WELCOME TO SNC2D Permission to Post Online

September 4th, 2012 Dear Parents and Guardians:

Welcome to Grade 10 Science, Academic. My name is Jaclyn Calder and I will be your teacher for the semester. This is my first year at MSS, but I have been at PSS for many years before this and have taught in Northern Ontario before that. For the past two years I have been an Information and Communications Technology Consultant with the school board (SCDSB). Often, many students taking Grade 10 Science, Academic are considering heading to University or College programs after high school. To help prepare for this future and the world they currently live in, I will be infusing our class with technology. I believe that we (as parents/guardians and educators) have a shared role in helping young adults understand the risks and benefits of working in a connected, online world. Connecting to the world through the internet allows us to access a wealth of information and resources in addition to connecting with youth or experts all over the world. In this class students will be provided the opportunity to practice connecting to these resources and people with supervision and guidance. I will monitor each one of our online learning spaces very closely. Please note, however, that I can only monitor class-related activities (not personal use of the internet outside of class). You, as parents and guardians have full control over the permissions you provide to your students. This means you have a decision to make regarding which information your student can post online. For example, I set up with aliases or fake names (like 01CalderStudent instead of John Doe). Some students will gain the permission from parent/guardians to change their username to johns or something of the sort. They would also need your permission to use their own photo anywhere online. I have outlined the different options for permission to post personal information below in the permission form. One of the benefits to teaching and learning in a connected environment is that it provides you, as parents and guardians more opportunity to participate and keep up to date with what is happening in our classroom. You will find our class blog at http://calderscience.edublogs.org . Here we will post updates on what we are doing in class, examples of student work and links to resources. Please join in the conversation by commenting on our blog posts. You will notice that if you make a comment it takes some time for it to show up on our blog. This is because I am moderating our comments; they come to me for approval first. This is to prevent spam (advertising, inappropriate comments) from showing up on our blog. The more comments and interaction we get on our blog the better. It helps students to reflect on their learning and often, the level of school work improves when students realize that they have a true, authentic, engaged audience.

Our class will also be using the Ministry of Education blended learning site (called Desire 2 Learn) to host our learning resources, submit assignments and collaborate with each other. This page is not open to the public like our blog, but locked down with login and password. If you would like to see this environment please contact me and I will give you a guest login and password or a personal tour. Occasionally, when students find out that all their learning materials can be found online, they make the assumption that it wont be necessary to come to class as often. Unfortunately for our students (and fortunately for me), my class is about much more than these online resources. We will be focusing on problem solving and critical thinking. This means activities in class will be rich, social and interactive. Attending class will be very important so that I can facilitate and support this problem solving and higher levels of thinking. Safety is of the upmost importance to me. I will be working with our students to ensure they have a full understanding of what it means to be safe online. I will enforce basic safety and respect rules in our online learning spaces. All MSS and SCDSB code of conducts, acceptable use policies and behavior codes apply to our class and online use. It is, of course, my hope that students carry these practices over to their everyday use of the internet and social networks. One general rule taught to me by a wise friend years ago is if you wouldnt want your grandmother to read it, dont post it online. As a class, we will discuss how everything that is posted online has the potential to stay there forever, affecting your digital footprint (or online reputation). Having a positive digital footprint is important. It will also be a class rule that we never post addresses, phone numbers or any other identifying information (other than listed below in the permission form below). We will be using three different types of online sites this year: 1. Informational: This is a site where we can read, watch or get information but not post anything ourselves. No login required. 2. Social + Locked Down: This is a site where only students in our class (and invited guests) can access it through login and password. They have the ability to post information, resources and comments. 3. Social + Open: This is a site where anyone on the world wide web can access and interact with us. For example, our class blog. Students can post information and posts and anyone in the world can see it.

Below is a list of some of the online tools our students will be using this year. Please understand that I will be introducing these slowly throughout the year. These are not the only sites our class will use, but an example. Class blog http://calderscience.edublogs.org Ministry of Ed Blended Learning Site https://scdsb.elearningontario.ca Taking IT Global http://mss.tiged.org/snc2d Social + Open Social + Locked Down Social + Locked Down Social + Open - we will post updates, student work and resources here - we will have all our class resources here, submit assignments, have discussions, etc. - this is a site where we will collaborate with another class around Climate Change and helping to fight the problem of deforestation in Borneo - this is a site where students will collaborate with others all over the world to use satellite images to monitor land in Borneo for illegal deforestation - as a class we will post videos (of activites, tutorials and student work) to youtube - students will NOT require their own youtube account, we will post all video through my teacher account - I have created a facebook page to simply post links to our blog page and other articles in the media about topics we are covering - Students are NOT required to use facebook, but anyone (students and parents) who WANT to follow, can like our science page. I will monitor our science class page, but will not friend any students and therefore cannot see how they use facebook with their friends (this means I cannot monitor other facebook use)

