Technology Resources at the Lakewood Public Library
Technology Center
Browse the web, research a term paper, write a letter, or connect with friends through e-mail or MySpace. It’s all available on public computers at the Main Library or the Madison Branch. In addition, the excellent library staff is there to answer questions and offer technical help. There is no need to call ahead to reserve computer time. Through Envisionware software, patrons use their Lakewood Library cards to sign on to one of 60 public terminals available at the Main Library or six at the Madison Branch. Patrons must be in good standing (no fines over $10) and should bring a photo ID if they do not know the Personal Identification Number (PIN) associated with their library card.
Even if you choose to go online at home, the library is always a good source of information. With high quality databases and services like Know It Now, home users can access the vast resources of Ohio libraries through Lakewood Library’s home page. Type lakewoodpubliclibrary.com into your address bar to get to the library’s home page. From there, you can do research through the Ohio Web Library, get connected to many local school and community web sites or search the library’s catalog for a book or movie. For parents, click on the link to “Children’s and Youth Services” for up-to-date information on story times and other library events for kids.
Computer Connections: For you and your child age 3-5
Sign up for an eight-week, self-guided introduction course to the world of CD-ROM games that are fun and educational. To register, stop by the Computer Connections Room at the Main Library.
TEKTURNS: For children age 3 and up
Sign-up to use the Computer Connections Room at the Main Library for one hour and choose from over 200 games. Children under 6 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Stop in or call (216)226-8275, ext. 140 to schedule your hour. Hours: Monday – Friday 9 a.m. – noon and 2:30 – 8:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – noon and 2 – 5 p.m., Sunday 1 – 5 p.m.
KID KIOSKS: For children up to age 6
Babies, toddlers and preschoolers can play fun and educational computer games designed just for them. Children must be accompanied by an adult. No reservations needed. Kid Kiosks are available daily until 8:30 p.m. in the Main Library Children's Department and the Madison Branch.
LearningExpress Library
Using their Lakewood Public Library Card, students can access the LearningExpress Library pages in the library or from home. They have Learning Centers for students in elementary school through college prepratory. Each of their Learning Centers offers the practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, and information students need to achieve desired results.
College Preparation
The resources below offer the preparation tools and tips every college-bound high school student needs for a smooth and successful admissions process.
Technology Classes Offered by theLakewood Recreation Department
One thing that sets Lakewood apart from surrounding communities is the diverse, affordable programming offered through our recreation department. Among the many youth programs offered each session, computer-related courses include:
A fashion design class where students can see their fashion ideas come to life using computer tools and software
An animation workshop where students use animation software to create, produce and direct their own Stop Motion and computer-generated animations
A digital music mixing class where students create their own professional DJ mixes, choosing from an expansive library of instruments and sounds
A video game design class where students design, create and edit their own arcade-style video game, and more!
For more information about current course offerings for youth, call 216/529-4081 or visit www.lakewoodrecreation.com.
Parent's Guide to MySpace, FaceBook, and Other Social Networking Sites
You may hear your teens and pre-teens talking about their accounts on MySpace (www.myspace.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com) Star Doll (www.stardoll.com) or even Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com/) and wonder what the attraction is to such sites. Online dangers are real, but are these social networking sites anything to worry about?
If you're curious about Club Penguin, a popular social networking site aimed at kids ages 6 to 14, read about one mother’s journey as a member of this site at www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/activities/undercover-club-penguin. She gives you the lowdown on both the good and the bad of life as a virtual penguin.
Social Networking on the World Wide Web
Social networking websites are now being used regularly by millions of people. A social network is an online community of people who share information about themselves in order to connect with other people. MySpace and Facebook are the most widely used in North America.
Terms for Parents: Homepage: The main page of a person’s account. Usually they can see the most recent activities of their friends on this page, such as pictures added, messages received, etc.
Profile Page: Where a person puts up information about himself.
Friending: Your child can “friend” other people, which means that both users then have access to each others’ profile pages and allows messages to be sent back and forth.
Wall or Bulletin Board: Someone can post a message on another person’s profile. The place they post their comments is usually called a wall. These messages are accessible to any “friend” of that user.
Application: Facebook has applications people can add to their profile that allow them to take actions like send someone a virtual hug, virtual flowers, etc.
News Feed: A place on a person’s profile where they get instant updates about what their friends are doing online, in their lives or on the site.
Why kids use social networking sites: To Connect: Social networks are a great way to make friends with similar interests, and news feeds and instant messaging allow them to “talk” to each other from remote locations.
Social Planning: It is incredibly easy to plan parties and events on these sites, and many people will plan, invite, and even send thank you notes all on one site.
To Stay Plugged-In: Teens can keep up-to-date on their interests. For example, if they join a group on Facebook about environmental issues, they can get short updates every day on any news from across the web that their environmental friends post.
To Share: People can tell others about their recent news, or share pictures, videos and accomplishments.
Expression: It’s a way to broadcast emotions or opinions. Many teens use MySpace and social networking sites to journal or just to rant and get their feelings out the same way someone might write in a diary or talk to a friend.
Social Networking Concerns
MySpace has been around since 2003, and by now many people have heard of the danger of sexual predators and the virtual bad behavior exhibited on some profile pages. If you Google “Dangers +MySpace,” almost two million results will pop up. So what should parents watch out for?
Many teens feel invincible or anonymous on a social networking site, not realizing that information they post is not private. Information on these websites is available for anyone to see. Even if a poster allows access only to selected friends, the information is still out there in people’s homes and on public terminals. Once information is posted online, technically it is public information. It is also extremely easy to hide your real identity on these sites; this is where the concern over predators arises.
