You've been hacked!!

Ummm.... No, not the saw-a-person-in-half kind of "hacked" but rather...

You try to log into your Google Apps For Education (GAFE) Account - and  you can't.  The password just doesn't work.  You just know that it is the right password, but you can't get in.  Then... your cell phone rings.  Your best buddy is on the line and is very concerned that you seem to be in Sri Lanka and need money to get home...

There is a very good chance that your email has been hacked.

So, what do you do?  How do you know if someone is spoofing your email address or has actually hacked into your email?  Here are the steps that I suggest to my user-base.

Step one.... change your password - RIGHT NOW!  If you can still get into your email that is.  You may have to click "forgot your password" and try to reset.  If you are part of a Google Apps For Education domain, then you can call your administrator and get them to reset your password.  If your account is not GAFE, then check out this Google Knowledge Base (KB) article.

Step two - let your GAFE account administrator know what happened!  If you were compromised, the rest of the domain could be compromised as well.

Step three - secure your account.  I can't say enough about having a really good, secure password.  It should be long with numbers, capital letters and special characters - if possible. I can hear you already... "I can NEVER remember a long password!" Well, yes you can!!  Here is a great trick.  Pick a favorite phrase.  Since I love to "butcher" Shakespeare, for this example I will use: "To be, or not to be, that is the question!  This would now become: 2bon2btitq!   See, I have digits, letters and a special character.  No capital letters though... but thats OK!

Google (and others) also offer two step authentication.  I HIGHLY recommend this.  All of my accounts are two step.  What happens here is that after putting in your secure password, GAFE will text you message with a numeric string.  Your account will prompt you to enter those digits before logging you in.  

Now, I already hear your complaint... "Do I have to enter the code EVERY time??!!"

Well, no.  You can click the "remember my computer for 30 days" prompt and you are good for a month!  After all, it is the hacker in Taiwan that you are trying to protect ourselves from.

Some good general rules:

NEVER share your password.  Never, never, never!  I have issues with schools that make the teachers and students share their passwords with the Admin.  If for some reason, the end user forgets their password, then it is very easy for the Admin to reset it.

Your password is the key to your digital footprint.  That footprint will follow you for your entire life, so it is so crucial that it be protected.

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog page.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Repeat LIVE Webcast by popular demand!!

Well, you asked for it and we listened!!

On Tuesday, March 29th at 3:30pm PDT (6:30pm EDT) We will be broadcasting LIVE, the segment we did on NearPod for Jewish Day School two weeks ago.  This is not a video of the original event, but rather a completely NEW LIVE Broadcast.

So, come with your questions as Rabbi Zach Swigard and Edward Zelarayan give a 30 minute demonstration of the NearPod app with special emphasis on how it can be used in a Jewish Day School environment.

The link for the event is: http://jewww.adobeconnect.com/tipe

Log in as a guest - no username or password required.

See you on Tuesday, March 29th at 3:30PM PDT!!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

If you think it's coding, but it's not! It's... really a Lifetime of Problem Solving! (Sorry Mother Nature...)

The other day, I was on a Skype call with a school in Canada and the principal reminded me about a blog I wrote 15 months ago on coding in our schools. You see, he is a Star Trek fan and commented on what I call the "Wesley Crusher Syndrome."

(For those of you who are not "Trekkies," Wesley Crusher was the teen super genius of the Star Trek The Next Generation series.  He had grown up on a star ship and knew everything there was to know about advanced physics, computers, etc. He could solve any problem that he was presented with and it seemed that he got this skills through osmosis by just living in the environment.)

As I said in my blog post back then, My colleagues from the 80's and I thought that digital natives, you know the kids growing up in this Internet of Things driven world, would be just like Wesley Crusher, mystically knowing how to think, act, problem solve and be creators of information instead of just consumers. All of this by just living in the environment without being having to be taught how to do it! As I said in my blog post then, and repeat now, boy were we wrong.

Fast forward to today, thirty years later, and it would seem that we have schools trying to fix this problem by including coding in the K-12 curriculum. When ever I am brought in to consult, I always ask the school why do they want to include coding?

Now, don't misunderstand me.  My first degree was in Computer Science and I made a nice extra "chunk-o-change" as one of the few living COBOL programmers left during the Y2K (Year 2000) meltdown of the business world, fixing old, poorly written code.  I really do think that every single person should be able to code!!  But the question is WHY I think that!

My answer is that I believe coding is the practical expression - the "tool" if you will - of a much bigger idea.  What is that bigger idea?  Well, simply put, it is the ability to figure out how to solve problems.  It is a way to address an open-ended puzzle.  It is a skill set that everyone should have, from the most introductory grade level through to adults living in the "real world!"