Earthwatchers http://earthwatchers.cloudapp.net

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/jacl yncalder

Social + Open

Facebook http://calderscience.edublogs.org

Social + Open

Personal Devices
Student devices (iPod touches, smart phones, cell phones, laptops, netbooks, tablets, eReaders) are welcome in my classroom. There will be times I ask for them to be put away, and expect that they will be. Most of the time however, we are free to use them to support our learning. As with any other medium, if I find that a student is wasting time on a device, they will be asked to put it away. Students will also only be allowed to take photos of other students with explicit permission. SCDSB has a guest wireless network in every school. This means that if students choose to get a specific permission form signed and complete the online test, they can connect

their own devices to the internet. Students can ask any teacher for more information on this. Students are not required to bring a device to my class. I will have extra devices for shared use and most activities only require one device per group. If a student does choose to bring a device to my class, they will likely find many uses for it to support their learning. All school and class rules will be followed. I am not responsible for personal devices. This is solely the responsibility of the student and family (and choice to bring it of course).

Video Conferencing, Livestreaming and Video

Sometimes in class we will video conference with other classes or experts. This involves using skype or other similar video conferencing software. This means we can see each other on both ends, but it is not public or open to the world. Other times we may do what is called live stream. This means that we are showing what is happening in class and posting it online for others to watch. An example of this could be when our class is doing presentations. We may decide to live stream our presentations so that parents could watch from home or work. This will only be done on special occasions and all students will be very aware that we are doing this. Lastly, we may record video in class. Sometimes this is simply for in-class use. Other times we may choose to post this video online. For example, if a group decides to create a video about a concept we are learning in class, they may be in the video. We may choose to share this video online so others can learn with us. You, as parents/guardians have full control over what you will allow your students to participate in for this class (I cannot control what they do outside of class of course, but can control what we post online as a class). In the permission form section below you can choose what permissions work for you.

SUPPORT
This may all seem very overwhelming. Please understand that I have provided pretty much every option we may come across. We will only use these technologies when they support and help the learning. Every student will not participate in every activity; some will be small groups or partners. If you have any questions at any time, please contact me by calling the school or email. I would love to meet parents/guardians and show you our classroom and some of the things we are doing. I must much value on the support of parents and guardians. Your support is very important to me. Please feel free to contact me at any time. Please note that I am off-site teaching at an alternative school for half the day and at MSS for the afternoon. I look forward to a great semester with your students. Sincerely, Jaclyn Calder jcalder@scdsb.on.ca

YOURE INVITED
Want to get a preview of what we will be doing in class? Want some clarification on all this geek stuff? Want to feel what it is like to learn using online tools?
Please join me for an online, parent information session. If you have high-speed internet access, please join us. You will need working speakers. If you do not have high speed internet, ask your local library if you can use one of their computers to participate. All you need to do is go to the web link provided below (devices such as iPod Touches, iPhones and iPads will need to download the free adobe connect app. I will guide you once you join the online room. You will need to sign in as a guest. You will be able to see what I put on the screen and listen to me. You will also be able to type questions and comments into the chat box. Those with microphones could ask questions with their voice if they like. Please join us, even if you only want to watch and not ask questions. It will provide an opportunity to meet each other early on in the semester. On the first or second day of classes, I will demonstrate how to access this room from a variety of devices to your students so that they can help you access it from home.

Date: Thursday September 6th Time: 7:00 pm Web Address: http://connect.scdsb.on.ca/snc2d/

Cant make it? I will record the mtg and post the link to the recording on our class blog. You will then be able to watch the meeting anytime you like.

Permission Form
I/we consent to the disclosure of personal information about me/my child for the purpose of learning in Grade 10 Science, Academic. I/we further understand that this consent is voluntary, and may be withdrawn upon receipt of written notice. Note: In the event that consent is withdrawn, the school will make every effort to remove the information, but I understand that in some cases, it may not be possible to remove all traces of personal information from the internet.

Specific Permissions Please check all the permissions that you provide for your student in the table below. Please check all that apply, sign the form and return to class.

Social + Locked Down Sites Social + Open Sites Student work only Student work only First name First name Last name Last name Picture Picture Video Conferencing Permission to video conference with other classes and experts Live Streaming Permission to live stream in class Video Permission to post video of student online (when involved in class work)

Date

School

Name of Student (please print) for students under 18

Signature of Student (under 18)

Name of Parent/Legal Guardian/Adult Student (please print) for students under 18

Signature of Parent/Legal Guardian/Adult Student