Ho-Ho-Kus November 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 District plans December BYOD program rollout Monday, Dec. 2 is the target rollout date for the “bring your own device” program at the Ho-Ho-Kus K-8 Public School. Commonly known as BYOD, the program will allow students to use their own technology devices, includ- ing laptops, tablets, and e-readers, during school hours for approved educational purposes. Ho-Ho-Kus Superintendent Deborah Ferrara explained that the plan is to have BYOD available to the entire eighth grade next month. If the initial plan is a success, she said, the staff would look into offering the program to the entire middle school population. Last week, Ferrara said a letter would be going home in anticipation of the eighth grade rollout. She pointed out that permission slips must be in order, and students and parents must become familiar with the expectations for use of per- sonal technology within the school. Daniel Cazes, the director of technology Ho-Ho-Kus shares with the Upper Saddle River School District, has been working to set the stage for BYOD. In a previous inter- view, Cazes explained that the initial step was the introduc- tion of a common platform: Google Apps for Education. This platform, which has been in place since last year, is a free Web-based office suite that includes e-mail and col- laboration applications designed exclusively for schools and universities. Google Apps for Education is not tied to Windows, Macintosh, or a specific piece of hardware. The Google Apps for Education website indicates that more than 14 million students and teachers now use this system, including those at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Westminster. The website also states that this platform allows people to study together in real time and across distances. Users control their own data, Ho-Ho-Kus children are invited to participate in a Scavenger Hunt sponsored by the Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce. The event will be in progress from Nov. 25 through Dec. 2, and will require participants to answer a list of questions pertaining to local businesses. Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce Vice President Kelly Velasquez noted that the hunt will provide exposure for local businesses that choose to take part in the event, and three local children who answer all of the questions correctly will win prizes for their effort. Velasquez explained that the public school will be hand- ing out the list of questions to interested students. Ques- tions, she said, might include the colors that appear on a business’ logo. The Chamber also reported that this year, for the first time, the Ho-Ho-Kus Tree Lighting will be held on a week- day evening – Friday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. – when the borough’s businesses will be open. The ceremony will take place at the tree near Ho-Ho-Kus Borough Hall, which is located at 333 Warren Avenue. This annual event will be a collaborative effort by the Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber, the Girl Scouts, the fire depart- ment, and the ambulance corps. Santa will be on hand, and the fire department and ambulance corps will be supply- ing seasonal treats. Hot chocolate and s’mores are on the menu. The Dec. 6 festivities will also include a Gingerbread House Contest for local children. This contest is being handled by the Girl Scouts. Children are invited to enter a gingerbread creation to be judged. All are welcome. Remember to dress for the weather and bring a camera! by Jennifer Crusco Scavenger Hunt, Tree Lighting set Google Apps backs up the information, and everything is automatically saved in the cloud; that is, the platform is 100 percent Web-powered. E-mails, documents, calendars, and other information can be accessed and edited on a wide variety of mobile devices or tablets. In the spring, Ho-Ho-Kus worked on getting students onto the system on a small scale. Individual students received access to the platform at the request of a teacher. This was done as a trial or for special needs, Cazes explained. Preparations for BYOD also involved the improvement of the infrastructure so it would be able to handle an increase in users. This included an upgrade of the school’s network and the addition of wireless access points within the build- ing. Cazes said a password will be required to access the system. The school will have a secure wireless network that can only be accessed by computers and devices owned by Ho-Ho-Kus, with a guest network for students. Although students will have access to the Internet for research purposes, users will not be able to access websites with undesirable content. The BYOD policy states that teaching staff members, “in considering the use of privately-owned technology, will ensure such approval does not provide any advantage or benefit to the pupil who owns such technology over the (continued on page 8)