Two ways to backup your MacBook Air!

by Ashoke Ghosh, Assistant Principal

The most important practice you can develop when using a laptop is backing up your data. Computers are only useful tools if you can continue to access documents, images, and applications on your computer's hard drive. Please remember that hard drives can fail or become corrupted and if this happens you can lose all of your important files. This usually becomes a problem when its the night before a paper is due or you go to print some photos for a holiday card and all of a sudden your files are gone.

How can I backup my MacBook Air?

There are two ways to backup your laptop, the first method requires that you purchase an external hard drive or flash drive and the second method utilizes a cloud storage solution. This solution utilizes the internet to upload files to a remote storage facility.  Lets break down the two methods and then you can decide which method works best for you.

External Hard Drive Method:
These drives come in various sizes and ideally it should be as large or larger than your existing hard drive in your MacBook Air. Therefore, the drive should be at least 128gb in size. However, I would recommend buying a 500gb drive or larger unless you are only going to save small files. Just keep in mind students have a lot of music, photos, videos, and games and these files and programs require much more space.
There are a variety of vendors that sell these drives. You can purchase them from big-box stores like Best Buy and Staples or your can get competitive prices with online retailers like Newegg and TigerDirect. Once you have decided on the size of your drive determine if you want a USB 2.0, USB 3.0, or Thunderbolt. The main difference between these choices is speed. USB 2.0 has the slowest data transfer speeds and they get faster as you move towards a Thunderbolt connection. The trade-off is cost, a USB 2.0 back-up solution is cheaper. A typical 500gb, USB 3.0 portable hard drive costs about $60.00.
If you are looking for a smaller solution you can choose to purchase a flash drive or jump drive that connects to the USB port as well. These drives are smaller and usually have smaller storage capacities. They typically range from 1gb - 128gb in size and are sold by many vendors. The benefits of having a jump drive is it size and cost. They generally are a little cheaper but get pretty expensive as you approach the 128gb size. The one thing to consider with this type of drive is that they tend to get lost because they are so small.

Cloud Storage Methods:
Cloud solutions are convenient in many ways but depending on the solution you pick, they can be more pricey over a long period of time. Many vendors charge by month or year and you can expect to pay at least $60/year. The key benefits of a cloud solution are no external drives or equipment, large storage capacities, and increased access to your files via the internet. Most solutions work by installing a piece of software on your machine which enables you to connect to the storage solution. The initial syncing of data may take 1 day to a week depending on the solution you pick because the data must travel from your computer to a remote server via your wireless network. However, once the initial backup is completed follow-up back ups take place automatically in the background and you don't have to manage it. This is one of the major problems with external drives you have to remember to plug it into your computer for it to work. If you are a little more savvy you can connect a backup drive to your home network and the machine will backup when it finds your home network. Here are some vendors to get you started:
Carbonite, Dolly Drive, Justcloud, Sugarsync and Mozy.

Internet Safety

by Phil Powers, Hopkinton High School Resource Office

Just a safety reminder as the school year starts, I want to encourage everyone to be vigilant with all types of social media (for example Facebook and Twitter).  It is important to communicate with your child about what sites they are on and the potential issues that can arise.  With more devices than ever being used (ie. iphones, ipads, laptops etc.) it is critical that we all work together to inform your children about the dangers of these sites and how to use them appropriately.  If your child has a Facebook/Twitter account, I would strongly advise that you talk to them about logins and passwords so you are able to monitor them.  Below are some helpful sites and resources that Hopkinton Public School would like to share.

Tips from FBI Parents Guide to Internet Safety

Instruct your children:
·  to never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met online
·  to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or online service to people they do not personally know
·  to never give out identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, or telephone number
·  to never download pictures from an unknown source (there is a good chance there could be sexually explicit images)
·  to never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing
·  that whatever they are told online may or may not be true.*
*Adapted from A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide)

Additional resources on internet safety:

·  Safe Teens: http://www.safeteens.com/
·  Wired Safety: https://www.wiredsafety.org/
·  ISafe: http://www.isafe.org/
·  NetSmartz Workshop: http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

Please feel free to contact me at the high school (powers@hopkinton.k12.ma.us  508-497-9820 ext.1004) or at the police station if you have questions or concerns.

Math Goes 1-1

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

Thinking about the 200+ brand new textbooks filling up what precious little closet space she has in her room, math teacher Carla Crisafulli has to wonder whether the print textbook has become obsolete. “I can’t give them away,” she lamented the other day. The math department was thrilled to have 275 copies of a brand new, beautiful Algebra I textbook ready for freshman on the first day of school. However, there have been very few takers. Now that the students have access to laptops 24/7, “they all use the online version,” Crisafulli explains.

Both students and teachers love their online Algebra I textbook and the myriad resources the publisher provides as part of the textbook package. Not only does the learning site give students access to the entire textbook online, it also includes video lessons, online tutors, guided work on problems, quizzes and other self-assessments where students can check their own learning through feedback provided by the site. Crisafulli, a 9th grade Algebra I teacher and the Curriculum Team Leader for the HS Math Department, was amazed at how the combination of the 1-1 environment and the new online textbook has allowed them to personalize learning for students. As she notes, “The online textbook includes formative assessments like mini-quizzes that helped teachers assess where individual students were when they entered our classrooms.” By two weeks into the school year, teachers were able to get a clear picture on each student’s ability, enabling them to tailor learning to meet individual student needs.

Yet as amazing as the new textbook might be, learning in the mathematics classroom is not contained by that one resource. Teachers are using resources like Moodle and Edmodo to extend learning, creating pencasts and video lectures of what they cover in class, sharing useful sites and resources, and having discussion forums and chats about homework or upcoming tests. Students are also using Gizmos, an interactive online simulation tool that, as the site explains, “helps students develop a deep understanding of challenging concepts through inquiry and exploration.” In short, the range of learning opportunities is varied and extensive, enabling to teachers to reach all types of learners.

What is the impact of all this on students? Ms. Crisafulli glows as describes how much more engaged her students are in the 1-1 classroom environment. She adds, “They absolutely love having their computers. The ease with which students can access all kinds of resources is amazing.” In particular, Crisafulli has been impressed at the speed with which this year’s freshman are learning responsibility and the value of time management. “They are really getting it,” she remarks, “and it’s only one month into the school year. Freshman are figuring out that they need to focus on getting their work done, and if they do that efficiently there will be time left over to play.”

Wanelo, anyone?