Now, coding itself can be a great platform to teach this skill.  After all, we live in a world where need to be able to interact with the technology that seems to drive our existence, and being able to code makes it easier to be creators of content and not just consumers. Places like China, Australia and the UK are re-tooling their whole educational systems to force coding - or more appropriately - the concept of Computational Thinking and Design through coding.

Coding is not the only vehicle for this though.

STEM/STEAM (see my blog post here) can be another great vector for learning Computational Thinking and Design. I happen to be very fond of this model.

Project Based Learning is yet another example, of which I am also very excited to endorse, that can use the power of Computational Thinking and Design.  (see this blog post for references on PBL)

CIJE (www.thecije.org)  has a great program that utilizes Computational Thinking and Design - the CIJE High School Engineering Initiative. This two year course of studies (this is a UC accredited science program) teaches the basic skills of engineering, bio-mechanics and computer programming with the goal of being able to create a yearly capstone project that answers or resolves a real-world problem. What I think is wonderful is that CIJE is currently working on bringing this concept into the K-8 world.

So you see, when the school can answer the "WHY" do coding, then they can create a program that can really change the face of education, and really affect the ability of our kids to become creators of content and not just consumers.  

Ensign Wesley Crusher would be proud.

As always, I solicit your thoughts on the blog site.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Professional Development, the food for life-long Learners

I have been on a push lately to create groups of "early adopters" at my CIJE schools.  You know, those people who are willing to go outside of their comfort zone and try something new.  It doesn't have to be technology based, but being that I am in the Ed Tech world, it often is.  That is why I am such a huge proponent of Teacher Professional Development (PD) and why we at CIJE have the Technology in Plain English monthly LIVE On-Line PD sessions, and this very blog!

Speaking of Professional Development, I just want to pause for a second and send a shout out to one of my InTELA (Independent School Technology Educators of Los Angeles ) colleagues, Jayme Johnson, who has just earned her Doctorate of Education.  Her topic: Technology Related Professional Development Models in Independent School Settings.  In her dissertation, Dr. Jayme indicates (amongst many other points) that PD expanded the teachers' "...expertise and bolstered their confidence in and comfort with implementing technology infused curricula..."

Right on sister!! (sorry Dr. Jayme... 60's flashback...)

So, to help bolster your confidence in implementing technology, I would like to make you aware of the following PD opportunities coming up this month from CIJE West Coast.

From CIJE... 

Tuesday, May 29th at 3:30PM PDT (6:30PM EDT)

Due to requests for a rebroadcast of our last LIVE Video Stream (the recording failed...) we will be redoing the session NearPod with special emphasis on its use in Jewish Day Schools. The direct link is:  http://jewww.adobeconnect.com/tipe  No need to pre-register.

From the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools...

Wednesday, May 30th - all day.  I will be delivering one of the workshops.  My topic is: "From a Distance: Using Live Video Streaming and Flipped Blended Learning in your school."     Please check out the website at: http://www.cojds.com

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog site.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Adaptive, Customized App Selection for iPads

One of the many things that I LOVE about working at CIJE (Center for Innovations in Jewish Education www.thecije.org) is connecting with educators all over the US.  Just the other day, I was in a Skype call with Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky from one of our member schools - the Hebrew Academy in New City, NY.

http://www.thehebrewacademy.org/

We were discussing the "adventures" I have had trying to manage large numbers of iPads in a school setting and, as I was explaining the way that iPads actually access the Internet and run MDM's (Mobile Device Management Programs), Rabbi Koltarsky asked if I had ever heard of a product called eSpark. I hadn't, so I immediately "googled" it.

Now, those of you have been following my blog for a while know that I am HUGE proponent of Blended Learning and Adaptive Learning Systems. It should be no big surprise to you that when I found out that eSpark not only employed Blended Learning principals, was an Adaptive Learning System and ALSO was an MDM - what can I say... I didn't sleep until I had read every Internet review and video on the product that I could find.

Basically, what eSpark does is create personalized learning plans for every student.  After administering a basic entry test, and with the input from the teacher, eSpark will then select carefully vetted iPad apps that balance entertainment with educational vigor and push them out to the student's iPad.  As the student proceeds through the individualized program, the teacher can watch the progress on the teacher dashboard.

Rather than hear me talk about it, here is a video from the Elizabeth Forward School District.

OK... what do you think?  I know that if I were back in a school division as an Academic Tech Specialist again, I would be piloting this program in seconds!!  Do you use - or know a school that does use - this program?  I would love to hear from you on the blog site!

Regards...

