Cyber Cadets

A new version of The Teacher’s Companion is now available! The latest version offers 13 lesson starters to help you teach online safety in the classroom with Carnegie Cadets: The MySecureCyberspace Game. The topics include malware, protecting personal information, identifying reputable websites, piracy and newly added lessons about cyberbullying and cell phones.

Please visit http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/classroomMaterials.html to view and download your copy of The Teacher’s Companion.

As always you can learn more about online safety and the Carnegie Cadets at www.carnegiecyberacademy.com.

This resource is available via The Librarian’s Brain – Games page.

National Safety Month

Exploring national safety issues and investigating ways to safeguard our homes, communities and roads .

The National Safety Council, established in 1913, is an organization devoted to saving lives and preventing injuries at home, in workplaces, in communities and on the roads.

Each June, the National Safety Council sponsors National Safety Month, in which a key safety issue is highlighted each week. In 2010, safety themes of National Safety Month include prescription drug overdose, teen driving, overexertion, using a cell phone while driving, and summer safety.

Learn more about these and other safety concerns in SIRS Knowledge Source articles and Web sites such as:

ARTICLES

1. National Standards Sought for Teen Drivers

2. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Joins Oprah for ‘No Phone Zone Day’ to End Distracted Driving

3. Makers Are Pushing Back on Toxic-Toy Law

4. A Pill Problem

5. Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Dashboard

WEB SITE

Household Products Database

Free Books to Download to Your Cell Phone!

Our library’s download service eBooks to Go (OverDrive) just became even more portable with the release of OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile. Now you can wirelessly download audiobooks, music, and video to your Windows Mobile phone from the library’s download website eBooks to Go and play the titles with the same superior navigation features of OverDrive’s desktop software.

The free OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile application also works with dozens of other Windows Mobile phones. You can find a list of compatible devices can be found on the Windows Mobile website.

And don’t think that OverDrive is going to stop with OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile. This digital book application is just the first in a series of releases for mobile devices that will expand mobility and access to library downloads. They are actively developing additional apps for other platforms. (As soon as we have more news, you’ll hear about it right here.) For now, you can add the  Windows Mobile phone console and begin downloading for free from the library anywhere you have phone reception.

Download OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile.

Twit, eMail, Texting – Effective Communications?

Exploring technologies that have advanced and enhanced effective communications.

Effective communication is the basis of education, commerce and relationships. Burgeoning technologies facilitate communication between teacher and student, between company and customer, and among friends.

Email, text messaging, cell phones and social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become effective resources for the swift and successful transmission of information and ideas.

The month of June is Effective Communications Month and an opportune time to explore communications technologies and the significant ways they have impacted our world. Use these articles from SIRS Knowledge Source and a website to get you started exploring:

ARTICLES

1. Politicians Using Twitter in Growing Numbers

2. How the Lowly Text Message May Save Languages

3. Online Confession

4. No-Paper Newspaper

5. More Police Get Text-Message Tip Lines

WEB SITE

Light Speed