Lots of teachers have blogs today where they share some of their classroom practice. With the new rules around GDPR coming up shortly, like all websites, they will have to ensure that they are compliant. I am not an expert in this area so this guide is merely a starting point to get you going. … Read more
Under GDPR rules, after May 25th, your school website will have to have a notice to say that it uses cookies. If you don’t know what cookies are, in summary, they are something that keeps a little bit of a user’s data on your website. Because it isn’t your data, under GDPR law, you will … Read more
Sadly, the short answer to this question, is “no.” However, the PDSTTiE (formerly NCTE) website has some advice, but even more helpfully, it points to one of its sister websites, WebWise, which gives some comprehensive support on creating an AUP. There are even some samples on the WebWise page here which have been recommended. Finally, my … Read more
Storing files used to be a straightforward thing then cloud computing came along and changed everything. There are now dozens of ways to store files and have them available for sharing with staff. This article goes through 3 ways. Server Back in the 1990s, a school server was the only way to guarantee files could be … Read more
I was struck by a status update that I saw on a forum a couple of days ago where an Irish primary teacher said that of the 31 children in her 4th class, 25 admitted to having a Facebook account with their parents’ knowledge. I decided to check with some teachers on Twitter to see about their own … Read more
When one mentions the web site, Ask.fm, unfortunately, it is usually in the same breath as the term cyber-bullying. We all know that bullying is never acceptable but it is something that never goes away from our society. Cyber-bullying is a newer form of bullying, which can infiltrate a victim’s life 24-7. Bullies no longer … Read more
At the IPPN conference this year, the Minister for Education announced that he will be publishing guidelines and laws about bullying in schools. In particular, cyber-bullying is to be dealt with for the first time at government level. Bullying is still a societal problem, happening in every corner of the country, but now much of … Read more
Question: Just wondering if you can give me some advice on primary school students using USB memory sticks. Any hints, tips etc as they will need to be scanned for viruses especially if they use them at home. What’s a good anti virus for this kind of thing? Answer: I think you’re correct in identifying that viruses are … Read more
Since 2009, I have been giving talks around the country about cloud computing based on my article, “Heads in the Cloud”. My presentation, “Nobody Tells me Anything Around Here”, tells the story of how my school and lots of schools around the country are using cloud-based solutions to improve communication and administration everyday. I go … Read more