PC Maintenance

Hardware vs Software Firewalls

Firewalls are extremely important to keeping your PC’s safe. There are two main types which you can get - Hardware and Software and there is a difference between them. Hardware firewalls are contained in your router. These help to keep your computer invisible on the internet and block traffic which you didnt originate. Software firewalls have to be installed onto your computer and often come with securtiy suites. Software firewalls also block outbound traffic. Surprisingly, the Windows firewall is an exception to this rule. It is highly recommended that if you have a high speed internet connection then you should have both a Hardware and Software firewall. I was very interested to examine these topics and I shall be looking at what Firewalls we have in place at school as I now wish to develop my understanding of firewalls, so much so that I chose another Firewall tutorial.

Explaining what Firewalls Do and Do not do.

Hardware firewalls DO not prevent virus installations. There is always a good chance that you can download a virus which is disguised as something else. Also, Hardware Firewalls do not block spam emails or attachments, these could also be viruses. In addition these firewalls also do not stop you spreading viruses. It is interesting to see just how much hardware firewalls DO not do. On the other hand, Software firewalls tell you when software is trying to access the internet or when something is trying to get into your computer. They are a second line of defense. This tutorial extended my understanding of Firewalls. It made it very clear what they each do and enhanced my understanding of why we really need them both.

Following a PC Maintenance checklist

The tutorial gave a very practical guide which users should do monthly to keep their computers out of trouble. These tips included, checking for updates (manually too), updating security software, defragmenting disks for longer life, use PC Pitstop, msconfig to speed up your computer, running a clean up utility and backing up everything you have. It really struck me how slack I am at doing this. When I consider how much work I do on my computer and how valuable it is, I should spend the time to go through this check list once a month... If not all of them, then definitely try to back up.

RSS 2

It has been really great getting back into using Google Reader again. As i mentioned in an earlier post, I had kind of 'neglected' this fantastic tool before starting CEP 810.

An earlier assignment for my PLN visualisation had made me realise what an important part of my PLN this is. David Warlick referred to it as Dynamically Maintained Asynchronous Connections, in other words, an RSS aggregator is at the core of your PLN and should be used to bring us information that helps us to complete our jobs. I have really enjoyed using my Google Reader in this way. To me it has really added value to my current PLN. I have been checking the blogs which I am subscribed to every other day and discovering some excellent material as a result. I have also added the RSS Subscription Extension to Google Chrome. This has allowed me to easily add more blogs to my reader.

Although I have gained a lot of information from the blogs on my reader, there is one that i have really enjoyed. Free Technology for Teachers is a fantastic blog and has many superb posts during the week. The blog offers a range of tips/ advice and guides on a range of Educational Technology topics. The posts are always well written and I have found myself using alot of this information to enhance my teaching and the jobs I do. Another blog I have recently subscribed to is the Docs Blog which provides the latest news on Google Docs and sites from the Docs team. I am really enjoying extending my knowledge of Google Apps, particularly examining how they can be used to enhance education and I am finding many of their posts extremely beneficial.

I have often discussed ways in which colleagues can develop their own Personal Learning Networks and it is not until now that I have added an RSS reader to the tool box. They are valuable tools which every teacher should have.

Getting Things Done

I remember a number of years ago, panicking on a Friday afternoon as I had not finished all my tasks for that week. My Head of School, saw me and asked what I was doing... I told her that I was trying to finish my tasks for that week and she said "A teachers job is never done...". Although she may have been right, there are times (and many of them) when we have to get the job done.

Social Networking

Social Networks have seen a huge explosion over recent years. Many of our students are on Facebook and are more than familiar at using these tools to develop and extend their own networks. Educators have seen this rise in Social Networking amongst their student bodies and have looked at how they can use them to benefit education. The different ways in which educators are using Social Networks is growing all the time.


Currently, my Social Networks consist of Twitter, Technology Integration Ning, Classroom 2.0 Ning, Educators 2.0 Ning, Facebook and Google Plus. They are all valuable and offer benefits to many areas of my life, learning and development. 


Google+ has got me excited and is the network I am most interested in developing. The main thing I like about Google+ is the idea of circles and being able to decide which of my circle/groups see which of my feeds. I have separate circles for educators, family and friends outside of education. I can easily filter which information goes to each group. This feature allows me great control over the types of information i am releasing. The Huddle is another area I can see benefitting educators. Huddles allow multiple groups to video conference. In terms of collaboration I can see this having a huge impact. 


Although there has been resistance, in some schools, to students using Social Networking as part of their educational tool kit, I feel that schools must start to open up. When we examine how many of our students are using these networks, it would be verging on naive not to use them in the classroom.