Prior to being issued a Chromebook and a Google account, students will all sign a district AUP form (AUP in Russian) (AUP in Spanish). They will also need to follow the district technology use guidelines which are summarized on that form. A more detailed version is available below.

KSD Technology Use Guidelines.

Kelso is a GSuite District. 

To know more about this program and how we are using it in Kelso, refer to this document.  For more information on Google’s policies please refer to this website: 

Student Technology Instruction

Secondary Tech Plan- Our plan outlines how we utilize our 6th and 9th grade computer courses to ensure Kelso students are technologically literate.

Other Webtools

In addition to Google Tools and adopted curriculum, Kelso teachers might also use the following tools. Click the links to view their privacy policies.

Class Dojo
Edpuzzle
Formative
Kami
Khan Academy
Newsela
Peardeck
Read and Write for Google
ReadTheory
Readworks
Padlet
Screencastify
Seesaw

Tech Documents

✨All About AI✨

Staff AI Resources

Staff Technology Documents

Kelso Tech eBoard

Professional Social Media Form

Parent/Community Social Media Form

Secondary Tech Plan

Website Worth Sharing Blog

Tech Support (Tech Request Site)

Family Online Safety Institute: Digital Parenting

Connect Safely: Parent Guides

The Smart Talk: Setting Smartphone ground rules

Safe Search Kids

Google's Family Link app provides parents with useful tools designed to keep children safe. Visit THIS SITE to see how they have updated the app to provide even more features than before. The app can be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices, or used on the web. School Chromebooks are managed by the district. This one app controls screentime, provides activity reports, reports location and more.For more information, check out this site https://families.google/familylink/.

Click here to read an article published by Common Sense Media about Safety, Security and Privacy.

As part of the district’s “Career, College, and Community Ready” goal, our students will be utilizing Google Drive accounts that allow them to produce, share, and easily access assignments, documents and projects using online tools.

Google Drive provides free word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software that students can use to create documents from any computer that has Internet access.  The district has its own Google Drive portal that allows for the creation of accounts for our students. These are not to be treated as private accounts, but are provided for the purpose of school related work and communications. The benefit of Google Drive is that students will have access to their documents both at home and school on any computer that has access to the Internet. In addition to familiar tools like Google Drive, Classroom, Keep, and Sites, middle school and high school students will also have active Gmail accounts that can be used for school related purposes. We are using a monitoring tool called Bark that alerts us to inappropriate or dangerous content. Flagged activity will be reviewed and followed up on if needed. We encourage you to discuss with your child how he/she is using Google Drive in school.

Check out this article at Common Sense Media. It highlights some great tools the you can use to monitor and control cell phone use. This site also has good information on apps to look out for on children's phones.

Interested in reading more about screen time with kids? Check out these articles-

• Cyberbullying – American Academy of Pediatrics

• Mobile screens: Do they really turn your kids’ brains to mush? –

• Blame Society, Not the Screen Time – NY Times

• How much screen time is ok for my kids – Common Sense Media

• Screen time and Children – US National Library of Medicine

• Kids And Screen Time: What Does The Research Say? – NPR

• 6 Online Use Assumptions that Miss the Mark- Article by Laura Yuen

Do you have a hard time getting kids to put down the screens and go outside? How about a compromise. This article on showcases apps that help kids get out into the great outdoors.

Apps that Inspire Kids to Go Outside

Parenting today’s tech savvy kids can seem overwhelming. But you can do it! Take these seven simple, though still challenging steps, to becoming a digital parent.

7 Steps to Good Digital Parenting

Many students have their own Smart-phones or tablets and are often ahead of their parents in the use of the most current apps. Some apps are educational, fun, or helpful, but you should be watchful for apps that set students up for bullying or secretive uses. This article shares about 6 apps that you should watch out for including 2 that appear to be simple could be hiding sensitive images.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/04/19/underground-apps-students/?all

If you are  for inexpensive Internet access for your family, you might want to check out Comcast’s Internet Essentials program which provides Internet access for some families for as low as $9.99 a month.

In Kelso School District, the active and appropriate use of technology permeates the learning, teaching, managing, and support environments.

As the students and staff of Kelso Public Schools effectively use technology, our students emerge as:

• Discriminating selectors of technology tools

  • Information navigators

• Critical thinkers and analyzers

• Effective communicators

• Better citizens, workers, learners, community members, and family members

From the Kelso Public Schools2013-16 Technology Plan.

Technology Integration Specialist
Brenda Sargent