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Technology & You

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  • Technology & You
    • Avoiding Loss and Theft
    • Cyber Awareness
    • Cyber Awareness Month October 2022
    • Digital Citizenship
    • Internet Filtering
    • Internet Filtering Frequently Asked Questions
    • IT Uses and Abuses
    • Technology Enabled Classrooms
    • WiFi Safety
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Cyber Awarness Month 2022

​​Tech​nology & You is Design​​​ed for Stud​ents, Staff and Parents​​

​ In an increasing technology driven, knowledge intensive and globalized world, it is important students prepare​ for success.  The Halton Distr​ict School Board'​s vision is every student will explore and enhance their potential, passions an​d strengths to ​thrive as contributing global citizens.  ​

What is Digital Citizenship?

Digital citizenship encompasses a br​oad range of knowledge, skills and attitudes among students, staff, administration and parents/guardians about Internet usage.​ Numerous resources are available to all schools to support digital citizenship including the Board's Responsible Use Procedures​ for I​nformation and Communication Technology (ICT) use in schools.​​​​​​​

Learn About Digital Citizenship​


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  • Digital Learning Tools

    Digital Learning Tools

  • Technology in Our Schools

    Technology

  • Internet Privacy

    Internet Safety

  • DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS

  • G SUITE

  • BRIGHTSPACE

  • MY BLUEPRINT

Digital Learning Tools

The Halton District School Board is committed to delivering digital learning opportunities to all students to support global competencies.

All HDSB students and staff have a G Suite and email account. Students in K-12 will not be able to use their Halton Cloud/G Suite account for G-Suite Marketplace, Chrome Web Store or to register for a 3rd party website/application/software unless the software has been approved for education use by HDSB.

Student use of approved applications are available through the HDSB Marketplace and HDSB Chrome Web Store. See G SUITE for additional details.

Students are provided with a variety of digital learning tools including:


G Suite for Education
Brightspace Online Classroom
myBlueprint (6-12)/All About Me(K-5)


G Suite for Education

G Suite for Education is a suite of tools designed to empower educators and students as they learn and innovate together. All HDSB students and staff have a G Suite and email account. The HDSB has a contractual agreement with Google for G Suite for Education which is significantly different from a standard personal Google account. The agreement provides HDSB with content ownership, application controls & support and protection from advertisements.

LEARN MORE ABOUT G SUITE FOR EDUCATION LEARN MORE ABOUT G SUITE PRIVACY AND SECURITY

HDSB students have access to the following Core G Suite for Education Apps.

Please note: Students in Grade K-3 have the ability to use the G Suite for Education apps within the HDSB domain only (cannot send/share with external accounts). Hangouts - meet and chat are internal only for elementary students.
Calendar - Individual Calendar
Classroom - Online Classroom
Docs - Word Processing
Drive - Unlimited Digital File Storage
Forms - Surveys
Gmail - Email
Hangouts Chat - Instant Messaging (Students K-3 - no access to this application. Grade 4-8 - internal only.)
Hangouts Meet - Online Meeting (Students K-3 - no access to this application. Grade 4-8 - internal only.)
Keep - Note Taking (Students K-3 - no access to this application.)
Sites - Website Creation
Sheets - Spreadsheets
Slides - Presentations

Brightspace

All HDSB students have a Brightspace account. Brightspace is an online learning management system provided to all school boards in Ontario through the Ministry of Education. It includes an online classroom and a portfolio tool to help students document and share their learning with teachers.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BRIGHTSPACE

All About Me/MyBlueprint

All About Me and myBlueprint are tools for students, used by students. Students can use these interactive, online tools to become developers, assessors and curators of their own learning. These two tools support students with building and maintaining their learner profile, documenting and archiving their learning, investigating jobs/occupations and pathways planning.

All About Me is for Kindergarten to Grade 5 and myBlueprint is for Grade 6 to Grade 12 students. Both tools support the education and career/life framework (e.g. "Who Am I?" "Who do I want to become?" "What are my opportunities?" and "What is my plan for achieving my goals?") found within the Creating Pathways to Success document.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL ABOUT ME/MY BLUEPRINT

In addition to the above district provided tools, schools may select apps, websites or tools to use with students. In these instances, schools are responsible for the protection of student privacy and adherence to provider terms of service.

Some digital learning tools require that the HDSB share limited personal information such as the student’s name and email address for the purpose of creating an account to use the tool or service. Any content created in and/or stored in a district provided digital learning tool remains the property of HDSB. Personal information (name and email address) is used and shared by the HDSB for the above-noted purposes under the authority of the Education Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).
  • PHONES

  • DEVICES

  • WiFi

  • VIRTUAL REALITY

  • TECH TIPS

Phones

Students can bring their own personal devices to school. Personal devices will be used at the teacher’s discretion for enhancing learning through technology.

