Teaching 5th graders to search and cite online images

Nicole Haleen teaches Spanish to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades at The School at Columbia University. She might be one of the most organized people I work with. For the 5th grade study of Day of the Dead, 5th graders made drawings, dioramas, paintings, and scultptures of calacas (skeletons) before creating a digital altar to represent a family member. They built their altar in Inspiration, as it allowed them to quickly create tiers in order to populate with images and text.

Nicole asked me to come in and remind the students how to properly search and cite online images. This is what we discussed:

1. They signed a Respectful Use Policy at the beginning of the year reinforcing that they’d be using technology academically, respectfully, and responsibly.
2. Try to choose “advanced image search” in Google and Flickr and other sites so that you locate only images labeled for reuse.
3. Use Wikimedia to search media. Wikimedia is a sister project of Wikipedia. I showed the 5th graders Wikimedia’s Reuse guide where they specifically state, “almost all may be freely reused without individual permission according to the terms of the particular license under which it was contributed to the project, but some licenses may require that the original creator be attributed.”
4. It is incredibly easy from any browser (Firefox, Chrome, less so in Safari) to copy the image and paste it into Inspiration. Control-click on the image and choose Copy image.
5. It is just as easy from any browser to copy the URL simply by holding down the Control key while clicking on the image with the mouse. Different browsers say different things: Copy image URL, Copy image address, Copy image location…
6. We talked about how if you don’t cite/attribute a photo, it means you took it yourself, you forgot to cite it, or you stole it.
7. I reinforced that 5th grade is a great age to get into the habit of being responsible, respectful, ethical, moral, and purposeful with information. The expectation is they will continue to do this throughout 5th grade and beyond.

Nicole lists the following sites for locating images:

http://commons.wikimedia.org
http://compfight.com
http://www.photos8.com
http://pics4learning.com
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/?CTT=97

This year, our Acceptable Use Policy was renamed our Respectable Use Policy

(presentation designed by Don Buckley)

This year we are saying RIP to our AUP to make room for our RUP. 

Back in 2006 when I started at The School at Columbia University (it was entering its 4th year!), the Technology Department strove to create a simple and clear Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that was 10 items long. We review this AUP with each grade at the beginning of every school year, The kids invent a million what if? scenarios, and it’s equally hilarious and exhausting to counter them all. After we review the policy point by point for 20-30 minutes, students have to sign the AUP and take it home to get a parent/guardian’s signature as well. Only after they return the signed form to me are they allowed to use the machines we provide for them. We’re a 1:1 school: Child in grades K-2 are assigned an iPad and children in grades 3-8 are assigned a laptop – with overlap as needed for projects.

This year, Don Buckley (@donbuckley) decided to rename our AUP, so we are now calling it our Respectable Use Policy (RUP). It’s not just semantics, shemantics. We want our community to fully appreciate, internalize, support, and ultimately respect our policy and not just accept it. This is an example of how we use/reinforce a consistent vocabulary for our student body. (In my case, I reinforce this vocabulary in a very shrill and repetitive way.)

For the record, we do not filter. We use Columbia University’s network, and they do not filter. This means that we ask/expect/hope/pray members of our community will make good choices. Our RUP is below:

The School’s Respectable Use Policy

The School’s students will use its technology facilities in the spirit of The School’s code of conduct and in a responsible and legal manner, following the rules listed below:

Respect

• I will always use the computer with consideration and respect for others and myself.
• I will not eat food or drink beverages while working on the computers.
• I will be responsible for my computer’s whereabouts at all times. If I am not using my computer, I will return it to a charging station

Email and Communication

• I will use electronic mail only for school-related purposes. I will never use abusive or profane language in public or private messages.
• I will not access my personal e-mail account, social networking sites, or personal instant messaging software from any school computer.
• I will not use others’ names or passwords.

Safety

• I will ask a teacher for permission before I download or install anything from the Internet.
• I will keep my network and electronic mail account passwords private.

Software/Apps

• I will use teacher-approved software and apps when given permission at appropriate times.
• I will not illegally copy or download software or media (games, MP3s, etc.).

Internet

• I will not shop online or make any purchases using a school computer.
• I will not visit inappropriate websites. Teachers and administrators will determine appropriateness.

I understand that failure to follow these rules when using The School’s technology, whether at The School or off-campus, will result in suspension of my technology privileges and/or additional disciplinary action.

Today Show January 1994…What is the Internet?!

I’m still laughing over this video. I am grateful to @krea_frobro747 for tweeting a link earlier today…

You down with #AUP (Yeah you know me)

Two weeks into the shool, and I’m still missing one signed Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) from the middle school population. Maybe I should be more “glass is half full” about it and acknowledge I’m only missing one signed AUP. The kids are not allowed to use their school MacBook without turning in that form. I use the non-AUP kids to control the classroom iMac and Smartboard when I lead a lesson for their class. I always ask for volunteers (or guinea pigs as I like to call them) to demo for their classmates, anyway, which leaves me free to walk around as needed asking questions and checking that the other students are on task.

I pasted the AUP we use for grades 5-8 here at The School below:

The School’s Acceptable Use Policy
The School’s students will use its technology facilities in the spirit of The School’s code of conduct and in a responsible and legal manner, following the rules listed below:

Respect
• I will always use the computer with consideration and respect for others and myself.
• I will not eat food or drink beverages while working on the computers.
• I will be responsible for my computer’s whereabouts at all times. If I am not using my computer I will return it to a charging station

E-mail and Communication
• I will use electronic mail only for school-related purposes. I will never use abusive or profane language in public or private messages.
• I will not access my personal e-mail account, social networking sites, or personal instant messaging software from any school computer.
• I will not use others’ names or passwords.

Safety
• I will ask a teacher for permission before I download or install anything from the Internet.
• I will keep my network and electronic mail account passwords private.

Software
• I will use teacher-approved software when given permission at appropriate times.
• I will not illegally copy or download software or media (games, MP3s, etc.)

Internet
• I will not shop online or make any purchases using a school computer.
• I will not visit inappropriate websites. Teachers and administrators will determine appropriateness.

I understand that failure to follow these rules when using The School’s technology, whether at The School or off-campus, will result in suspension of my technology privileges and/or additional disciplinary action.

________________________________Student Name (Print)
________________________________Student Signature
________________________________Guardian Signature
________________________________Grade
________________________________Advisor Name
________________________________Date

 

Conveniently, I just saw this tweet from @ShellTerrell linking to a great post about Digital Citizenship: