Teaching and Learning Online

Be Sure to Question Hardware and Internet Access:

It's important to remember that, while most school districts in the state of Maine do make use of the freely available Google Apps for Education, not everyone has a device with the appropriate hardware or home Internet access necessary to do schoolwork online. Additionally, many districts have disabled certain aspects of Google Apps which may be difficult to safeguard against adult content (such as Youtube, Google's best free option to host video). These considerations are important as you design your learning materials. You may want to have a dialogue with your district's Information Technology (IT) service providers to find out:

• Do they distribute and maintain devices for students? If so, what kind? If not, have they conducted a technology survey you can review?

• What kind of Internet access do users in your district have? Is IT distributing hot spots (mobile Internet) for users through the device or hotspot school buses? If they don't, do they have a survey of Internet access your students may have?

• If your students don't have Internet at home, can you design your content so it is easily printed and mailed?

• Do they block Youtube? If so, could they "greenlight" your personal Youtube channel and perhaps key, vetted, safe Youtube channels you may wish to use for educational purposes (such as TED Talks channel? or PBS's channel?)

• Do your students know how to identify Operating System (OS) and browser (ex. Chrome, which is best for Google, or Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc)? If not, can you provide instructions for them? It will be important that you are using current and updated OS's, and Chrome is best for Google Apps.