"853,478,157 RECORDS BREACHED," in 2014-2015 among education (K-16) entities (check list at bottom of this blog post). There are a LOT more breaches, though. Ever since I began working in a large urban school district many years ago, and even after I left, I've asked myself, "Why don't we have a consistent procedure for safeguarding sensitive data?" This concern came to a head several times, as I became aware of efforts to cover up the problem.The first was from parents who had stumbled onto their child's confidential school records...district information techs worked frantically to remove the "breach" of confidential data from public view. Somehow, an Excel spreadsheet had found its way online, posted to a web site, containing confidential data. Another time, the data had been in a secretary's notebook that fell out of her purse on the way to her car and was lost. Or, a staff member who left an unencrypted laptop that was stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked in his driveway. I was already aware of campus principals who carried treasure troves of personally identifiable information on their external USB hard drives because they feared having anything on their "work laptop," for fear they might lose access to it and all their hard work.In each of these scenarios, I remember asking, "Why can't we use free, open source encryption solutions to safeguard data? Why can't we provide training?" The answer was always the same--"We need an enterprise level solution. If we show people how to encrypt data, then when the District needs to access that encrypted data, we will have to ask them to give us their encryption key or password. What if the person is disgruntled or departing staff member?"Of course, you'll pay an arm and a leg for "enterprise level solutions"...and encryption is everyone's business. I remember when one district staff member left the District in question. She made sure to backup all her data--presumably, confidential data--to her external USB drive (unencrypted), then deleted it from her Windows laptop. It didn't matter that we could access her laptop...the data was gone and it would have taken special software to "un-delete" the data...a job easier said than done.MAKE A DIFFERENCEIn this easy to edit GoogleDoc, Safeguarding Sensitive Data: Data Breach Prevention and Response Plan, I encourage you to review this hodge-podge of ideas and tips and make improvements that we all can share and take advantage of.SCHOOL DATA BREACH EXAMPLES via PrivacyRights.orgDate Made PublicNameEntityTypeTotal RecordsJuly 2, 2015Bonita Unified School DistrictSan Dimas, CaliforniaEDUHACKUnknownThe Bonita Unified School District notified parents and students of a breach when unauthorized access was discovered at San Dimas High School server.On June 2, 2015 the district discovered the unauthorized access to the high school's student database and noticed that several students grades had been changed. The district believes that the individual (s) that changed the grades also downloaded personal information of students.The information compromised included names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, medical information, the school's systems usernames and passwords, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.The district is providing 12 months free of ProtectMyID Alert from Experian for those affected. Those with questions can call 1-909-971-8320 and ask for Donna Martin at ext. 5201 Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Pacific Time.More Information: http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-56705Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0July 2, 2015Harvard UniversityCambridge, MassachusettsEDUHACKUnknownHarvard University is notifying individuals of a data breach to their system that included 8 colleges and administrations.Those colleges and administrations include the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Divinity School, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Central Administration, the Graduate School of Design, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.The university has not commented on how many individuals were affected or what information was compromised. The university is requesting that anyone who is associated with any of the entities to change their username and password.More Information: http://fortune.com/2015/07/02/harvard-data-breach/Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0May 15, 2015Penn State College of EngineeringUniversity Park, PennsylvaniaEDUHACK18,000Penn State's College of Engineering announced that their servers were hacked in two different intrustions. The hackers are believed to be based in China and may have exposed "at least 18,000 people and possibly other sensitive data".Penn State's President sent a letter out to students and faculty informing them that the college's network had been disconnected to the Internet while they investigate the intrusio. Read more here:http://news.psu.edu/story/357654/2015/05/15/administration/message-presi...The information compromised has not yet been made public, all College of Engineering faculty, staff and students were affected. Those who also had taken at least one engineering class would be affected as well. The university is requiring those who meet this criteria change their username and password. They have set up a VPN and will be required to use two-factor authentication.More Information: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/05/penn-state-severs-engineering-ne...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0April 10, 2015University of California, Riverside Graduate Division officesRiverside, CaliforniaEDUPORTUnknownThe University of California, Riverside's Graduate Divison offices notified individuals of a theft of a laptop computer that included graduate student application information including Social Security numbers, first and last names.For questions call UCR's Risk Management Office at 1-866-827-4844More Information: http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-49300Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0February 18, 2015University of MaineOrono, MaineEDUPORT941The University of Maine notified students of a data breach when a laptop was stolen with student roster information on it including Social Security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, grade data and course information.According to the university only 604 Social Security numbers were involved in the total of 941 records exposed.More Information: http://umaine.edu/news/blog/2015/02/18/umaine-working-with-information-s...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 604February 17, 2015Escondido Union School DistrictEscondido, CaliforniaEDUPORTUnknownThe Escondido Union School District notified some students and employees of the district of a data breach that occurred when a district owned tablet and external hard drive were stolen from a backpack belonging to a district employee.The personal information saved on the laptop included student contact information, assessment results, and self reported income by parents.More Information: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/feb/17/tp-school-district-warns-of-p...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0January 21, 2015Mount Pleasant School DistrictMount Pleasant, TexasEDUHACK915Mount Pleasant School District has informed approximately 915 present and former staff members that their personal information may have been compromised between January 18th 2015 and January 21st 2015.A spokesperson for Mount Pleasant School District stated "Forest Hills District had a denial of service and discovered they had been hacked," she said. "The district’s technology director found a Tweet that mentioned us. She looked us up on the Web and called us to let us know on Tuesday."When the technology director for Mount Pleasant clicked on the link, it directed him to a file that included names, addresses and Social Security numbers" of MPISD staff.More Information: http://www.dailytribune.net/news/data-breach-hits-mpisd-employees/articl...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 915January 1, 2015Fast Forward AcademyAltamonte Springs, FloridaEDUHACKUnknownThe Fast Forward Academy LLC has notified customers of a data breach to their systems that store customer and partner information. The information compromised included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and email addresses.The company is providing access to Triple Bureau Credit Monitoring services at no charge for 12 months. Those affected can enroll at https://www.myidmanager.com/promo_code.html and provide the code provided by the company or call 1-866-717-94291-866-717-9429 FREE to set up services or their help line at 1-800-405-61081-800-405-6108 FREEMonday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.More Information: http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-47924Information Source:records from this breach used in our total: 0December 12, 2014University of California BerkeleyBerkeley, CaliforniaEDUHACKUnknownThe University of California Berkeley has notified individuals of a data breach in their Real Estate Division that resulted in unauthorized access to servers used to support a number of Real Estate programs and work stations. These workstations contained files that included some personal information. The investigation of the hacking showed that these servers were breached in mid-to late September.The personal information included names, Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers and driver's license numbers.The university is offering identity theft protection and fraud resolution through ID Experts for free for one year. For those affected call 1-877-846-63401-877-846-6340  Monday through Friday from 6 a.m to 6 p.m Pacific Time or go towww.myidcare.com/ucbinfo.More Information: http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-47717Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0November 14, 2014Seattle Public SchoolsSeattle , WashingtonEDUDISC8,000The Seattle Public School District announced in a letter to parents Thursday about a data breach that involved their children's information."Late Tuesday night Seattle Public Schools learned that a law firm retained by the district to handle a complaint against the district inadvertently sent personally identifiable student information to an individual involved in the case. The district promptly removed the law firm from the case and is working to ensure that all improperly released records are retrieved or destroyed."Over 800 special education students were involved in a breach. The information involved in the breach included their names, addresses, student identification numbers, test scores and disabilities.More Information: http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2014/11/14/seattle-public-...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0October 1, 2014Provo City School DistrictProvo, UtahEDUHACK1,400The Provo City School District notified employees of a "phishing" attack Monday September 29, 2014 which allowed access to employees email accounts. Some employee email accounts contained files that may have had personally identifiable information.Currently the school district is investigating the breach and notifying those affected.More Information: http://fox13now.com/2014/10/01/provo-city-school-district-warning-employ...