Currituck County Schools Media and Tech

We are kicking off our Smartboards for Secondary Classrooms project. I will update the status of this project regularly on this site. This is the email I sent to teachers inviting them to participate.

Good Afternoon,

The Currituck County Schools Board of Education Strategic Plan includes the following goals.

CCS-5.1: Provide Smartboards in ALL secondary classrooms with relevant incentive based training. (Train first, then receive technology)
CCS-5.2: Provide laptops to all teachers with relevant incentive based training.

This year we will be adding Smartboards to as many secondary classrooms as our resources will allow. In some classrooms we will use existing resources. We will mount the data projector, purchase and mount a Smartboard (http://bit.ly/23o8v), and use the laptop from a presentation cart with the Smartboard. In some classrooms we will provide the all-in-one Smartboard data projector units (http://bit.ly/4czB2H) and provide a laptop.

To be considered for this project you must agree to the following:
Complete applicable Smart Notebook tutorials in Atomic Learning. (81 tutorials, total play time approximately 2 hours)
Upon completion of training, demonstrate a lesson to peers that uses the Smart Notebook software and the Smart board. (some after hours time may be required for this.)
Complete an orientation session on the Smart board setup in your room after installation. (approximately 30 minutes)
If you want a Smartboard, mounted projector, and laptop (assigned to you) in your classroom please respond to this email and let me know you agree to complete the three requirements listed above.

Principals will be asked to prioritize classrooms in each building and we will work down the list as far as resources allow.

I will keep the progress of this project updated on the Tech Department blog at http://curritucktech.edublogs.org/

I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have. Thanks.

I know that lots of adults use social networking sites but I didn’t realize how many. According to a report for the Pew Internet and American Life Project 46% of online American adults use a social networking site such as MySpace, Facebook, or Linkedin. Not surprisingly, Facebook is the most popular of the social networking sites for American adults.

These numbers come for a larger report, The Democratization of Online Social Networks by Amanda Lenhart. You can see her presentation here.

A new study suggests that approximately 10% of U.S. children are addicted to video games, including online games.

“Video/online games stimulate the brain’s “reward centers” which gives the same high drug addicts feel,” said Dr. Charles Lee, physician for The Pinnacle Schools.

“Children and teens are becoming addicted to video/online games the way people are addicted to drugs, alcohol and gambling.”

The 10% figure sounds a little high to me, but certainly some children are demonstrating addictive behaviors.

From the website: “The warning signs for gaming addictions are the same as those for alcohol and drug addictions. Signs include: Lying, Restless and irritable when doing other activities, Eating meals at the computer while gaming, Inability to keep track of time spent gaming, Increasingly defensive about game playing habits, Poor school performance, Skipping class, Loss of appetite/ skipping meals, Defiant, Isolate themselves from family and friends,  Playing games instead of doing homework.”

The behaviors listed in the paragraph above certainly point to excessive use.  Someone once told me “If something causes a problem, it is a problem.”  If video games are causing the problems listed above it is time to take action, restrict video game use, and get the child involved in other activities.

For help identifying video game addiction and takes steps to curb it, check out this great resource from the MediaWise Network.