INTERNET SAFETY FOR CHILDREN

Parents are more concerned with the safety of their children when using the internet at home or in school.Majority of the parents find themselves sitting with their kids in their free time while on the net.But,how long can you baby sit a student who is online for his upcoming project.The minute you answer a phonecall or the door, the student is busy messaging away a friend,or updating his profile on social networking sites such as Orkut,Facebook,hi5.Schools and colleges are careful to bar all social networking websites and mail sites such as Google and Yahoo and IM services such as Skype.
But the parent and teacher can equip themselves with the knowledge of internet services most relevant to them and the safety of their children.And communicate with them in the right and most effective manner.Keeping communication channels open with your children is the most important.

Internet Safety; A Guide for Parents & Teachers

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Recommended Reading:How to Keep Your Child Safe On The Internet
Internet Safety For Kids And Adults
How To Equip Yourself Against Online Threats

TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNING -2008

Teachers and educators have been using web 2.0 tools effectively in the classroom and online.The most used internet tools have been featured in this slideshow compiled by Jane Hart.This list was compiled from the Top 10 Tools list shared by over 220 learning professionals worldwide at the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies,UK.
You may find some of the tools you already use and may be aware of a few others,but have not tried them,or you may find some that you are totally unfamiliar with.Most are FREE versions,and definitely worth trying out to enhance learning.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008

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GRANDPA'S STORIES

David Copperfield,Oliver Twist,Alice In Wonderland are some of the stories featured in this website maintained by a Dadaji(Grandpa).Truly entertaining,and encouraging reading among children online and otherwise.Indian tales such as Panchatantra,Tenali Raman,Hitopadesh,Jataka Tales are retold here.Indian mythological stories are also found here.Life stories of famous Indian kings and Nobel Lauretes are recounted here.
It is truly encouraging for children who are looking for stories online.Reading a library book these days is not interesting for the children anymore,but anything on the computer screen,and they will definitely read.So,I find this Grandpa's website truly engaging for anyone,student or otherwise.

Northern Lights On Earth Seen From International Space Station

Astronaut Don Pettit created an astounding video using a sequence of still images he shot of the beautiful Aurora Borealis(Northern Lights) from the International Space Station.


NASA scientists explain the Northern Lights phenomenon in the following video.

Recommended Reading: International Space Station(ISS)
When Does The International Space Station Fly Over My Home
Northern Lights
Top 20 Northern Lights
Aurora Borealis

CHANDRAYAAN I

Indian scientists from ISRO(Indian Space Research
Organisation) are an elated lot having fulfilled a
dream,a dream belonging to the Indians-that of
independently launching Chandrayaan I and also
seeing the IndianTricolour on the moon Dr.APJ
Abdul Kalam,our previous President had suggested
that the Indian flag be set on the moon and it
was a moment waited for by all Indians,particularly
children as it was Children's Day(Nov 14 is
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday).Children
as well as adults have always been fascinated by
the earth's only natural satellite,namely,the moon.
Fairy tales revolve around it,and mothers lull their
little ones into sleep with lullabies of the moon.So,
the scientists proudly said,we promised the moon,
and we give it to the children today."

Watch the following videos to learn about Chandrayaan I.

HOW TO SEND HINDI OR KANNADA ASSIGNMENTS TO YOUR TEACHER ONLINE

Homework and essays written in the book used to be submitted for correction by the teacher.It is common knowledge that most assignments today are submitted online.Sometimes the student has to work in his/her group to complete a project.And of course,a deadline has to be met.When the language being used is English,there is no problem.But,when the chosen language happens to be an Indian language such as Kannada/Hindi/Telugu/Malayalam/Tamil,what does the student do?

Many of my students are in a dilemma when such a situation occurs.If you try to"copy and paste" the vernacular language onto a Word document or onto an email client,it does not copy.Many are frustrated by this attempt,because only the pictures selected get copied.

The best solution is to use the Google Indic Transliteration tool to write what you want in the language of your choice,and then,select all,copy and paste into new document on Google Docs,save it and share it with friends.You may invite your friends as collaborators so as to enable them to also edit the document online while on Chat in realtime and submit it to your teacher for approval.You can make your online project/assignment fetch you more marks by simply adding some relevant pictures or even an educational video from youtube or teachertube.Google Docs has these advantages and scores over a Microsoft Word document.

Recommended Reading:Learning Languages

                                     Learn Hindi   

                                     Learn Kannada

INTERNATIONAL EDUBLOGGERS DIRECTORY

 Edubloggers from around the world can be found at the International Edubloggers Directory.

Patricia Donaghy is the inspiration behind this venture.Starting January 2008,there are more than 450 members listed with a brief profile and a bit about what they write about in their edublog.The purpose of this site is to develop an up to date directory of edubloggers from around the world and provide an easy way to find out what other edubloggers are blogging about.

Excellent work,Patricia! PDonaghy also blogs about free educational resources for teachers and students.

PPT TO VIDEO FOR THE CLASSROOM-ANIMOTO

Powerpoint presentations are the most commonly used among all web 2.0 tools,and they can be made more interesting and effective by creating a video out of them.Add some music or a voiceover,and your students can be engaged meaningfully.There are several ways of doing this.Windows moviemaker is used extensively,and some educators use authorpointlite to upload on to youtube,ipod or authorstream.But,most give animoto a thumbsup.

Animoto is a tool that allows you to create a professional looking video in minutes.All you have to do is upload your images,and your music and it creates a video,a different one each time.Completely automatic and customized,the unlimited shorts are for free.The casestudies show how educators are using it in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.

Animoto in the classroom

EDUCATIONAL WIKIS

Useful educational wiki sites can be made use of by any educator or student. 
So, what is a wiki?


How can a WIKI help in education?
A wiki can be very useful for educators from the same school or different parts of the globe to edit the same wiki on a particular topic in any subject. Students can do a class project on a wiki where all students can work on the same wiki.
Wikis are being used to create open resources projects across continents for the promotion of elearning. Educators across the globe are invited to help develop free and open educational content for the world.  Free skills training are provided online for anyone wanting to add content at wikieducator.
A number of useful educational wikis have already been created and are being continuously edited to provide resources for active learning.