PTA Technology Corner

We hope over the past school year we’ve been able to educate or at least enlighten each of you with respect to technology and your children. We’ve also spent time providing advice on to how to keep your children and your computer safe. To round out the school year, we thought it would be best to give each of you a little homework - we’ll call it a technology to do list - and we encourage you to take each seriously:

Browse Safer
Stop using Internet Explorer. Make the switch and download Firefox. It’s safer, updated more frequently, and more compliant. A new version of IE is coming out (currently in beta) but when we actually see the final version along with the delivery of the next Windows operating system, Vista, this is a great place to begin. And check right now - do you have an anti-virus program running? Is your firewall turned on?

Time to Switch
Ok, call me biased, but if you’re trying to avoid viruses, spam, pop-up windows, etc. don’t just upgrade the browser, switch to a Mac. I use Windows, Macs and Unix almost everyday - and it’s no contest. The price is right, the speed is right, the software is there and the support is the industry’s best. Go visit an Apple store and stop worrying anymore.

PLOS
Start using Instant Messaging with your children, friends, colleagues, neighbors (ok, maybe not your neighbors - spend some time on the porch with them instead It’s easy, fun and you’ll start to understand why kids use it so much these days. Oh, and by the way, PLOS stands for “Parent Looking Over Shoulder” - got to know this stuff folks!

The New Radio
Did you know that there are now over 60,000 “shows” available for free to download to your computer when they are available for you to listen to when you’re available? They’re called “podcasts” and they are starting to chip away from radio listenership. To get started, download iTunes at iTunes.com. Click on the Music Store and then the Podcasts items. Search for your hobbies, sports teams, your alma mater. And you don’t need an iPod to listen to them either (but it doesn’t hurt).

And Finally …
Know what your kids are doing on MySpace and other social networks. Read this article in Information Week. It’s not all that bad, but needs your attention. Want to learn more, read “Protecting Teens Online,” a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. 73% of families have their computer in a public place in their home. Where’s your computer? 64% of parents set rules about their children’s time on the computer including when and where they can go online. 79% of teens (not parents) think teens are not careful enough when giving out information online. Some basic structure can go along way to protecting your children online and make it a very useful medium in their lives.

And keep the conversation going over the summer. We’ll be here and we’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on that you need to know about at the PTA Technology Corner!