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Hi Kids!

Meet Faux Paw, an adventurous six-toed, Web-surfing cat that loves having fun with her friends. Sometimes, she runs into trouble while being on her computer and while playing video games. Certainly, she's learned one thing over the years: the internet is like a big city, with a lots of possibilities! That means it is important to learn how to use it safely and follow the rules. Read or watch Faux Paw's adventures by clicking on the links below:

Faux Paw's Dangerous Download

In this new adventure, the Web-surfing Techno Cat learns that downloading is a great way to get information . . . if it's done the right way. When using a risky file sharing program to get a new song, Faux Paw learns the hard way that illegal downloading hurts everyone, including herself!

Downloads

Faux Paw Goes to the Games:
Balancing Real Life with Screen Time

Have you ever gotten your real life mixed up with your online life? Faud Paw did, and wow, did it cause a problem! After she got invited to light the flame at the Great Animal Olympics, she got distracted playing WcW-Worlds of CatWars-online. Read this story to find out if she was able to make it to the opening ceremonies in time to light the Olympic Cauldron.

Downloads

Faux Paw Meets the First Lady: How to Handle Cyberbullying

Do you know what you should do if someone says something mean or untrue about you online? What about if it happens to one of your friends? Learn what Faux Paw finds out when she meets former First Lady Laura Bush.

Downloads

Faux Paw Adventures in the Internet

The internet is like a big city with great places to go, but you have to be careful! Faux Paw found this out first hand. She had a REAL adventure on the internet, and it wasn't the fun kind. When you read what almost happened, you'll see why it's so important to follow the rules for online safety!

Downloads

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Meet Faux Paw, an adventurous six-toed, Web-surfing cat that loves having fun with her friends. Sometimes, she runs into trouble while being on her computer and while playing video games. Certainly, she's learned one thing over the years: the internet is like a big city, with a lots of possibilities!

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Google lesson plans & slides for basic search litercy

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On this page, you'll find Search Literacy lessons and A Google A Day classroom challenges. Our search literacy lessons help you meet the new Common Core State Standards and are broken down based on level of expertise in search: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.

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Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6). Tux Paint is used in schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity. It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

Kids are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative. (See the full list of features.)

For macOS, Windows, Linux and more!

Tux Paint runs on a variety of platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and more.

How Much Does It Cost?

Tux Paint is free, Open Source software, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. It is developed by volunteers around the world. We work on it as a labor of love, with the hopes that people will find it useful, and in turn share it with their own friends and family.

Because Tux Paint (and other open source software) is free of cost and not limited in any way, a school can use it today, without waiting for procurement or a budget!

Download Tux Paint today, and enjoy!

Other Tux4Kids Software You Might Also Like:

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Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6). Tux Paint is used in schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity. It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

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Use Google Spreadsheet to make flashcards and games

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Use Google Spreadsheet to make flashcards and games

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Flippity.net: Flashcards and Other Resources for Educators and Learners

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Create an interactive virtual breakout activity.

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recommend by Google for Ed

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Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites
The internet catalogue for students, teachers, administrators & parents.
Over 20,000 relevant links personally selected by an educator/author with over 30 years of experience.

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Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites The internet catalogue for students, teachers, administrators & parents. Over 20,000 relevant links personally selected by an educator/author with over 30 years of experience.

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Are we able to use a filter to only allow email from other S.A. students?

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My daughter is 7. She doesn't need an email address. At school, she has been given one to use during typing class. The day that I received my first email from her school email, I was almost giddy. You see, I work in communications. I am not scared of social media, technology or digital communications. I understand the many pros and the nasty list of cons. However, smart phones and mobile devices are forever changing how our world works and since I love communicating, especially via the written word, I though it would be fun to teach my daughter how to use email to interact with a select group of people.

Like many parents, I knew I couldn't just set her up with a regular Gmail account. I found an app that actually looks really great called Tocoemail and it costs $4.99 in the App Store. I would have bought it, but Renae's iPod is old enough that it can no longer update to the latest iOS. So I had to figure out a work around. Thanks go a Google search, I stumbled upon this post that helped me set up a safe and secure Gmail account. Here is my own step-by-step guide with screenshots. I hope it's helpful to you!

Step One: Start a new Gmail account. You can use your child's real name if you want to reserve their Gmail account for when they are older, or create a unique name that gives them another level of protection. Just please, do not use multiple Xs in their email address for obvious reasons . . .

I recommend you NOT list their correct birthday or gender, just to be on the safe side. For my daughter's birthday, I just picked a date similar to mine.

Step Two: Skip creating a public Google+profile. I did NOT add a picture or any other information about my daughter. Again, for obvious reasons. Remember, you are just creating a way for her to email you and other select family members.

Step Three: Click on settings underneath the gear icon in Gmail.

Step Four: Create a filter.

