Happy Holiday Greetings from OIIT!

As students and teachers leave school for winter recess, OIIT offers a few technology reminders:

1) End 2009 with a fresh backup of your data! Take some time to back up your important files on an external hard drive, flash drive or CD. Backing up your data protects you from losing your files in case of computer damage. You can watch video tutorials on backing up your data on OIIT Online's video tutorial section.

2) Make sure your L4L is secure! Remember, you are responsible for the security of your laptop. If you are bringing your laptop home, make sure it is being stored in a secure, locked location. If you are leaving it at your school, it must be placed in the school's secure, locked location that is identified by your school principal or headmaster. If you are traveling with your laptop, here are some tips to keep it safe:

• While on an airplane, place the laptop under the seat in front of you. Do not place it in the overhead storage area as it could easily get bumped and damaged there.
  
• Do not pack your laptop in your checked baggage.
  
• Do not leave the laptop in your car. Extreme cold temperatures can cause damage to the laptop and leaving it in the car leaves it subject to theft. (Please note that leaving a laptop in a car is a violation of the district's laptop security guidelines).
  
• If your laptop is stolen from you during the winter recess, do not wait to begin the recovery process. Notify the police as soon as you discover your laptop has been stolen and then notify OIIT at 617.635.9200.

Please refer to the Laptop Security Guidelines document for more information.

3) Register your laptop before you go or as soon as you come back to school! All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information by Friday, February 5th (even if you just received a laptop). Details for registration can be found here.

4) Check out all the great resources located on OIIT Online. If you are looking to integrate some new technology into your instruction while planning lessons over the winter recess, then go to our Educational Technology Resources section for some fabulous ed-tech links. You can also access some basic troubleshooting tips and tricks in our How-To Resources section.

OIIT wishes all of you a very happy, healthy new year and will be open during the winter recess to support you.

OIIT Launches Awesome New Site for “Just-in-Time” Support

The Office of Instructional & Information Technology recently launched a new site on BPS Connect called OIIT Online. OIIT Online offers anytime, anywhere access to technology support resources for BPS educators and staff, providing the help they need, when they need it, to strengthen their own technology understanding and use to support the district's Acceleration Agenda. Through its tutorials, video podcasts, and links to innovate educational tools, OIIT Online builds technology capacity across the district to ensure that our students acquire the technology fluency and 21st century learning skills needed to compete in the world of tomorrow.

Looking for free outstanding educational resources? Check out OIIT Online’s educational technology resources section with links to all types of technology tools that can be used in the classroom to inspire learning across the curriculum.

Having issues with your computer? Go to the how-to resources section. This page contains basic technology solutions and tips based on some of the most frequent calls that come into the OIIT Service Desk.

If you have any questions about L4L policies and procedures, OIIT Online has got it! You can also check out our video tutorials section for a number of L4L videos about using your MacBook.

While you are there, please fill out our feedback forms so that we can continue to improve to site for you. OIIT Online is your new one-stop shop for “just-in-time” technology support!

Laptops for Learning (L4L) Update: Annual Laptop Registration

It's that time of year again! On December 3rd, OIIT launched an updated registration application to all L4L laptops as part of the annual L4L laptop registration process. All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information by Friday, February 5th (even if you just received a laptop). Registering laptops enhances laptop security, runs routine laptop maintenance, ensures accurate user information, and provides updated laptop inventories to schools.

Requirements to launch the 2009 Registration Application:

• Minimum Apple Operating System version 10.5.3 (Go under the Apple>About This Mac); if not updated, click the Software Update... under the Apple.
  
• Connect to the BPS Network with an Ethernet cable.
  
• Parallels should be turned off (Shut down Windows properly; once XP has shut down, close Parallels by clicking on the red radio button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen). To avoid Parallels from opening after you log out, click and hold the Parallels icon in the Dock, uncheck "open at login".
  
• If the laptop is on, log out, and then log on again by clicking on the Apple Menu. Upon log-in, the application will automatically launch.
  
• Users are able to by-pass registration up to 5 times. After the 5th time, the application will lock users out of the laptop until registration is completed.

Registration takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and requires a reboot of the laptop. Step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial are provided on the L4L website. Upon successful completion, users will receive a date & time stamped registration PDF confirmation on the laptop desktop.