Parents can get caught off-guard because their child chooses not to tell them of their activities online. It is important to make an effort to look at your child’s profile and monitor their online activities for many reasons, not just to avoid their “meeting” someone unsuitable online.
Embarrassing photos, bad grammar, and nonprofessional appearance may be looked upon negatively by potential employers. Employers using these sites to check out applicants have access to things that they would otherwise not have access to when looking at a resume – ethnicity, age, marital status, extracurricular activities and lifestyle.
It's a bad idea to post dicey photos or racy prose on social networking sites, no matter how private teens may think they are. According to a 2008 Kaplan study, one in 10 college admissions officers routinely check out college applicants’ Facebook and MySpace pages. And some 38% of them found posts and pictures that reflected poorly on those prospective students.
Should you allow your child to go on MySpace? Some things to consider:
Social networking is not going away. If it’s not MySpace, it is going to be Facebook or Friendster, or any number of such sites widely known to our children. Increasingly, students need to become aware of how to create a public persona and learn how to present themselves appropriately and participate effectively in an online community.
As they grow older, your child will not need your permission to open an account. As long as your child is living under your roof, you can monitor their activities on the computer. You have an opportunity to teach them what proper and improper use of the internet is. Teach your children to be smart on social networking sites. Do not specify a place of employment, list a schedule of your plans, or give away information such as your last name, address or phone number. Most people on Myspace and other social networking sites are not dangerous, but the less information the bad people have, the more power and safety you will have.
You can use MySpace as a teaching tool to instill in your child the values of decency and modesty. Instead of merely talking about the bad stuff that goes on in the world, you can point out why they should not click on strangers' profiles and flashing banners. Tell them that online interactions must be approached with at least the same amount of care as face-to-face interactions. You can sit at the computer with a social networking site open and explain why they should not accept people they do not know personally as “friends” to view their profile. You could also explain to them why they might want to delete comments with cuss words in them or avoid posting photos that reflect negatively on them.
Parent's Guide to YouTube
YouTube is a website where people can watch and share original videos worldwide. People upload video clips on www.youtube.com and then share them across the Internet through other websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email. Many people watch videos on YouTube to see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. People may use YouTube simply for watching videos or they may choose to make and upload their own. Politicians have used YouTube to distribute information to voters. Businesses and organizations like libraries use the service to get advertising and information to the public. (For example, you can visit www.youtube.com/wgolpl to view Lakewood Public Library’s collection of news, information, musical highlights and funny videos.)
Many teens and pre-teens spend time viewing YouTube videos and sharing them with friends via e-mail. Some even make their own videos and upload them to YouTube for public viewing. As a parent concerned about safety, the main thing to consider is that there are very few limitations placed upon the videos that are posted on YouTube. Therefore, someone looking at YouTube may run into explicit or violent videos without much warning. This is something that as adults we will need to monitor for our children and our teens.
Reasons kids use YouTube:
Expression: It is a way to broadcast feelings, emotion, points of view or opinions. People use YouTube to journal or just to rant and get their feelings out the same way someone might write in a diary or talk to a friend.
Ease of Explanation: It is often much easier to verbally explain something than it is to do it in writing. Many businessmen, teachers, bloggers or average people will use YouTube to verbally explain something and then send it to their friends/colleagues/students etc.
Entertainment: People just love to watch other people’s funny videos, and it’s a way to see bizarre, different and unique things beyond your everyday experience.
Creativity: Making videos, watching videos and editing videos can be really fun.
Communication: YouTube is a unique view into other people’s lives. People can communicate to their friends, as well as strangers, anything they want about themselves. Youth often use it to present themselves in a way that represents how they want the outside world to perceive them.
Socialization: YouTube is a very active community. Many users share videos, post responses to each other’s videos and ‘friend’ each other on YouTube.
Here are some things parents should know about YouTube:
YouTube is public, so anyone can see the videos that your child may post
Anyone, for the most part, can post a video
There is violence in some of the videos
There are some sexually explicit videos
There are some videos that contain animal abuse
Teens have been known to record violence solely for the purpose of posting it on YouTube
Using YouTube can present issues concerning privacy invasion
Using YouTube can present issues concerning copyright infringement
Here are some guidelines and strategies that you can discuss with your child to make sure that their experience on YouTube is a positive and safe one:
Stay Annonomous: Recommend that your child does not use their real name and personal information if they post a video. Caution your child against allowing other YouTube users to contact them in real life.
Talk About Permanence: talk to your kids about the fact that anyone can see these videos, and once they put a video up on YouTube they can never really undo that decision. Yes, they can take the video down, but while it’s up, someone could download that video onto their own computer and email it, repost it, put it on their website, etc.
Check Their Privacy Settings: You can make sure to set-up the privacy settings on your child’s YouTube account. Have them login, click “My Account” and change everything on their profile so it is not visible to strangers. Agree on a policy with your child about whether or not they can post their own videos, make friends YouTube, etc.
Monitor What They Watch: If you're concerned about what your child or teen might see, let them know what you find innapropriate, communicate your expectations, have the computer in an open, public part of your home where your entire family hangs out, and monitor what they watch.
Don't Take What Isn't Yours: Talk to your child about copyright infringement and that there are laws about what they can use when creating video.
If There's a Problem, Eliminate the Source: Though it’s always best to discuss and agree upon what’s acceptable or not acceptable use with your child, if you find they’re posting videos against your wishes, you can always take away the video camera or disable the webcam. Without a way to create videos, your child cannot post them for all to see.
Do you have a great family-related resource, event or tidbit of information that you want to tell us about?
Submissions for the Lakewood Public Library Parent Pages can be emailed to akloss@lkwdpl.org
