• Technology Department Update
     

    TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENTS AT SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL & JUNIOR HIGH

    With the opening of the new Springfield High School & Junior High, there have been incredible enhancements to the technology infrastructure and tools that we have available. These items are not only enhancing our students learning environment, but have made great improvements in student safety. We also have a few new tools available to help keep students and the community up to date on what is happening around the school and opened a state of the art auditorium. 

    Classroom Technology

    Every classroom in the new facility is equipped with many tools to help enhance our children’s education. Most notably is the SMART projector and document camera in every instructional space. Check out last winter's Technology Update to learn more about how these tools are being utilized in the classroom. Teachers are receiving updated training and resources to continue to support their usage in the classroom. Additionally, each classroom is equipment with a sound reinforcement system that allows both teachers and students voices to be amplified within the classroom to make sure that everyone is heard and understood. 

    The biggest infrastructure change to this building is the first class wireless network. Wifi covers the entire building and is built for everyone to be able to connected to the wireless at one time. This has been accomplished with over 100 wireless access points around the building. The outdoor learning areas are also covered by the wireless networks so students and teachers will have access to Wifi wherever they go. 

    ipads

    Security

    Security features of the new facility include doors that lock automatically and over 150 security cameras around the building. Access to the building is tightly controlled via key fobs for staff and cameras and microphones at the entry points for guests. Guest have to be “buzzed” into the building and have to enter through the office to check-in with staff before going into the building. 

    Digital Signage

    We have been lucky to add digital signage around the new facility. With over a dozen digital displays around the building we can provide students with news in a quick and efficient manner. In addition, these displays can double as a video distribution system to make video announcements throughout the building. 

    Outside, we have a color digital display that we can post messages on to help keep the community updated about upcoming events and other news that is important to them. This sign can be seen from Canton Road near the entrance to the new school. 

    Auditorium

    Our new state of the art auditorium has been the venue for several concerts and plays since opening in December. Seating 650, this offers more seating and a larger stage than our previous auditorium. The venue includes cutting edge sound, lighting and video systems. Check back in the next issue of “Spotlight on Springfield” for more informations about the auditorium and how it is being utilized. 

    Rebecca Moga
    Becca Moga operates the sound mixer in the auditorium control room.

     

    Video Distribution

    One of the most visible enhancements that we have made in this new facility is the addition of our video distribution system. This system allows us to broadcast events live throughout the building. You may have seen basketball games on the three large projectors in the cafeteria area or on the TV screen in the concessions stand while grabbing a bite to eat during a game. This system also allows us to have overflow seating from events around the school in other rooms, ensuring that everyone gets to see the event. 

     

    ONLINE SAFETY

    As technology becomes more and more available and embedded in our students lives, digital citizenship and online safety become a bigger concern. The Technology and Integration departments are very concerned with keeping your children safe online and teaching them how to become good digital citizens.

    What does it mean to be a good digital citizen?

    Common Sense Media ( www.commonsensemedia.org) offers some tips to both Teens and Parents about what it takes to be good digital citizens.  ( /// Link to the Tips Below ///)

    Please take a look at some of the “Family Tip Sheets” provided by Common Sense Media to help you talk to your children about responsibility online as well as how to deal with online safety issues.

    Family Tip Sheets

    http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/educate-families/tip-sheets

    There are also many videos available that will help you understand some of the issues your children face online – and what you can do to educate them and make their online experience a positive one. 

    http://www.commonsensemedia.org/video/advice

      

    Digital Citizenship Tips for Teens

    For teens, we offer five simple rules of digital citizenship to help them create a world they can be proud of -- and inspire others to do the same.

    Think before you post or text -- a bad reputation could be just a click away. Before you press the "send" button, imagine the last person in the world that you’d want seeing what you post.

    What goes around comes around. If you want your privacy respected, respect others' privacy. Posting an embarrassing photo or forwarding a friend’s private text without asking can cause unintended hurt or damage to others.

    Spread heart, not hurt. If you wouldn’t say it in person, don’t say it online. Stand up for those who are bullied or harassed, and let them know that you’re there for them.

    Give and get credit. We’re all proud of what we create. Illegal downloading, digital cheating, and cutting and pasting other people’s stuff may be easy, but that doesn’t make it right. You have the responsibility to respect other people’s creative work -- and the right to have your own work respected.

    Make this a world you want to live in. Spread the good stuff. Create, share, tag, comment, and contribute to the online world in positive ways.

     

    Digital Citizenship Tips for Parents and Teachers

    We live in a rapidly changing media and tech world in which kids are far more plugged in digitally than parents and teachers are, and these technologies present huge challenges for our kids and how they grow up. Digital dramas can have a lasting effect on a teen’s life. But parents and educators can make a real impact on the future of teens growing up in a digital world. Help teens help themselves.

    The Internet’s not written in pencil. It’s written in pen. What teens do online spreads fast and lasts long. Remind them to think before they post. 

    Nothing is as private as they think. Anything teens say or do can be copied, pasted, and sent to gazillions of people in a heartbeat. Make sure kids use privacy settings and that they understand that the best way to protect their secrets is not to post personal stuff. 

    Kindness counts. The anonymity of the digital world can lead kids to say and do things online that they wouldn’t in person. Encourage them to communicate kindly, stand up for others, and build positive online relationships rooted in respect. 

    Digital cheating is still cheating. Right and wrong extend to online and mobile life. Impart your values, and tell kids not to plagiarize, download illegally, or use technology to cheat in school.

    Embrace their world. None of us wants technology to isolate us from our kids. Do some homework, and ask kids to share the sites they visit, the songs they download, the gadgets they love. It’s up to us to join the fun and help them seize the potential.