Edline Interactive Classroom - Arriving for the 08-09 school year district-wide

With Edline’s Interactive Classroom, you can bring classroom web pages to life with online discussions, electronic homework hand-in, interactive assignments and online assessments. These features allow us to access popular Blackboard features from a familiar application such as Edline.

Some key features include:

Online discussions that maximize participation

Integrate online discussions with instructional content on any web page to engage students at the point of interest. Leverage your Edline data to easily target or restrict certain students within your classroom. (Teachers can review all comments before they are posted.)

Interactive assignments

Easily post homework that integrates online practice exercises, quizzes, or worksheets. Students complete the learning activities completely online. No paper!

Homework hand-in

Quickly create a homework “drop-box” where students can submit documents or other files to hand in their homework electronically.

Flexible online tests & quizzes

No more waiting at the copier! Create your own online exams for your students to take. Choose from several different components: text entry fields, radio buttons, drop-down lists, file attachments and more.

Automatic grading

Assignments can be graded automatically with no intervention by the teacher. Grades can then be transferred to your GradeQuick gradebook.

Track and review student responses

Track which students have and have not submitted a response. With a single click, send an e-mail reminder to students who have not submitted a response.

NOTE: We will be providing training on all of these new Edline features this fall to all staff.

Please Vote on Technology Upgrades!

"Mr. Combs is Cool!" New Richmond Elementary School Video

Click the play button below the video to watch the New Richmond Elementary School presentation titled "Mr. Combs is cool" courtesy of Judy Meyer and her 5th Grade class.

Summer Upgrade - Faster Computers, More Tools, United Streaming & More!

During the summer break, we will be performing a much needed upgrade to the network at all buildings which will increase the speed we have to the Internet. The upgrade will most benefit the buildings that currently experience the slowest access (Locust Corner, Monroe, and the Central Office) but will benefit all buildings in the district.

Some of the key features for this upgrade:

• Faster computers: Although it seems like some of our computers run slow, most of the time it's the Internet access that's actually slow instead of the computer itself. Once the network upgrade is complete, NRE, NRMS & NRHS should experience 10x the Internet Speed. Monroe Elementary, Locust Corner Elementary and the Central Office are currently on very slow links and should experience 130x the Internet Speed once the upgrade is completed!
  
• United Streaming - District Wide: With the faster speeds come the ability to access streaming video for buildings that didn't have the Internet speed necessary before. This valuable web-based application provides lesson-based and standards-based educational videos from any computer, anytime. The network upgrade will also provide faster video streams with less choppiness for all buildings.
  
• Distance Learning - Video Conferencing: A great tool for presenting dynamic content to your classes. With our video conferencing equipment you can literally connect to anyone in the world and present standards-based material that will make a strong impact on your students. Dramatic improvements have been made to this equipment to improve reliability and performance.
  

This project is expected to be completed in June 2008.

New Video Conferences at NRE

Ms. Meyer has utilized several live interactive video conferences into her classroom yesterday and today.

Mrs. Meyer’s 5th grade class participated in a program via distance learning that discussed transportation in the Ohio region prior to 1825 and how the construction of canals changed the lives of many Ohio residents in many ways. The 45 minute video conference was an excellent educational experience for children that allowed them to ask questions and be included in other activities during the session.

FREE Internet Safety Course Available

Clermont County ESC is offering a FREE course on Internet Safety to all Clermont County teachers.

The 2 hour course reviews the following:

• Keeping Students Safe from Predators
  
• The Child Internet Protection Act
  
• Email Use and Security
  
• Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights
  

This course increases awareness on the importance of recognizing the dangers of children using the Internet.

Please let me know if you're interested in this course.

Web Washer is now our new web filtering software

Our Internet Service Provider (HCCA) has updated our web filtering software to a new product called Web Washer. You’ve probably noticed the new ‘block’ screen when you’re accessing web pages that were available before the upgrade.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any web sites that you need unblocked from the filter. I’ll just need the full web address (example:www.yahoo.com) to unblock the page.

Conserve paper when printing from the web

Have you noticed how much paper you waste printing from the Web? Between the random blank pages with only a line or two of text on them, and pages you print just to save a paragraph or two of content, chances are a lot of trees have given up their pulp while you gather and print information from the Web.

With HP’s Smart Web Printing, you’ll get rid of all those extra wasted pages. This free Internet application is a convenient and user-friendly solution to this annoying and expensive problem. It enables simple, predictable Web printing and gives you control over what content you want to save and how you want it printed.

Smart Web Printing gives you the power to:

• Save paper and ink
• Take control of your Web search findings
• Organize your compiled Web content to suit your needs
• Get more accurate and useful prints

HOW IT WORKS

Surf the Web and keep multiple Web pages open as you research. When you’re ready to compile and print your research, choose the content, graphics or images you want by selecting Smart Web Printing from your Web browser’s toolbar, and simply dragging your cursor around the object you want to save. Then you can print it immediately; it’s scaled to match the size of your paper. Or you can place the clip in a Clip Book for editing later.

Smart Web Printing is available now free for everyone, even if you don’t currently use an HP printer.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL

Click here to download and install