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0October 1, 2014Fort Hays State UniversityHays, KansasEDUDISC138Fort Hays State University has notified 138 of it's graduates that their personal information may have been compromised when personal information was "accidentally" exposed on the Internet. The information exposed included Social Security Numbers and various other pieces of personal information.The university stopped storing Social Security Numbers of students five years ago, however anyone who attended the university prior to 5 years ago, their SSN information is still part of the university database.More Information: http://ksn.com/2014/10/01/fort-hays-state-university-experiences-data-br...Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 138September 5, 2014California State University, East BayHayward, CaliforniaEDUHACKUnknownCalifornia State University, East Bay has notified individuals of a data breach that has occurred on August 11, 2014 when the University discovered unauthorized access to individuals information when an overseas IP address appears to have used a software tool designed to access information on a server without being detected. The server targeted contained personal information on various employment record transactions and some extended learning course information.The specific information breached included names, addresses, Social Security Numbers and dates of birth.The University has set up 12 months free of Experian's ProtectMyID for those affected. For additional questions or concerns individuals can contact (888) 738-3759 a toll free number specifically set up to deal with questions/concerns regarding this breach.More Information: http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-46513Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0August 7, 2014University California Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CaliforniaEDUHACKUnknownThe University California Santa Barbara has notified unauthorized access to some archival payroll data that included names, social security numbers and direct deposit banking information.The University has contracted with ID Experts to provide free credit monitoring service, and insurance for identity theft restoration.If you need assistance enrolling or have additional questions, the University is requesting individuals call the UCSB / ID Experts team at 1-877-919-9184, between the hours of 6:00 am and 6:00 pm Pacific Time.Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0July 16, 2014Douglas County School DistrictCastle Rock, ColoradoEDUPORTUnknownDouglas County School District notified employees of a data breach of their personal information when a laptop containing their personal information was stolen.In a letter sent to district employees, the district stated that the stolen computer contained some workers' Social Security numbers and bank account information.The district is currently investigating the breach.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0July 14, 2014Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical CollegeOrangeburg, South CarolinaEDUPORT20,000"Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in South Carolina is notifying 20,000 former and current students and faculty members that an unencrypted laptop computer stolen this month from a staff member's office contained their personal information."The information contained on the laptops included names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of individuals.The college stated that the information goes back 6 or 7 years and that they believe the thief was after the hardware, not the data stored on it. The college neglected to comment on whether or not they are providing credit monitoring services for those affected.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 20,000July 11, 2014University of Illinois, ChicagoChicago, IllinoisEDUHACKUnknownThe University Illinois Chicago (UIC) notified former students of a data breach to their system that included the exposure of personal data."A website security breach made two College of Business Administration documents from the 2002 spring semester accessible — a roster from a Special Topics in Accounting course and an advising list for all junior and senior accounting majors, according to a statement from the university".Personal information was exposed, including Social Security numbers. The university has not stated how many students were affected, and the breach is currently under investigation.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0July 10, 2014University Development and Alumni Relations at the Penn State College of MedicinePhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEDUHACK1,176Penn State has notified 1,176 individuals that a data breach of their personal information had been breached.  The Office of University Development and Alumni Relations at the Penn State College of Medicine was found to be "infected with malware that enabled it to communicate with an unauthorized computer outside the network".The university used Social Security numbers as a personally identifiable number for students and these SSNs were found in an archived College of Medicine alumni list last used in 2005.The university put out this information:"For information about Penn State's efforts to minimize computer security risks, visit the University's Be Safe website athttp://its.psu.edu/be-safe. For more detailed information about identity theft risks and prevention, visithttp://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/."Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 1,176July 8, 2014Park Hill School DistrictKansas City, MissouriEDUINSDUnknownThe Park Hill School District has informed current and former Park Hill students and employees of a data breach to their system. A former employee downloaded files onto a hard drive without authorization. When the employee connected it to a home network, the files went onto the Internet.The information leaked included personnel files and Social Security numbers.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0July 2, 2014Milford SchoolsMilford, MassachusettsEDUPORT25Up to  25 students at Milford Schools may have had their personal information stolen due to a data breach with a third party billing service, Multi-State Billing Services, located in Somersworth, New Hampshire, when an employee's laptop was stolen from their locked vehicle in May.The laptop was password protected but not encrypted, contained information on nearly 3,000 students from 19 school districts in Central and Eastern Massachusetts.The information on the laptop included names, addresses, Medicaid ID numbers and Social Security numbers.Multi-State Billing will reimburse costs related to security freezes for the next three years. Information about reimbursement can be obtained by emailing customersupport@msb-services.com or phoning (855) 285-7433(855) 285-7433  . Because the children aren't actual victims of identity theft, the credit agencies may charge up to $5 each time to place, temporarily lift or permanently remove a security freeze.Information Source:PHIPrivacy.netrecords from this breach used in our total: 25July 2, 2014Uxbridge School DistrictUxbridge, MassachusettsEDUPORTUnknownStudents at Uxbridge School District may have had their personal information stolen due to a data breach with a third party billing service, Multi-State Billing Services, located in Somersworth, New Hampshire, when an employee's laptop was stolen from their locked vehicle in May.The laptop was password protected but not encrypted, contained information on nearly 3,000 students from 19 school districts in Central and Eastern Massachusetts.The information on the laptop included names, addresses, Medicaid ID numbers and Social Security numbers.Multi-State Billing will reimburse costs related to security freezes for the next three years. Information about reimbursement can be obtained by emailing customersupport@msb-services.com or phoning (855) 285-7433(855) 285-7433  . Because the children aren't actual victims of identity theft, the credit agencies may charge up to $5 each time to place, temporarily lift or permanently remove a security freeze.Information Source:PHIPrivacy.netrecords from this breach used in our total: 0June 30, 2014Butler UniversityIndianapolis, IndianaEDUHACK163,000Butler University in Indianapolis Indiana informed students, staff and alumni of a data breach to their system. Over 160,000 individuals may have been affected when hackers may have accessed their personal information.The university was contacted by California officials to "inform them that they had arrested an identity theft suspect who had a flash drive with Butler employee's personal information on it". In a letter sent to those affected, the university has said that "someone hacked the school's network sometime between November 2013 and May 2014".The school officials have discovered that the information exposed included birthdates, Social Security numbers and bank account information of approximately 163,000 students, faculty and staff, alumni, and prospective students who never enrolle in classes at Butler.The university is offering a year of free credit monitoring.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 163,000June 26, 2014Orange Public School DistrictOrange, New JerseyEDUHACKUnknownA 16 year old New Jersey teen has been charged with unlawfully accessing the Orange Public School District's database and changing final grades and attendance records.The Orange High School sophomore is facing multiple counts of second-degree computer theft for unlawfully accessing and altering data an one cound of hindering apprehension.Reportedly, the student accessed the computer system after obtaining the password of a staff member. Authorities do not know how the teen was able to gain the password information. An investigation is still underway.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0June 20, 2014UCDC, Washington CenterWashington, District Of ColumbiaEDUHACKUnknownThe University California, Washington Center received a notification of unsolicited emails being sent to alumni of the university. After an investigation, it was revealed that someone accessed the pre-enrollment system, GoSignMeUp.com, which is a cloud-based provider for the online course registration utilized by UCDC to host its online course registration process.The information breach included usernames, passwords, addresses, principal e-mails, gender, birth dates and UCDC course information. The university has stated that they do not record or store any Social Security numbers or financial account information on any of its databases.For those who were affected the university is recommending individuals change their password.Those with questions are asked to contact techhelp@ucdc.eduInformation Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0June 16, 2014Riverside Community CollegeRiverside, CaliforniaEDUDISC35,212Riverside Community College has suffered a data breach affecting 35,212 students. On May 30th, a district employee emailed a file containing information about all students who were enrolled