To ensure a successful registration process, users must have recently run software updates (Mac, Windows & Parallels). Software updates should be run regularly (i.e. weekly) while connected to the BPS Network to ensure laptops run at peak performance. Visit the L4L website for a tutorial on running software updates.

Please note that after the February 5th deadline, OIIT will need to collect laptops that have not been registered to run routine maintenance and software updates. As part of this process, data will unfortunately be lost. OIIT will redistribute laptops to teachers at a later date.

Nearly Boston residents receive free computer support and training at BOSTON TECH DAY

On Saturday, November 21st, nearly 100 Boston families received free computer repair services and computer training at BOSTON TECH DAY. Many Boston residents would love to use computers and the Internet but are stymied by broken equipment that they can't afford to fix or replace. In order to help these families succeed in an increasingly online world, 30 volunteers from business and academia and 10 students from the Boston Public Schools' OIIT/TechBoston program worked one-on-one with families to diagnose and fix their computer problems and to teach them new programs and skills. The event was hosted by three non-profit organizations, Open Air Boston, Castle Square Tenants Organization and TechBoston.

Participants at BOSTON TECH DAY reported that it was their first opportunity to sit with someone who was knowledgeable about computers and ask questions. They also said that they left the event with new confidence that they would be able to use their computer to improve their lives.

"Having a working computer at home is becoming a necessity", said Gabriel Fishman, the event's lead organizer. "Families need information technology for schoolwork, to find jobs, to access government services and to feel like they aren't being left out of today's culture. We've seen too many families invest money in a computer that they don't know how to fix. We are hosting Boston Tech Day so that some of these families will have the opportunity to see that they don't have to be afraid of computers; that they can learn how to use and fix computers themselves in order to see the same benefits from information technology that many in our society have taken for granted."

MassIMPACT, a non-profit organization promoting local efforts to bridge the Digital Divide, and WinnDevelopment, a Boston-based firm which has developed a portfolio of properties valued at over $1.5 billion, have provided funding for three Tech Days. The first event was hosted at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in the South End in 2008 and the second at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester in early 2009.

openairboston.net is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping all of Boston's families succeed in an online world. Organized out of Mayor Menino's 2007 Wireless Task Force, openairboston.net provides wireless Internet access as well as training and support to hundreds of Boston families in the Dorchester, Fenway and Mission Hill neighborhoods.

Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO) represents the 1,500 tenants of Castle Square Apartments, a low- and moderate-income housing development in the South End, which CSTO co-owns. CSTO provides an array of services to Castle Square residents as well as the community as a whole, including afterschool and summer programs for youth and teens, a Digital Film and Music program, and activities for seniors. CSTO also operates the Castle Square Technology Center, which promotes technology use in the community by offering free WiFi for Castle Square residents, a computer repair clinic, where residents can receive free computer support, a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program, providing dozens of used computers to low-income residents at minimum cost, as well as computer classes in English and Chinese.

TechBoston is a department within the Boston Public Schools' Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) that supports advanced technology courses in the district's schools. TechBoston's mission is to inspire the next generation of technology leaders by providing access to cutting edge technology resources and opportunities that positively advance their academic and career aspirations. TechBoston carries out this mission by structuring events to build technology awareness among younger students; providing classroom materials, support, and teacher professional development to improve teaching and learning; and through working with the Boston Private Industry Council to place technology-skilled high school students in jobs and internships.

- Contributed by Eric Esteves, TechBoston Consulting Group Program Director, OIIT

State Lawmakers Discuss Bills on Bullying Crackdown

On Sunday, the Boston Globe ran an article about a number of bills scheduled for hearings this week that would crack down on bullying among schoolchildren. The article describes some real life examples of bullying and cyberbullying experiences from Massachusetts teenagers. With the rise in high profile bullying cases, most notably the suicide of an 11 year old Springfield boy earlier this year, supporters of the bills believe that anti-bullying legislation will be passed. Approximately 37 other states have already passed bullying prevention statutes.

There are many resources for teachers and parents to help students learn strategies to prevent and deal with cyberbullying. The Seattle Public Schools created an entire curriculum about cyberbullying. The National Crime Prevention Council has many resources on their website to help parents and teachers learn more about cyberbullying prevention. You can also read past posts on cyberbullying with links to resources from BPS Internet Safety Blog.