Best practices are encouraged for cell phones and other hand held devices.


All manufacturers provide product safety guidelines, warnings and suggestions for use. Be sure to read the fineprint.


Limit the length of cell phone calls and exposure to radio frequency.
Use "hands-free" devices to alleviate cell phones to the head area.
Avoid direct contact of your cell phone to your body. Don’t put phones in your pockets or clothing areas that would be touching bare skin.
Replace cell phone calls with text messages.
Know what is considered as distracted driving before you get behind the wheel. For information please refer to the Ontario Distracted Driving site.

Personal Devices (Laptops, Tablets, Phones)

Students can bring their own personal devices to school. Personal devices will be used at the teacher’s discretion for enhancing learning through technology.

Ensure there is a password on your device.


Keep your device safe and secure in the classroom and/or in your locker.
Students assume all responsibility for the security of their own devices. The Board is not responsible for the loss, damage or theft of any personal equipment brought to school.
Be careful of what is stored on your device that comes to school - ask yourself if the device was lost what information would be available.
Protect sensitive and confidential information on your device (ie., add encryption or passwords, backup your data).

Devices

Overall wellness is important.

All manufacturers provide product safety guidelines, warnings and suggestions for use. Be sure to read the fineprint.


Avoid direct contact of your devices (laptops, ipads, tablets) to your body and/or bare skin.
Give your eyes a rest throughout the day - a rest for your eyes can be as simple as looking away from the screen for short breaks.
Give your body a break and take time away from your device.
Step away from your screen and have some social interaction with others.


LEARN MORE ABOUT BRINGING DEVICES TO SCHOOL​​

Connect your Chromebook to Wi-Fi

To connect to the Internet, use a compatible Wi-Fi network.
Step 1: Turn on Wi-Fi

  1. At the bottom right, select the time.
  2. Select Not Connected.
    Note: If you see your Wi-Fi network name and a signal strength, your Chromebook is already connected to Wi-Fi.

  3. Turn on Wi-Fi.
  4. Your Chromebook will automatically look for available networks and show them to you in a list.

Step 2: Pick a network and connect
Connect to an open network
Select the Wi-Fi network .
Remember, your information might be visible to other people on this network. 

Connect to a secure network

  1. Select the secure Wi-Fi network.

  2. Type the network password.
  3. Select Connect.


Connect to an unlisted network
Administrators may hide networks so only certain people can use them. To connect to an unlisted network:

  1. Select Join other network .
  2. Enter the network information in the box that appears.
  3. Select Connect.

Information for this network is automatically saved so you can connect automatically later.

​

Source: support.google.com 

​​

WiFi in Our Schools

The Halton District School Board supports the use of WiFi in its schools and administrative offices in order to provide connectivity to resources and improve communication.

WiFi coverage is provided in all HDSB buildings including portables. As such, accommodations cannot be made for students whose parents/guardians request they are taught in a room where there is no WiFi.

All manufacturers provide product safety guidelines, warnings and suggestions for use. Be sure to read the fineprint.


The Halton District School Board uses access points also known as base stations that conform to:

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Information technology equipment safety (60950-1) from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Canadian Standards Association (CAN/CSA-C22.2).


Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC).


Additional Resources

WiFi Safety
Safety of WiFi Equpiment (Health Canada)

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is the term used to describe a three-dimensional, computer generated environment which can be explored and interacted with by a person. That person becomes part of this virtual world or is immersed within this environment and is able to manipulate objects or perform a series of actions.

Recommendations of Virtual Reality

All manufacturers provide product safety guidelines, warnings and suggestions for use. Be sure to read the fineprint.
Students should only be using virtual reality at school when connected to classroom learning and as directed by the teacher.
Virtual reality is not for use by children without adult supervision.
Do not use virtual reality while driving, walking, or otherwise being distracted from real world situations that prevent you from obeying traffic or safety laws.
If you have had or could be prone to seizures, consult a doctor before using any virtual reality environment.
Be mindful of your surroundings when using virtual reality.
Do not drive or operate heavy machinery immediately after using virtual reality if you feel impaired or disoriented.
If you experience nausea, discomfort, eye strain, or disorientation, immediately discontinue using virtual reality.
Take frequent breaks while using virtual reality.