in the spring term to a colleague working at home due to illness, for a research report that was on a deadline. The district employee used a personal email account to send the data because the file was too large for the district's secure email to send. The employee then typed in the incorrect email address.The information contained in the file included names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, email addresses, student ID numbers, and telephone numbers.The district has set up a Call Assistance Center at 1-888-266-9438 for affected students. The center will be open from 6 a.m to 6 p.m Monday through Friday for 90 days.Information Source:records from this breach used in our total: 35,212June 9, 2014College of the DesertPalm Desert, CaliforniaEDUINSD1,900The College of the Desert in Palm Dale Calfornia informed individuals of a data breach in their system when a college employee sent an unauthorized attachment in an email to approximately 78 college employees,  that contained personal information of employees of the college.The information contained in the attachment included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, geners, zip codes, titles of postions held at the university, employment anniversary date, employee identification numbers, insurance information,  active or retired employee status.Those who are affected are asked to call Stan Dupree, HR and Labor Relations Director at 760-674-3777760-674-3777orsdupree@collegeofthedesert.eduUPDATE (6/19/2014): According to new reports, The College of the Desert breach affected 1,900 current and former employees. The total individuals affected was not reported when the breach was made public.Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 1,900May 30, 2014Arkansas State University College of Education and Behavioral Science's Department of Childhood ServicesJonesboro, ArkansasEDUHACK50,000Arkansas State University was notified by the Arkansas Department of Human Services of a data breach in their College of Education and Behavioral Science's Department of Childhood Services database, potentially exposing personally identifiable information.According to A-State's Chief Information Officer Henry Torres,  "we have confirmed unauthorized access to data, but we have no reports regarding illegal use of the information in these files," Torres said. "We took immediate measures to address this issue after being notified by DHS. We are cooperating with DHS and working with programmers to assess and resolve the situation."The breached involved a database related to the "Traveling Arkansas Professional Pathways (TAPP) Registry, which is a professional development system designed to track and facilitate training and continuing education for early childhood practictioners in Arkansas."To date, the university has stated that Social Security numbers were compromised in the database, no other information as to the specific data was provided by the university.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 50,000May 22, 2014San Diego State UniversitySan Diego , CaliforniaEDUDISCUnknownSan Diego State University discovered a database that was set up and managed by the Pre-College Institute, containing names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and other personal information was mis-configured to enable any computer connected to the SDSU wired network with the program "File Maker"   The SDSU wired network consists of offices, some labs and the library.For those with question or concerns about the incident are asked to contact Felecia Vlahos, the Information Security Officer at iso@sdsu.edu or via phone at toll free 1-855-594-0142 and refer to incident #H05007.Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0May 14, 2014University California IrvineIrvine , CaliforniaEDUHACKUnknownOn March 26, 2014, the California Information Security Office notified the University California Irvine that three of the computers in the Student Health Center had been infected by a keylogging virus, which captured the keystrokes as information was being entered into the computers, then transmitted the data to unauthorized servers. They believe that hackers gained information from February 14th through March 27th 2014.  As a result of the virus personal information of individuals was compromised.The information included names, unencrypted medical information, potentially including health or dental insurance number, CPT codes, ICD9 codes and/or diagnosis, student ID numbers, non-student patient ID numbers, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, amounts paid to the Student Health Center for services, bank names and check numbers.UC Irvine has contracted with ID Experts to provide one year of FraudStop credit monitoring and one year of CyberScan Internet monitoring for those affected. To enroll visit www.idexpertscorp.com/protect and use the code provided in the letter sent to those affected or call 1-877-810-8083.Information Source:California Attorney Generalrecords from this breach used in our total: 0April 22, 2014Iowa State UniversityAmes, IowaEDUHACK29,780Iowa State University has reported a data breach of one of their systems that exposed a large amount of data of individuals who were enrolled in the university over the past 17-year period.Social Security numbers of approximately 30,000 people who enrolled in certain classes between 1995 and 2012 along with university ID numbers for nearly 19,000 additional people. Authorities believe that the person or persons motivation was apparently to generate enough computing power to create the virtual currency bitcoin.The university is offering AllClear ID for 12 months free for those whose Social Security numbers were affected. AllClear representatives can be reached at 1-877-403-02811-877-403-0281.Here is the link to the universities information regarding the breachhttp://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/04/22/serverbreachFor those who suspect fraud or question whether a request you receive is legitimate, please contact the ISU Foundation at 515-294-4607515-294-4607, the ISU Alumni Association at 515-294-6525515-294-6525, or Iowa State’s computer security team at serverbreach@iastate.edu.