Yossie

BTW... If you have 5 more minutes, you MUST watch this video on the Elizabeth Forward School District. This is one of the most amazing school districts I have come across!!  I wonder if they are hiring??  :-)

​

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Full STEAM ahead!!

(Disney's "Steamboat Willie" full STEAM ahead!!)

One of the multitude of services that CIJE (www.thecije.org) provides to our schools is assistance in designing effective educational network infrastructure. It is a highly specialized field that requires people who understand the unique needs of education.  For example, one of my smaller high schools (60 students) has an average of 160 devices attached to their WiFi (AppleTV's, Cell Phones, Laptops, Tablets, etc.) with 40+ Gigabytes of data being moved every single day!  And that's one of my smallest schools!!  Imagine a school of 200 students, or even 500!!

Recently, in my CIJE Network Analyst's role, I found myself at the Pressman Academy (http://www.tbala.org/page.cfm?p=1870) helping install a new WiFi access point in their STEAM lab.  Now, normally, I don't install AP's for schools, but Pressman is one of our newer members and I have been working with their Tech Director, Erica Huls, on upgrading their network.  In this case, the STEAM lab was getting so much use, that they needed an emergency upgrade right away!  

No... not this kind of STEAM....

THIS KIND... STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).

Now, just as much as I am a Sci-Fi Techno Geek, I am an absolute lover of STEM/STEAM education!!  I have been working with this concept for over 20 years now so, you can imagine my giddiness upon walking into Krystal Meisel's STEAM lab to hear that she was building a geodesic dome with her first grade class.  Yes, you read correctly - I said FIRST GRADE!!  Yes, there is a teacher there who guides, but the collaboration, participation and creation is done exclusively by the students!

This was the first time Krystal was doing this exercise with such a young group.  The students had to prepare the paper tubes that would make their dome, assemble them, and coordinate the whole project - by themselves!!  The only problem is, that according to the national standards, first grade students should not have been able to do this.  Good thing that nobody told them that!!

As I finished my work and left the room, the dome was about 90% finished.  You see, that is beauty of STEM/STEAM.  Give the challenge and watch our kids step up and perform!!

It also helps to have a great teacher/mentor/guide like Krystal.

Great job Pressman!!  Very, very, very impressive!!

So my readers, what success do you have with your STEM/STEAM programs?  Please share on the blog site!

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Classroom engagement on Steroids - NearPod LIVE Webcast

Hello!

One of questions I get the most from teachers (and parents!) is how to properly use technology to engage students.  My usual answer is that it is NOT about the technology, but rather the lesson.  A good lesson works with or without technology.  Tech should be like the expert seasoning on a great gourmet meal!

This doesn't mean that using technology effectively does not require planning and preparation. Just like using the correct spices in the correct measure on great food requires wisdom and knowledge!

Well, two years ago, I found this new product called NearPod that was absolutely amazing for engaging in the classroom.  At the time, I called it classroom engagement on steroids!  Two years later, I am still in love with it!!  Here is a quick video that gives an overview from a teacher's perspective...

So, how can you use this amazing system to spice up your lessons?

Well, then... Join me, and an expert panel, as we discuss and demonstrate NearPod on:

Monday, March 14, 2016 at 12:30PM (PDT)

Come with your questions that can be asked via the Hangout chat or Twitter as this session is definitely interactive!

Click here to register

See you on Monday!

Regards....

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

IT Director - Shalhevet High School

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Peer-to-Peer Mesh Networks - boon or bane?!!

So, you are going on a long plane flight from LA to New York.  You are travelling with your spouse and four kids.  The problem is that in order to get the good fare, you had to split up and you are sitting in one row with two of your kids and your spouse is all the way at the back of the plane with your other two.  It would be great if you could send texts between each other to keep track on how everything is going, but you are on a flight without any wifi.  Sigh...

Well, fear no more!!

Firechat to the rescue!  This little free downloadable app allows you to set up your smart phone (and your spouse's smart phone) as their own network hubs.  This will let you "mesh" with it and be able to send texts - even in airplane mode - as long as you have turned on your bluetooth and WiFi.  Not only that, but if anyone else is on the same fight, they can "mesh" with you to improve your signal.  Yes, your message remains private even if you "mesh."  Confusing?  Well, watch this little video that explains it all!

Sounds cool - yes?

Well, as with all else, there is a downside to this... How about in a school where  this kind of messaging through the WiFi has been disabled.  You know, to prevent cheating on tests and so on.  Now students can make their own free WiFi network.

So, what do you think?  Good, bad or in-the-middle?

As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

IT Director - Shalhevet High School

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel