The following Saturdays are tentatively scheduled as Family Tech dates. They are:
Sept. 30, Oct. 28, Nov. 18, Dec. 16 in 2006
Jan 27, Feb.17, Mar. 17, Apr. 14, May 5, June 9 in 2007
Monday, July 17, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
Pre-teen and Teen: Safer Networking Sites for Pre-teens and Teens
The July online issue of Converge! includes an article on safer alternatives to online networking sites such as My Space and Facebook. The listed sites have additional safety features such as the need to provide a parent's email address or profiles that can only be accessed by confirmed friends. The best safety feature is still parental involvement and monitoring. The address of the Converge! article is http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=231&storyid=100129, but an excerpt with the safer sites is copied below:
"Whyville, which features roughly 1.7 million users, is an online virtual world in which users, most of whom are 8 to 15, must manage money, balance their diet, and participate in activities ranging from science and math to art, civics, and economics. Users create a virtual character with real-world abilities and can communicate with others in this virtual setting. Children must provide a parent's e-mail address when registering for Whyville. When children complete their registration, an e-mail message is sent to the parent, notifying him or her of the new registration.
Christian social-networking site MyPraize's safety features include optional profile fields, so users can decide how much personal information they reveal. First and last names are not required, and an additional section is being created that will inform parents which safety precautions are available on the site.
FAQQLY, which launched in April, provides users the option of making all personal pages viewable only by confirmed friends. The site's central feature is a "Personal FAQ" page where friends can get to know each other better through Q&A sessions. "
"Whyville, which features roughly 1.7 million users, is an online virtual world in which users, most of whom are 8 to 15, must manage money, balance their diet, and participate in activities ranging from science and math to art, civics, and economics. Users create a virtual character with real-world abilities and can communicate with others in this virtual setting. Children must provide a parent's e-mail address when registering for Whyville. When children complete their registration, an e-mail message is sent to the parent, notifying him or her of the new registration.
Christian social-networking site MyPraize's safety features include optional profile fields, so users can decide how much personal information they reveal. First and last names are not required, and an additional section is being created that will inform parents which safety precautions are available on the site.
FAQQLY, which launched in April, provides users the option of making all personal pages viewable only by confirmed friends. The site's central feature is a "Personal FAQ" page where friends can get to know each other better through Q&A sessions. "
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Early Learning: Free Software for Young Children
From techlearning@news.techlearning.com eZine, July 2006
http://www.techlearning.com/
PDQ (Professional Development QuickTips)
Free Software for Young Children Early Learning:
Marianne Wartoft from Uppsala, Sweden has been developing educational shareware programs since 1995. Now these wonderful interactive programs are available as freeware at Marianne Wartoft ab. Minisebran offers early learning games for 2-6 years olds, including doodle drawing exercises and very simple games to get to know numbers, letters, and the keyboard. Sephonics includes seven different exercises for practicing English pronounciation and the phonetic alphabet, including a phonetic memory game to relax between the lessons! There are also exercises where you learn to match a sound to a phonetic sign, transcribe from phonetic text to ordinary text, and much more! (British English) Selingua is a vocabulary training program with six different exercises for practicing vocabulary and verb inflections, including a crossword exercise. Users can also add their own words to the dictionaries, which already have more than 2000 words in each of the following languages: English (both American and British), German, Spanish, French and Swedish. She offers other freeware for other age groups, and all work on PCs. In order to run Minisebran, you need Windows 2000 or Windows XP. You also need the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on your computer, but if you are running Windows XP, it is probably already installed.
http://www.techlearning.com/
PDQ (Professional Development QuickTips)
Free Software for Young Children Early Learning:
Marianne Wartoft from Uppsala, Sweden has been developing educational shareware programs since 1995. Now these wonderful interactive programs are available as freeware at Marianne Wartoft ab. Minisebran offers early learning games for 2-6 years olds, including doodle drawing exercises and very simple games to get to know numbers, letters, and the keyboard. Sephonics includes seven different exercises for practicing English pronounciation and the phonetic alphabet, including a phonetic memory game to relax between the lessons! There are also exercises where you learn to match a sound to a phonetic sign, transcribe from phonetic text to ordinary text, and much more! (British English) Selingua is a vocabulary training program with six different exercises for practicing vocabulary and verb inflections, including a crossword exercise. Users can also add their own words to the dictionaries, which already have more than 2000 words in each of the following languages: English (both American and British), German, Spanish, French and Swedish. She offers other freeware for other age groups, and all work on PCs. In order to run Minisebran, you need Windows 2000 or Windows XP. You also need the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on your computer, but if you are running Windows XP, it is probably already installed.
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