Category: Technology

Facebook

10/15/2014

Yes

Yes, I am on Facebook in a few different ways. I keep my personal life (Facebook Profile) private, but it is fun to post School stuff too. So I created these

A "Work" Facebook profile
A School page at facebook.com/OlympusSr.
A Library Page - facebook.com/theolycenter

(You'll notice there is not much activity on the Olympus Sr page. Our administration did not want to do it so I gave it up. However I keeping up the Library page.)

Here are some reasons thoughts

Check your District or School Policy
DO NOT use your personal self. Sign up with your Teacher/School e-mail and wear that hat.
There is a lot of "Professional stuff" out there
Make your profile Public. Do not keep anything private (this is your professional page and you want full disclosure).
Be careful when liking "things". Make sure your "School Hat" is on.
Don't require it of students, no homework posts or anything.
Don't name it as your school or classroom. What will you do if you change schools, or grades?
You a separate device for each account. Personal phone for home school ipad for School posts

NO

Your School/Work friends/students do NOT need to know what you are having for dinner or where you currently are. Nor do they need to see pictures of your pets.
They especially don't need to see your religious or political views.
Not as their personal self.
Be careful who you are posting as.
Your personal life is NONE of your students business.
Keep your personal side... private. Check your settings.
Do not be friends with students.
I would not even friend other employees unless they have a "Professional page" too. Don't drag their personal life into your professional life.
Be careful who you are posting as.

Profile

Basically it is a webpage that people can follow on Facebook. This is what YOU follow when you follow or like something. You should make one for your school/class.
Benefits

You are the admin.
You can give rights to others to post to the page, and see who posted what.
Very easy to add comments and postings here.
Sometimes (if I remember correctly) you have to post to the page from your profile. But updates happen!
You can set posts to "post" on specific days. So you can create a post but not let it be seen until a certain date. It is quite nice for events you know are happening in future.

You have heard the stories of bosses or students finding things out about you via social media. Instead of avoiding it fake it - Make a work account! And keep it for that purpose.

Use your school e-mail and create a new account. I run my school and library page from THAT profile. However I also liked both pages from my personal account and then gave my personal self admin rights to that page! Clear as mud? Yeah, I don't know who I am sometimes either!

This all being said... Keep in mind that most students have moved away from Facebook!
It is mostly for parents!

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Surface Pro 2

7/31/2014

3 Comments

A few week (months) ago I became the proud recipient of a Surface Pro 2 for an evaluation to use in our school. (I love my job!) We wanted to know if they were better/different than other devices and if we should purchase a lab of them.

Here ya go...

Pros

It sure is small for a laptop and easy to transport.
"Instant" on. That is nice - no long waits for it to start up.
Powerful for it size - it is a full Windows 8 laptop that will run on the network and access what a "normal" computer will can.
USB input for... you know - a USB device! (Keyboard, jumpdrive, ethernet...) DV out for a monitor.
It has a USB charger spot on the power brick! Great for charging my iPhone when they are both near. No use in a school though!

Cons

It sure is small to do any "Real Work" on. Too small when the on-board keyboard takes up half of the screen. You can turn it portrait, but then there is no "kickstand" to support it and it must be held.
Windows 8. Not that 8 is bad but we do not use 8 yet. It is a little confusing switching between "Apps" and "Computer". They work differently.
EXPENSIVE and it needs more stuff to be effective. Keyboard, case, screen covers. And a cart to put them in.
Laptops are hard to manage in general. If they are not used often they loose their connectivity to GSD/AD and our network. They'll need to be "worked on". Not a bad thing but people will be mad if they take the cart and plan on using them and they do not connect!
To small to fit in a lap. That sounds silly but it is not big enough to be stable and there is no base.
I have not found very many Apps that I would use productively.

After all this... No. I don't think we should purchase a lab of them for a few reasons.

Laptops in general are hard to manage. I just dismantled a laptop lab because no one used it and we currently have over 800 student desktop computers for use.
Price. Price does not include a keyboard, covers, cart or other hardware to provision them.
Size. They are a great size to slip into a backpack, take to the coffee shop, or carry on a plane and have a full working laptop with you. That being said - it makes the screen too small and also easy to misplace or walk away with.
There are better cheaper options. Chromebooks to name one. Even another windows laptop.
Windows 8. I know it is coming, but, having only one portable lab of them will be discouraging for most people... Except those who have it at home and already use it.

Don't get me wrong - This Surface Pro is a great piece of hardware to use... in a pinch if you don't have a "real computer" nearby. I have been trying to use it more and more but I do notice when I HAVE to get some work done I go to my PC with a big screen and keyboard, or my laptop. Sure I could hook it up to a bigger monitor and keyboard - but I already have that on my regular computer!

Would I buy one? ... No.

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