Step Five: Add in the email address on your approved list.

After you add in the email addresses, click on "Create filter with this search" and on the next screen . . .

Select "delete it" so that any emails that come through that do NOT match up with the approved filter will just be automatically deleted, rather than sitting in spam where your child could possibly find it. Lastly, click "Create Filter" and you are done!

After I did this, I then added the email account to my daughter's iPod, and informed the people on her list that they could email her at her new email address. For now, just Jesse and I and our parents are allowed to email her. She has sent me 3 short emails already today with lots of "I love you Mommy!!!" and other affirming words that make me smile. It's been fun to interact with her on a level that I practically spend my entire day on.

A few extra notes . . .

Review with your child that they should never give out their email address to someone without asking first. Even though that person will not be able to email your child because of the filter you've set up, it's still a good safe guard to have in place.

I added her email account onto my phone. This allows for me to watch what she is writing and who she is writing to on the off chance that the filter doesn't work. I have already enjoyed seeing what she is writing to her Grandparents, though I don't intend to read every email she writes. This is a place for her toe practice her writing skills and modern day "typing" (using thumbs). 🙂

***Want to subscribe to my blog? Click here.

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How to create a safe and secure Gmail account for your child

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My daughter is 7. She doesn't need an email address. At school, she has been given one to use during typing class. The day that I received my first email from her school email, I was almost giddy. You see, I work in communications. I am not scared of social media, technology or digital communications.

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uses Brainpop Jr

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A lesson plan for helping students as young as kindergarten begin to understand how to be safe online.

©Shutterstock.com/Monkey Business Images

A few years ago, I wrote a post called " Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom." Now I want to share a sample lesson for teaching internet safety to students as young as kindergarten. Yes, you read correctly-kindergarten.

With children spending time online at younger and younger ages, it's vital that we explicitly teach young children how to protect themselves online. Most young children get the " stranger danger " talk at school, so they know about how to handle strangers in their neighborhood and in face-to-face situations.

There are three considerations when addressing internet safety with these students. First, the transfer of knowledge about how to handle strangers in real life to those in virtual environments is not automatic. It needs to be taught. Second, while most stranger danger programs teach that strangers are scary and mean and want to hurt or abduct children, this contradicts the way collaboration occurs between strangers online. Not all strangers are dangerous. Lastly, in real life students can walk or run away from a potential threat. In an online environment, the danger is inside a student's home and hard to escape if they don't have the skills necessary for handling tough situations.

Protecting Private Information Online

"What is a stranger?" After soliciting various answers, ensure that students understand that a stranger is someone we don't know. Remind students that some strangers may want to hurt them, but not all strangers are bad people. You can mention examples like a stranger who opens a door for you or picks up something you dropped and returns it to you.

"What kinds of things should we not tell a stranger?" Solicit a variety of answers, ensuring that things like "address," "phone number," "full name" are mentioned.

"What kinds of things are OK to tell a stranger?" This question tends to be harder for students to answer. You may get answers like "Hi" or "How are you?" If students are stumped, have them vote with their thumbs about various things like "your favorite color" or "your favorite ice cream flavor." Explain that certain kinds of information won't put them in harm's way.

"Are there strangers online?" Some students may have played games online before and may offer answers related to those experiences. I've had students as young as kindergarten say that they think there are strangers online because you don't always know who you are talking to. After a brief discussion of different ways we can connect with strangers online (which can include game systems), show them a video about how to handle strangers online.

This is a lesson I've done with my kindergarten and first-grade students to introduce the idea that strangers exist on the internet and to discuss how we should interact with them. You'll need a computer and internet access, and it's helpful to have a projector or interactive whiteboard so these questions can be projected on the screen during the discussion. Ask students these questions:

Have students watch the Internet Safety video at BrainPOP Jr. Afterward, ask them to share what they learned from the movie. After soliciting some answers, review vocabulary from the video using the Word Play activity on the site. Next, have them complete the Write About It activity.

Print out one of the quizzes (easy or hard, depending on your students) to assess what they've learned.

Have your students act out scenarios that show their understanding of the main concepts from the video or to practice handling strangers online.

Have them create an internet safety poster using a drawing program like TuxPaint.

There are a few ways to check and make sure your students have understood the lesson:

More Resources

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How to Teach Internet Safety to Younger Elementary Students | Edutopia

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A lesson plan for helping students as young as kindergarten begin to understand how to be safe online. ©Shutterstock.com/Monkey Business Images A few years ago, I wrote a post called " Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom." Now I want to share a sample lesson for teaching internet safety to students as young as kindergarten.

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FREE - Internet Safety Lesson Plans, Grades 3 - 12

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FREE - Internet Safety Lesson Plans for schools and organizations promoting Internet Safety for Grades 3 - 12 with outlines, activities, discussion topics and quizzes.

