Parent Email

May 28th, 2008

In order to for the hanover Schools to open the flow of communication between home and school in the Web 2.0 world, it requires a number of to happen. One of those necessary things is a reliable parent or guardian (P/G) email address.

Hanover uses 2 main programs as part of our student information system. One is Connect-ED which allows us to send phone and email messages home. The other is X2’s Aspen which is the central repository for student grades, attendance, testing, et cetera. By having consistent P/G email addresses, we can add emailing as one of our features for Connect-ED, thus making it easier to get outreach messages into the “hands” of the adults in the system.

The same is true for Aspen, except that it goes much further because it supports our goal of opening the family portal in X2, allowing P/Gs to see their students grades and assignments. This is not a quick, turnkey solution; it requires a great deal of planning and behind the scenes problem-solving. When the process is complete, there will be greater parent-school communication. This communication will not require massive amounts of printing and paper; instead, it will require learning and using the tools that are available to us all.

We would like to issue Google institutional email addresses to P/Gs so that we can simply feed that account information into our management systems as opposed to collecting addresses. Google makes it very easy for P/Gs to then forward those emails to their everyday accounts.

Google’s accounts will also gives us the ability to share documents via Google Apps for collaboration when the situation might come up: signing up for a committee, answering a survey, or any number of things.

It will also gives the ability to create a community that is connected through the Web. Although some people might say that it is not the same as face-to-face communication, the reality is that many of us have busy lives, and we would like the ability to quickly get and send information without necessarily having to rely on snail mail or our children’s backpacks. And just think of the environmental benefits of an increasingly paperless world!

Posted in Web 2.0 | 3 Comments »

Student Email

May 23rd, 2008

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Hanover Public Schools is considering offering email addresses to students through Google’s new protected K-12 product. The reason for this move is because many online educational sites require an email address either for verification and protection or for collaboration among students. As we explore this avenue, be assured that no email account will be given to your child without your specific permission; we have no desire to go against your wishes.

Let me explain why student email is essential in today’s educational environment. Web 2.0 is the name that is given to the latest Internet wave; Web 2.0 emphasizes the ability for people to network with one another. In the learning environment, it refers to those activities that allow students to collaborative on projects in preparation for the ways they will interact in post-secondary situations and in the world of work. More and more of what our students will be asked to do in the future will focus on collaboration with other students. This may mean working with peers in Hanover classes or with students from other parts of the country or the globe.

Many parents worry about the safety of their children online—as we all do. What we gain by using our protected email service is the ability to monitor what our students are doing online to a greater degree. Although many of our students already have email addresses, if they are required to use the email address that we issue, we can block all access—incoming and outgoing—to a fixed set of email sources. This means that we can completely limit to where and from where email can be sent.

Google’s protected email also evaluates each email message for content. If a message contains threatening or inappropriate language—or if the sender even tries to mask that language using punctuation or misspellings, it is flagged and moved to a special folder for processing.

Protected email allows our students to connect with one another and with their teachers in a closed environment; if we choose to open access to others, it would only be for a specific educational purpose.

For example, gliffy.com is a wonderful Web 2.0 site where students can create graphic organizers in much the same style as the popular programs “Kidspiration” or “Inspiration.” Where Gliffy is able to surpass Inspiration is in the collaboration feature. Students can invite class members to work on their organizers either during or after school, thus opening up opportunities for learning beyond normal school hours. Gliffy is also free; whereas, Inspiration is $79.00 per computer. In order for our students to sign up for Gliffy, they must have email addresses so that the company can verify that the request is coming from a person and not from a computer “robot” that transmits viruses and spyware. Nearly all sites that fall under the Web 2.0 designation enroll students through email invitations and verification.

In order to help teach our students to be socially responsible, we need to give them the opportunity to be responsible. Instead of using a negative experience as a “teachable” moment, we should teach them at all times how to be functioning and productive members of society.

Recap:

  • Each student email address will require a specific log in name and password that cannot be changed
  • We will be able to allow or disallow sites from sending email to  or receiving email from our students
  • All email is heavily filtered for spam and viruses using Postini
  • All student email will be archived
  • Parents will have access to student email
  • We can expand the Web 2.0 resources available to our students exponentially
If you wish to express an opinion, please, click on the “comment” button below or the title above. Or, if you wish, you may email me at: mpurdy@hanoverschools.org

Posted in Web 2.0 | 11 Comments »