Tech Tips

We have built a HDSB Tech Tips web​site to support HDSB Staff and Families in using technology and providing solutions to common technical issues, questions or ways to reach out to receive Technical Support.
VISIT HDSB TECH TIPS

Tech Helpdesk - a resource developed by the Staff and Students at JW Boich supporting tools for technology in the classroom. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of "smart" devices that connect and communicate via the Internet.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IoT

It is recommended to periodically review your digital devices and remove unnecessary files, pictures, applications. This will help protect against loss of information in the event the device is lost, stolen or damaged as well as the performance of your device.

Tips for Cleaning your Digital Clutter

Backup your device to a secure external device or network/cloud storage (include important files - photos, videos, apps, contacts).
Delete documents, apps, unnecessary data from your device.
Be selective on what you keep on your device (only add applications, photos, videos you use).
Update your device password (optional but always good to periodically change your passwords).
Set a calendar reminder for your next digital cleanup.
VIEW #TechandU Tips on Twitter
  • PRIVACY & PASSWORDS

  • INTERNET FILTERING

  • SOCIAL MEDIA

  • CYBERBULLYING

Privacy

It is everyone's responsibility to safeguard and secure your own data, and be aware of your online presence.

Be aware of the latest trends/tricks that are harmful to your data profile. People are trying to compromise your private information.
Get Cybersafe. Learn how you and your information can be compromised and how to protect yourself (ie., ransomware, phishing, malware, virus).
Understand that information you are handling may be personal (yours and/or others) and needs to be treated with care.
Before you share, THINK - Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inclusive? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?
Understand the terms and conditions of applications. When you click “agree” do you know what are you agreeing to?
LEARN MORE ABOUT PRIVACY WITHIN HALTON

Additional Resources
Cybersafe
THINK Poster
Technology & You Poster
Cyber Security

Passwords

Suggestions to keep your password safe

Do not share your password. It is private and important just to you.
Avoid reusing your password. If it is compromised, how many applications are impacted?
If you think your password has been compromised, change it immediately and contact your service provider.

HDSB Network Username and Password

At the Halton District School Board every Student and Staff member has been provided a network username and password. If you suspect that your HDSB password has been compromised take immediate precautions to let someone know.

Student - let a teacher know if you think your password has been compromised.
Staff - If you feel your password has been compromised contact informationcentre@hdsb.ca

Additional Resources
Administrative Procedure Electronic Passwords

Internet Filtering

Students in the Halton District School Board are expected to use the Internet appropriately and are taught Digital Citizenship and the importance of practicing ethical and legal digital behaviour.

The Halton District School Board blocks access to adult-content websites (pornographic websites) for all staff and students when on the Board network.
The Halton District School Board cannot filter nor log the Internet access of personal devices when users access a cellular network.
LEARN MORE ABOUT INTERNET FILTERING

Social Media

Social media and electronic communication refers to online technology tools that enable people and organizations to communicate and share information and resources over the Internet (e.g. blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, email, texting, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Snapchat, etc).

Best practices for staying safe online

Before you share, THINK - Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inclusive? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?
Be in control of your online profile. If you don’t want it posted or shared speak up - talk to friends, family, teachers.
Be aware of what is being posted about you – use your favorite search engine and search your name – see what your digital footprint looks like.
What seems innocent and safe now could impact you down the road - once information is shared it is hard to unshare.
Social Media Impersonation Policies

Know where your email/name is being used. If you did not sign up for an account, review the social media platform(s) impersonation policy and how to file a report:
    1. Go to the profile of the impersonating account
    2. Click on the cover photo and select Report
    3. Follow the on-screen instructions for impersonation, to file a report


Additional Resources
HDSB Staff Administrative Procedure Social Media

Cyber Bullying

Unlike other forms of bullying, cyberbullying involves harassing, humiliating, intimidating, and/or threatening others through electronic mediums, including the Internet, cell phones, and other wireless communication devices.

Some examples of cyberbullying

Creating a site or blog where the owner assumes the identity of another person.
Impersonating another person as the author of content or messages posted online.
Communicating material electronically to others or posting on a website that is accessible by more than one person.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BULLYING, PREVENTION AND AWARENESS
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Halton District School Board
J.W. Singleton Education Centre
2050 Guelph Line
Burlington, Ontario, L7P 5A8

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Fax: 905-335-9802

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​​​​​​​​© 2023 Halton District School Board, 2050 Guelph Line, Burlington, ON, Canada L7P 5A8, Phone Switchboard: 905-335-3663

Auto Attendant: 905-335-3665, ​Toll Free: 1-877-618-3456, Fax: 905-335-9802