Hot Stuff: Media for Educators
G-rated search, a browser for autistic children, free online ecology and alternative-energy games, electronic science labs, and a new, affordable, lightweight PC.
by Edutopia Staff
Credit: William Duke
Red Zebra and ZAC kid-friendly Web browsers
Free
A search engine that filters smut? You bet. Red Zebra assures parents of early readers that their little one's search for, say, a unicorn image brings up only G-rated sites. Results are presented like a fan with images of each screen, so your child can scroll through and click on the site that offers the closest match. Another new kid-friendly technology is the ZAC browser. ZAC (Zone for Autistic Children) is developed specifically for children with autism and autism-spectrum disorders. It allows the child to interact with and play the many games and activities, as well as experience independence using it. ZAC also offers a forum for teachers, parents, and caretakers to share resources.
Credit: William Duke
PowerUp
Free
Save the planet Helios from ecological disaster and SmogGobs in PowerUp, a free online game that draws an emotional connection to our newly refreshed ecological awareness. The three-dimensional game, from IBM's TryScience initiative, is designed to engage students in learning about engineering and energy while trying to supply solar, wind, and water power before an ecological disaster hits. PowerUp offers classroom lesson plans that cover energy transformation, as well as an interactive module so students learn about the technologies required to build virtual worlds.
Credit: William Duke
eScience Labs
Prices vary
Kids, you can try this at home. Kits from eScience Labs are a series of labs that contain virtually everything needed to complete an entire series of experiments -- with the exception, perhaps, of an egg or a plump piece of fruit. These experiments are designed specifically for use by homeschoolers or distance learners but are great for any class. The biology kit, for example, includes high-definition images instead of expensive slides and a microscope, and still offers hands-on exercises. Registered students get the benefit of video introductions, interactive animations, and supplementary course material. New lab kits are continually in development.
Credit: William Duke
HP Mini-Note PC
$499
Those with shrinking school budgets should find the new Mini-Note PC laptop an affordable alternative to the standard PC setup. Weighing in at less than 3 pounds, the full-function PC is small enough to fit in student backpacks without causing shoulder strain. Multimedia tools, as well as wireless and security capabilities, make it easy for students to work in class, on a field trip, or at the kitchen table.
With this notebook, HP also plans to provide free, online professional-development courses for teachers. Other features include a keyboard with a special coating to protect the finish from spills, and a drive protector that shuts down the hard drive if sudden movement or shock is detected -- both perfect for the student user.
This article was also published in the June 2008 issue of Edutopia magazine .
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Redzone
I was very disappointed when I used the kid friendly search engine Red Zebra. The first search I did was on “ocean”. The results included a website for Ocean Vodka. The results also returned pictures from Flickr. Some of the Flickr pictures were not appropriate for a school setting. This is definitely not a search engine I would use with students. I do not feel the results were “G” rated.
Red Zebra Web browser is not 100%
Red Zebra is not 100% effective, but is good.
RedZee, Ocean search?
Did you happen to notice all the other positive sites that came up with Ocean? Some of the things we should be doing is teaching kids that with any search using good keywords, often the first 4-5 sites are enough. You can go deeper within those first few sites to get a lot of good info.
The trick is to ask for more specific words, other than "ocean." That's way too broad of a topic.
I like RedZee for all my kids as it as a visual component to it. And I do teach them about how to perform searches.
You don't like it? Don't use it. I think it's GREAT!
Red Zebra search engine
There is no clue from Redzee that their search engine is safe for kids. Why don't try http://kigose.com ? The layout is not as nice as redzee though. It's known as school search engine. They also have citation builder, but not that complete. They only want to introduce kids with copyright policy.