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Many schools have started considering adding a cloud productivity application suite for staff and students to use. The top two providers for cloud-based productivity tools are Google and Microsoft.

Specifically, Google offers its platform to education providers as Google Apps for Education. Microsoft offers its MicroSoft Office 365 for education.

Invariably the question that surfaces is, "Which platform is better?" The Google Apps for Education vs Microsoft Office 365 debate rages on.

That's an incredibly complex question with potentially hundreds of comparison points, and a lot of subjective biases depending upon who you ask. You, in fact, may notice an editorial bias on the part of this reporter toward the MS side of the ledger, but I promise to do my best in presenting a fair and balanced report on the comparison.

Features for productivity, communication, and collaboration

When evaluating Google Apps For Education (also referred to as GAE) vs Microsoft Office 365 for education, I find a very similar feature set at the end-user level for productivity, communication, and collaboration. In fact, when looking at the following chart, you can see many similarities down the line with each of the primary features.

8 key differences between Google Apps for Education and Office 365

Getting past the end-user productivity level, a lot of the key differences have more impact on the organization and your school's IT team itself. I am going to focus on some of these key differences:

1. Mac vs. Windows Operating System

At one point, Google could claim it was better in this category because it could offer the applications across both operating systems as a browser-based solution. This was an important distinction with so many Macs being used inside of school environments. Google was able to offer very consistent features as a browser-based platform.

When Microsoft launched Office 365, they added seamless, browser-based application compatibility that worked well on Mac. But the downloadable local installable versions of the software weren't current between Mac and Windows.

Only recently has Microsoft launched Office 2016 with native versions for local Mac installation. Up until now, Mac users were relegated to Office 2011 versions.

Now the discrepancy between versions of Office applications has been resolved between Mac and Windows, which opens up the real competitive discussion: offline use of productivity apps.

With locally installed versions of the productivity software, a user is able to work with local Microsoft tools - even without having internet access.

Google simply does not provide offline application support, as everything runs in the browser.

2. Directory services

Microsoft clearly has an edge with its lengthy tenure as an enterprise environment. This starts with Active Directory and directory services for identity and permission management at a very granular policy level.

Many schools are considering productivity in the cloud as a migration from existing on-premises legacy IT stack. When Microsoft launched Office 365 as a cloud environment, the company anticipated the issues with legacy AD environments. They provide a hybrid Active Directory approach where directory services can still be managed on-prem while moving to the cloud for application functionality.

Google, of course, has never experienced life as a traditional IT infrastructure layer within enterprise, and launched as a cloud service outgrowth from the original search services stack.

3. Information architecture

When Office 365 launched, Microsoft incorporated SharePoint as a core information management framework. SharePoint permits a lot of flexibility in structuring an organization's information architecture to meet the specific needs at a department, or even specific function level.

While Google indeed has a strong search capability combined with rudimentary Google Drive storage for document storage and support, Microsoft's legacy enterprise IT expertise brings an interesting edge.

Microsoft's advanced usage of managed metadata services permits organizations to design their information architecture at the very top by creating organization-specific taxonomies, which can then be further applied to everything from site tree navigation to document tagging and indexing.

Managed metadata services are among the least-known, but most powerful aspects of the entire Microsoft platform.

4. Workflow automation

Because of this SharePoint foundation, Microsoft opens up ad hoc database development, data connectivity services, and in particular, workflow automation capabilities for customization.

Designing a SharePoint list that connects with different aspects of information management creates a powerful platform for advanced users without requiring a lot of heavy lifting from deep software development engineers.

Power users are able to take control of their document flow, approvals, and integrations into other applications. Approvals, case-based routing, and other deep operational workflow automations are the result of Microsoft being a true business process automation development platform.

5. Cloud hosting / application services

Additionally, the direct interface between Office 365 and Microsoft's Azure cloud hosting framework provides a platform for unlimited scalability and application integration as a native technology stack. Whereas Google has yet to launch cloud host services in the same vein as Microsoft or Amazon AWS.

With Google, you're fairly limited to what you see is what you get, and any customization will require a software engineer with cloud API connectivity experience and a third-party host environment upon which to run the application itself.

6. Mobile access

As much as I have been chanting my own belief in Microsoft's superiority as an enterprise IT platform in this article, there's an area where they have clearly been bested by Google.

Google kicked Microsoft's back side when it came to mobile. Google clearly has a native advantage being the originator of the Android mobile operating system, controlling not only the operating system itself, but largely influencing the application development ecosystem through the Google Play Store.

Third-party developers can still write and release apps independently on Android, skipping the Play Store itself - but that's considered risky from an IT governance perspective, and also requires special non-default security settings at the individual device level to be able to install an app from sources outside Play Store.

Microsoft has recently released very functional renditions of its productivity applications that integrate well into the Office 365 environment.

