Medford Township Public Schools
128 Route 70, Suite 1, Medford, New Jersey 08055
(609) 654-6416 Fax (609) 654-7436
Kirby’s Mill Elementary School
151 Hartford Road
Medford, New Jersey 08055
609-953-7014
This letter was based on a letter composed by Erica Hartman.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The students in Mr. Khanlian's fifth grade class will be piloting a special Web 2.0 tool this year. Wikipedia defines the term Web 2.0 as the trend in World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and most notably, collaboration among users. Google, a popular search engine, offers a variety of online collaboration tools through Google Apps. We will be utilizing Google Documents, which stores student documents and presentations online allowing for access from home, school and anywhere there is an Internet connection. Google Documents allows students to share their documents with others, fostering collaboration on projects.
We are writing this letter to ask permission for your child to participate in this pilot program. If permission is granted, we will create an online Google Account for your child, through Google Apps. Education Edition. This online identity will work at school and at home. The Gmail capabilities will be deactivated so your child will not have access to an email account. Your child will have access to files they create and will be sharing those documents with a partner. Therefore, when your child logs on, they will see work they created and work their partner has created. At no time will your child be sharing work or communicating with people they do not know.
We firmly believe that using Google Docs. for collaborative projects aligns with the goals of Medford Township School District and the State of New Jersey concerning 21st Century skills in education.
The objectives of the project include:
Students will learn the importance of online safety and responsible collaboration, including digital citizenship.
Students will share their written work with Mr. Khanlian, creating a virtual teacher conference, to aid in editing and revision.
Partners will work collaboratively on a presentation. Google Docs. eliminates the need to meet in person after school, save work to a flash drive or email on-going work back and forth between home and school.
Students will take an online quiz presented by Mr. Khanlian.
We hope that this exciting pilot project will be a success and lead to the expansion of Google Apps. throughout our district. For this pilot project, we are creating a safe, interactive environment in which your child can grow and learn. However it is important for parents to know that students are able to create online identities, outside of this project, which would be impossible for teachers to monitor. As stated above, online safety and responsible behavior will be stressed before the project begins. However, we strongly suggest parents supervise and monitor their child's Internet use at home.
Terms and Conditions
All students must agree to the terms and conditions of this agreement.
Students must only use the Google Docs. tools that the teachers instruct them to use, and the students are expected to use the tools in accordance with the teacher's instructions. The teachers will make every reasonable effort to monitor student conduct related to class content in order to maintain a positive learning community.
Students may not include information or images that could compromise the safety of him/herself or other class members.
Students will be respectful while collaborating. No trash-talk, inappropriate language, personal insults (cyber-bullying), profanity, spam, racist, sexist or discriminatory remarks or threatening comments will be tolerated.
Usernames and passwords will not contain any identifying information and will be created by the teacher. Students may not change their username or password without permission from the teacher. If the username or password needs to be changed, the teacher will contact the parent with the new information.
You will receive your child's username and password shortly after he/she has returned the permission slip below. Please follow our progress: http://sites.google.com/site/kmpilotproject/ If you have any questions or concerns about the project, please feel free to contact Mr. Khanlian or Mrs. Green at any time.
Sincerely,
" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Google Docs. Pilot Program: Mr. Khanlian's Fifth Grade Class
Permission Slip
Please return by:
¨ I agree to the terms and conditions in this document, and permit my child to participate in the Google Docs. pilot program.
_________________________________________________ ______________________________
Student Signature Date
_________________________________________________ ______________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature Date
Google Docs. Pilot Program
Mr. Khanlian's Fifth Grade Class
Your child's Google Account Information:
Username: _____________________________________________________
Password: _____________________________________________________
If you would like to learn how to use these simple tools, ask your child to help you!