Tag: EdTechTeamOnline

(Crosspost) Digital Citizenship – Strong, Memorable Passwords

Micah (he/him) Carlin-GoldbergLeave a comment

(Crossposted from my EdTechTeam Teacher Leader Certificate Portfolio  https://mcarlingoldbergtlcportfolio.wordpress.com)

It is 2016, as educators it is no longer enough to teach our kids how to keep themselves safe on the streets because so much of all of our lives takes place on the internet. Internet safety is one aspect of Digital Citizenship in which we must make sure that our students and children are fully fluent. One aspect of internet safety that I think is incredibly important for everyone, child or adult, to get behind and understand is the need for strong, memorable passwords.

Strong, memorable passwords that are unique to every situation are an absolute necessity in today’s world. Having weak passwords, especially if you reuse them in different places, is like asking someone to steal your identity, your money, even your safety as they get access to all of your personal data and accounts online.

Generally, most people do passwords very badly. Even those who actually try to have good passwords. One aspect of this is illustrated by the XKCD comic.

password_strength Source: https://xkcd.com/936/ (CC BY-NC 2.5)Read More »

First Post – Mirrors: Self-reflection and communication.

Micah (he/him) Carlin-Goldberg6 Comments

As of today this blog has existed more than six weeks, with no posts, and no title. This morning I found both snuggled up together. Please read to the end to find out where I found them.

Two months ago I had an experience that opened my eyes and changed my teaching forever. What was this experience? I attended my first (but not my last!) Google Apps For Education Summit (GAFE). It was hosted by EdTechTeam at Windsor High School on April 9-10, 2016. I am super excited about attending the next Sonoma Summit in October.

Why did the GAFE summit have such an effect on me?

There were two reasons. The first was all of the incredibly awesome information, resources, and connections that I made at the summit. It revitalized my teaching mid year and reenergized me enough that Monday, though I was tired, several people mentioned that I seemed much more upbeat. That high energy boost lasted all the way through the end of the school year.

The second and probably more far reaching reason can be summed up in one word. Twitter.

I have been on Twitter since the beginning of 2008. I followed the same people that many Twitter users follow. My personal friends, actors, celebrities, athletes, a couple of politicians, the President of the United States (@POTUS), etc. My feed was closed and it even updated my Facebook profile so I didn’t have to go to FB if I didn’t want to.

How did Twitter change me at the summit? I noticed that every single presenter had their name and their Twitter handle on their presentation. Not their email address. The GAFE Summit organizers encouraged us to tweet about what we saw and what we learned at the summit using the #GAFEsummit hashtag and to share it with the @edtechteam Twitter account. This is when I discovered Twitter as a Professional Development (PD) model.

Twitter for Professional Development