus on numeracy and literacy. Gauteng Online follows a similar strategy and are almost at the stage of allowing schools to choose their own curriculum development software.

I had the privilege of meeting with the Head of e-learning for the Eastern Cape (East London District). His main message is: “Computer centres should be used for curriculum development and the computer skills will follow. Where in the curriculum does it ask for a dedicated learning area called ‘Computer Literacy’?”.

Why the debate? Primary schools are spending a lot on dedicated teachers and programs to teach computer literacy – which is a fantastic skill – but then lose out on valuable integration time with the curriculum. Why is this seemingly a waste of resources? The progression from primary to high school – where on the computer skills ladder does the high school need to begin? From the bottom, as there is no set guide/outcomes for the teaching of computer skills. Therefore who knows which primary schools have covered which aspects?

So how should computer centres be utilised to maximise the capital outlay? Well I say for curriculum development (and choose software that adds real value) AND computer skills. There is place for both, it’s an injustice to reserve such a privileged resource for one purpose only. So let computer centres adopt a female gender and multi-task!

Viva Bafana Bafana Viva South Africa!!!

This website recognizes that language teachers often need a great volume of different texts and teaching aids in order to get through the prescribed work, and therefore this website acts as a platform through which English teachers can help each other. Membership is free of charge, and by becoming a member you not only have access to all of the resources on the site, but you can also upload some of your own lesson plans and other tools to share with other teachers.

As a new English teacher, I have found this website to be extremely valuable and helpful. I could obtain all of the programmes of assessment, the electronic marksheets for 2010, and also other resources regarding the prescribed literature for the year. This website has made it so much easier for me to get started, and get all the necessary resources, for teaching English in South Africa. I can highly recommend it to any English teachers in South Africa! Visit the website at www.englishnet.co.za and become a member today!

I want to talk about kids and computers and how every kid should have one. Unless they do, they’ll remain peasants in some 19th century backwater.

It is clear to me that the racial, economic and cultural divide that threatens our beloved land and communities is reflected in the access to, and use of, information.

Jake, you and your mates are always going on about being a simple herd boy among simple cows in more simple times, and look at you now, freshly showered and all. Every country needs a rags to riches story, but not everyone needs to go suffer their own. There’s no moral virtue in suffering. Most kids won’t be as lucky as you. In an electronic age, they can’t even read or write.

Once, if you couldn’t use a pencil and paper, you were doomed. You’d go on chatting to the simple cows and goats till your dying day and killing people for being witches. No, this is not racial abuse. My ancestors in Scotland did it too.

Now you’re going to be doomed to making small talk with cows and killing witches if you’re not electronically sussed and connected. It’s the new literacy.

The plan is this. We set up a new tax system to fund computers in every classroom. They’ll have internet connection because the internet has lessons on it and – forgive my mentioning this – our educational system isn’t much cop under you guys. You began by culling teachers’ posts and now you’re closing schools for some world hockey game.

Cost? I didn’t expect you lot to use the word. As Pravin will tell us, six percent of the population pays tax – oh, you recon 10? Gee! We can’t lay more on them.

The haves can pay. That’s you. A special 10 percent tax on the new, undiscounted price of every car over R50 000.

If folks like Vodacom and MTN get caught screwing the customers, their companies and suppliers will have to provide broadband to rural schools. They may not recover the costs from customers.

I reckon, Trevor, that your car translates into some 2 600 pupil-hours a day on a computer. Our former public protector’s R7 million soft landing translates into 2 500 computers providing 10 000 pupil-hours a day. Yes, I’m also suggesting a special 30 percent tax on severance and performance bounties.

The money mustn’t go into the general tax kitty. It’s surrounded by too many fatcats. It will be looked after by people whose fingers will be carefully inspected for stickiness.

This is an investment in your future. Your institutions need computer-literate citizens. Our children will need the jobs and the connection to their, not our, world.

By Robert Grieg, Techno Times, November 3, 2009

What do you think? Add your comments below.

The crux of the matter however, is that there are too many schools out there who have too many educational software products that they just don’t use – either because they don’t have time, or because they don’t know how, or because the software is no longer relevant. There are many different types of educational software products that fit into completely different categories, namely:

• Revision and consolidation
• Curriculum delivery
• Skill development
• Assessment and testing

So how do you go about selecting software that brings value to your school? The first and most important step is to identify the needs of the school and the goals and limitations of your computer centre. As a teacher, the most important questions you should ask yourself are:

• What are the needs of our learners and teachers?

For learners, needs could include:
- improving literacy and numeracy skills
- improving learning and concentration ability
- improving spatial skills
- improving knowledge and understanding of the curriculum

For teachers, needs could include:
- decreasing the time spent on marking
- increasing the quality of lessons
- streamlining the teaching/learning process
- engaging learners on an interactive level
- diagnosing problem areas
- assisting with behind-the-scenes planning and admin

• How many computers do we have available?

This will help you select suitable software based on your average class sizes and the number of computers you have in your computer room.

• What is my budget?

Knowing this upfront will save you a lot of time in determining what you can and can’t afford. There is no point in spending time evaluating a product that costs tens of thousands of rands when you only have a few thousand available.

And to a lesser extent:

• What types of software have our learners and teachers already enjoyed? (e.g. activity based, adventure based etc.)

Asking yourself these important questions and acquainting yourself with the true needs of your school (both learners and teachers) will go a long way in ensuring that you buy educational software that becomes an investment. When evaluating the suitability of educational software based on your school’s needs, think about the following:

• Does this product fill an educational need? Can you name the need?
• How do you intend using (implementing) the product?
• How many teachers are going to use it?
• Do the teachers possess the necessary competencies to use the product?
• How much training is required, and how will the teachers be trained to use the product? Do they have time to be trained? Are they willing?
• Is it a product or a service that you are buying?

These questions are taken directly from Kobus van Wyk’s post “Does a software package add volume or value?“. The Teacher’s Monthly did a follow-up survey based on this post to enquire whether or not teachers and principals feel that the educational software they are using is adding value to their school. The results can be viewed in our article “Survey shows computers come second best“.

Another important factor to consider (especially in the South African school environment) is:

• How much time does a learner need to spend using the product in order to benefit and see positive results?

The unfortunate reality is that large class sizes, and limited computer resources means that at most schools learners are only exposed to a computer for about 30 minutes (40 at best!) per week. The principle is simple: if you want a child to be a good reader, he needs to spend time reading. If you want a child to grasp a specific concept in Mapwork (Social Science), he needs to spend time practicing that concept.

So, where does “computer time” fit into your school’s timetable? How big a need is ICT integration at your school? What value do you place on computers and educational software?

For me, educational software that is good, is educational software that fulfills the needs of your learners and teachers, and the goals set forth for your school computer centre.

What do you think? Add your comments below.

The problem lies not in the actual tool or resource being purchased. The problem lies in the phrase “aggressive marketing tactics” combined with the phrase “lack of aftersales support and training”.

The reality is that many companies have popped up over the years offering educational software and hardware tools that in many cases are actually very good at doing what they were designed to do.

Interactive whiteboards (IWB’s) as an example, are an excellent means to engage learners in a stimulating manner. A Science teacher for example, is able to use the software tools loaded on an IWB to create exciting, interactive presentations of molecules and atoms moving around. Instead of showing learners drawings of an atomic model, the teacher is able to literally show the learners exactly how the atoms move on the IWB, which is infinitely more interesting than looking at a black chalk board.

I don’t think there is anyone who could argue against the benefits that a tool such as an IWB has to offer. It’s obvious that in this day an age, anything that can capture a child’s attention is something that should be expanded upon.

However, the sad reality is that when I visit schools who have previously purchased IWB’s, I am given account after account of how the IWB is hardly used by any of the teachers. Many schools are sitting with IWB’s that cost anything from R10,000 – R25,000 per board. If not used, then certainly a BIG white elephant. The number one reason given: the teachers don’t know what to do with the board.

The example of the ‘redundant interactive white board’ can be applied to many other products that ruthless educational vendors irresponsibly market to schools. From curriculum-based software to skills development tools, anything that a school buys and then doesn’t use is a waste of precious school funds.

Blame the school! The teachers are lazy.

This is one of the first excuses an educational vendor will give you when asked why some schools buy their products and then hardly use them. Another one of my favourite excuses are: the teachers are not willing to learn anything new.

If you’re selling something, the probabilty is that you think it is the best thing since sliced bread. What you must remember, is that educational vendors have convinced themselves that their product is going to benefit anyone who purchases it. They love their product. They’re passionate about it. They see the value and they know EXACTLY how they would implement it if they were you (the customer).

At the end of the day, the bottom line for the vendor is their profit. This is understandble – they’re running a business, not a charity. And that’s OKAY. You shouldn’t point fingers at them.

However, it is grossly irresponsible to sell a product to a school when you know that the product requires ongoing training and support , and you cannot afford to offer that ongoing training and support. To sell a product to a school, and expect them to implement it on their own without assistance, is just not cricket.

There is probably nothing a principal hates more than being romanced into a sale through a well delivered sales pitch, only to discover that the product they purchased actually requires ongoing support that the vendor is just not willing to give.

Beware of: The Box Droppers

Many good educational software and hardware products on the market require ongoing support from the supplier. Beware of vendors who sell you their products and then disappear, only to resurface some time later with another “amazing” product that is going to cost more money and “solve all your problems”.

If you are the one signing that quotation, make sure that the vendor is willing to put in writing that (a) the product is so easy to use that it requires absolutely no training or support, OR (2) the product does in fact require training and support and that the vendor is, firstly, capable and willing to train you to use the product and, secondly, will help you implement it at your school.

Beware of: The Trainers

Most good educational software and hardware vendors do offer training on the use of their products. “Great!” you may say. Yes sure, I agree with you, but put it this way:

You’re learning to drive for the first time. You hire a driving instructor to teach you how to drive. He shows you which pedals to push, how to use the indicators, where to put the fuel and how to start the engine. And then he leaves and sends you an invoice for a few hundred rands.

What he has failed to do is help you get into the car and make it move forward. And he could only have done this by giving you the keys and putting you in the drivers seat, guiding you and instructing you as you go.

Many vendors train teachers where to click. Few train then how to implement.

Do you think that a teacher knows exactly how to implement an interactive white board after a 60-minute point and click training session? I don’t think so.

Try and find: The Customer Service-orientated Gems

As a school making a decision about what educational software or hardware to purchase, you should ask yourself: “Does this vendor care about my school?”

Vendors who offer service and implementation plans – in writing – are the vendors you can normally count on to deliver on their promises and the expectations set during their sales pitch.

Service and implementation plans are relatively unheard of in South Africa. However it’s a simple concept where a company promises to deliver ‘product implementation’ as opposed to simple ‘product training’. And the implementation plan should obviously always be shown in writing.

Where does the buck end?

There is an ongoing debate as to who is ultimately responsible to ensure that a product is properly used by a school.

Some will say that it is entirely up to the teacher to use a product to it’s maximum benefit. So what they’ll do is train the teacher where to click, and then expect the teacher to come up with a plan of implementation, i.e. you’ve had your training, now it’s up to you.

Others say that it is the responsibility of the Department of Education to ensure that teachers are well versed in the use of products made available to them. The problem is that there are thousands of educational software and hardware products available to teachers, so how is the department expected to keep up with it all while trying to deal with other issues of their own?

I say that it is entirely the responsibility of the educational vendor to ensure that schools use their products effectively. As the vendor, you should know your product inside out, and more importantly, you should know exactly how to implement it and make ongoing use of it. Vendors should be legally required to share this knowledge and provide product implementation plans to school customers.

Vendors should use their initiative and setup workshops, user groups, online resources and in every way possible make sure that their school customers are shown the respect that they deserve.

Vendors should stop selling to schools, and rather start investing in them. Schools – hold vendors accountable. You are, after all, the customer.

What do you think? Add your comments below.