Reed Unveils State Program for Internet Safety

Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Suellen Reed offered help for parents and teachers trying to safeguard children from the growing threat of Internet predators. Education and public health officials, representing the Indiana State Library and the Indiana State Medical Alliance joined the Superintendent as she made her announcement.

“The Internet is a powerful tool,” said Merle Gruesser, ENA. “As with any tool, we must teach children how to use it safely.” Recent statistics show these alarming statistics: 14 percent of 13-17 year olds have actually met face-to-face with a person they had only known online (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006); 27 percent of youth said they have talked with an online stranger about sex; 34 percent were exposed to unwanted sexual material (Polly Klaas Foundation 2006), and 9 percent are victims of online harassment (University of New Hampshire 2006).

The Coalition also offers at no cost an online Parent Resource Center at iKeepSafe.org where parents and teachers will find technical help, teaching tools, and critical resources that will help them protect children, such as Family Fun Lessons, Symantec’s flash tutorial, The 10 ‘MUST KNOW’ Actions that Will Help You Protect Your Family, and an Internet safety video library.

I have reviewed the materials on this site and found them very useful, exciting for kids, and relevant to current issues with Internet Safety. Please share this website with your parents and teachers.

For the IDOE Media Release, go to http://www.doe.state.in.us/reed/newsr/2006/10-October/ikeepsafe2.html.

A Very Busy Week for Allen County

Wow! I'm excited to report that we've had a very full week of interactive videoconferences in Allen County, Indiana! In this one week, ACELINK has supported four videoconferences, impacting 10 teachers and hundreds of students.

Today alone (Friday), we had the IPFW Virtual Town Hall meeting with 7 interactive locations, a virtual field trip at Leo and another at Portage Middle School. The Virtual Town Hall meeting featured the three candidates for Allen County Sheriff, and we originated from IPFW's Division of Continuing Studies' conference room. The candidates were excited about the technology and did a great job of speaking with Andy Downs, session moderator. They answered a dozen questions from students at the six high schools that participated: Anthis, Dwenger, Elmhurst, Harding, Leo, and Snider.

During the Virtual Town Hall meeting, several websites were given for students to use for researching each candidate and their voter registration status. Here are the links if you'd like to follow up on the discussion:

- Ken Fries
- PJ Smith
- Tina Taviano
- Indiana Voter Registration System

Our thanks and gratitude go to many who helped make this week successful. We're making a difference in our schools with the ACELINK project, and I'm honored to be part of this group.

Conference Attendees View Surgery with ACELINK

The 2006 Business & Education Summit on October 10 was a huge success. Twenty-four high school teams plus business and higher education leaders were all in attendance to learn how we can partner together to prepare tomorrow's workforce. I had the honor of participating on the planning committee for this event and demonstrating ACELINK videoconferencing.

With the very generous effort of Dr. Geoffrey M. Randolph, board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Fort Wayne, we were able to connect the Summit attendees to Lutheran Hospital's OR Suite to see Dr. Randolph and his team in surgery. We connected to Dr. Randolph via IP videoconferencing, which allowed both our audience and the surgical staff to see and talk to each other in real time. Teachers in the audience had a first-hand demonstration of how two-way interactive videoconferencing can bring the outside world (or the inner world of a clinical setting) into their classrooms.

I also appreciate the support of Lutheran Hospital's IT staff and administration, as well as the fantastic support of the Grand Wayne's IT staff and Stan Adams, Indiana Data Center president and ACELINK partner.

Lindley Elementary Kids Connect Beyond Classroom

Lindley Elementary Kids Connect Beyond Classroom
Originally uploaded by sschaufe.

On Tuesday, October 4, art students from Lindley Elementary in Fort Wayne, Indiana made a videoconference connection with the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This program was provided by ACELINK, the broadband coordinator for the Allen County schools.

Lindley 5th graders designed an art project based on using geometric figures and problem solving skills for this project. They were able to talk with a docent from the museum and show their work for a critique and discussion. They also saw an original art work at the Museum by Sol Lewitt, the artist that they based their work on for this event.

Barb Kuntz, art teacher at Lindley, participated in the program to bring the museum experts into her classroom without the expense of travel.