In theory, this also gives Google a bit of an edge when considering tablet devices for classroom use. Android tablets and Chromebooks work well natively access Google Apps whereas any Microsoft Apps would require downloading and deployment to the device. Anything requiring extra effort on the part of already burdened school IT teams is going to get more scrutiny.

7. Forms

Another area where Google may have an advantage is an ad hoc form builder with Forms.

Forms are a great tool for schools to use in gathering and sharing information. From in-class applications like creating cheat-proof quizzes, to results or student elections or parent surveys, forms have far-reaching uses in and around the school.

Here's a slide presentation on using Google Forms in the classroom. On the other hand, some say Google Forms are also fairly limited in what you can do with the data, as well as the security options associated with the form.

Microsoft has abandoned InfoPath as an Office form builder platform. The issue was InfoPath not being mobile-responsive or mobile friendly. Microsoft hasn't yet announced any functional replacement for InfoPath, and Google Forms are still fairly basic, only allowing a narrow set of data types and form layout features.

The developer partner community has been pushing Microsoft for a new form tool, and I would suspect there's a good one in the works.

8. Education-specific third-party extensions

Another comparison is the way each platform can be tailored to meet the use cases of education-specific customization through third-party extensions of the native platform. These extensions are usually offered by a third-party development partner of each platform.

Here are a couple of examples of third-party extensions to the native platforms:

Google Classroom / Hapera

Google offers Google Classroom as a native feature to the Google Apps for Education suite. It has features like collaboration, assignment tracking, and many more features useful to teachers within the classroom environment.

A specific customization for the Google Classroom environment is a third-party extension from Hapera. Hapera further extends Google Classroom to add a teaching rubric wrapper and management system for other 3rd-party resources as exercises and assignments within the Google Classroom environment

Teacher Dashboard for Office 365

Microsoft has a rich tradition of building and maintaining a third-party partner ecosystem of developers around vertical market-specific applications of the native platforms. One such partner is Axis, who offers a fairly robust extension to Office 365 called Teacher Dashboard.

Teacher Dashboard provides its own suite of robust collaboration offerings designed specifically for teachers to use in classrooms. It also provides direct connectivity to many SIS systems, which could be valuable to school IT teams.

Weighing more than just the features

Determining which cloud productivity application to deploy for your school is very complex, and based on many factors. The decision of Google vs Microsoft will likely come down to a few key issues:

1. A school's existing approach to user account management and identity services within the IT network.

2. Existing email infrastructure and services

3. Existing document management methodologies

4. User adoption and skill level in using Microsoft productivity applications versus Google productivity applications

5. School administration / IT team skills, resources, and philosophy towards IT and automation in general

As you can see, there are a lot of different points to consider when evaluating whether to use Google Apps for Education or Microsoft Office 365. These can be complex areas of discussion, and extend far beyond the surface level of just which apps have which features. Check out this archived video on whether Google Apps is Good Fit for Your School.

Do you have anything to add or take into consideration when comparing Google Apps for Education vs Microsoft 365 for Education for cloud productivity platforms for schools?

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Google Apps for Education vs. Microsoft 365 for Education

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Many schools have started considering adding a cloud productivity application suite for staff and students to use. The top two providers for cloud-based productivity tools are Google and Microsoft. Specifically, Google offers its platform to education providers as Google Apps for Education. Microsoft offers its MicroSoft Office 365 for education.

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Terry Korte, Technology integration planning coordinator

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Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals - Google for Education

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Education Fundamentals is a suite tools that help improve class collaboration and productivity. Get started with Education Fundamentals.

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many free aps!

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Common Sense is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.

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Great guide for everything technology in the classrom

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As an educational technologist, I continue to learn each day. When I develop new presentations or explore a new passion, I create a page of resources. This site will serve as the entry point to these resources, ideas, tips, and tricks. The links to the pages are below.

If you have any comments or ideas to share, or want to find out how you can have me come speak to your school, district, or conference attendees, in-person or virtually, please drop me a line! Social networks are in the footer.

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As an educational technologist, I continue to learn each day. When I develop new presentations or explore a new passion, I create a page of resources. This site will serve as the entry point to these resources, ideas, tips, and tricks. The links to the pages are below.

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Guidelines for a possible PD for using technology in the classroom

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Are you a STEM, STEAM, and/or science teacher looking for great edtech for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? Browse hundreds of apps, games, and websites evaluated by our expert reviewers and tagged for relevant Performance Expectations (PEs).

To find the right tool for your NGSS-aligned activities, lessons, and curriculum: select a grade, choose a topic, and then find the PE that interests you. Click the green arrow on the right-hand side of the PE to see a list of suggested tools. Just below each PE you'll see three NGSS dimensions - Science and Engineering Practices (SEP), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), and Crosscutting Concepts (CC) - for quick and easy reference.

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Next Generation Science Standards Explorer

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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sorted by curricular focus

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.