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 29,780March 27, 2014The University of Wisconsin-ParksideKenosha, WisconsinEDUHACK15,000Students were notified by officials from The University of Wisconsin-Parkside of a data breach that occured to their system by hackers that installed malware on one university server.The information that is at risk includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and Social Security numbers. The breach affects students who were either admitted or enrolled at the university since the fall of 2010.The server was shut down and the hacking was reported to local authorities. After launching an investigation it appears the malware was searching for credit card information and they show no evidence that any Social Security numbers were compromised.The university has set up a website with information for those who may have been affectedhttp://www.uwp.edu/explore/contactus/index.cfm Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 15,000March 6, 2014North Dakota UniversityBismarck, North DakotaEDUHACK290,780North Dakota University System has notified individuals of a security breach of a computer server that stores personal information on students, staff and faculty.On February 7, 2014 the server was hacked into and more than 209,000 current and former students and 780 faculty and staff had personal information stored on thus server that included names and Social Security numbers according to Larry Skogen, the Interim Chancellor.The university has notified officials and has set up a website www.ndus.edu/data with information and is organizing a call center for questions from those who were affected.Authorities have announced that "an entity operating outside the Unites States apparently used the server as a launching pad to attack other computers, possibly accessing outside accounts to send phishing emails"Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 290,780March 5, 2014Point Park UniversityPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaEDUUNKN1800On Wednesday March 5, 2014 Point Park University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania notified employees of a possible data breach that included names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, wage information, birthdates, bank accounts and routing numbers.The Point Park President stated that as many as 1,800 employees could have been affected by this breach."The university was expecting a package from its payroll processing vendor Ceridian, but when the package arrived to campus it was missing all of the accompanying reports, according to an internal email obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."The university is working with authorities and an investigation has been launched. The law firm that represents the university is currently putting a letter together to those who were affected that will include call-center information and other services offered.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 1,800February 26, 2014Indiana UniversityBloomington, IndianaEDUHACK146,000Indiana University announced that the personal data of 146,000 students and graduates was breached. The information included their Social Security numbers and addresses and may have affected students and graduates from 2011 to 2014 at seven of its campuses.According to the university "The information was not downloaded by an authorized individual looking for specific sensitive data, but rather was accessed by three automated computer data-mining applications, called webcrawlers, used to improve Web search capabilities."The university also announced that the information was stored in an insecure location for the past 11 months. The site has since been locked down.The university has set up a hotline 1-866-254-14841-866-254-1484 for students as well as a websitehttp://bit.ly/1kbX505 with information on how to monitor credit accounts and answers to any additional questions regarding an individuals exposure. The university will also be providing the Social Security numbers of those affected to the three major credit-reporting agencies.Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 146,000February 19, 2014University of MarylandCollege Park, MarylandEDUHACK309,079The University of Maryland, located in College Town Maryland, had one of their records databases hacked Tuesday January 18, 2014 around 4:00 a.m by an outside source.This particular database holds information dating back to 1998 and includes names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and university identification numbers for 309,079 people affiliated with the school at their College Park and Shady Grove campuses.The hackers did not alter anything in the actual database, but apprarently have made a "copy" of the information. The university commented at how sophisticated the attack was by the hacker or hackers and they must have had a "very significant understanding" of how the database was designed and maintained, including the level of encryption and protection of the database.According to the university President, school officials are investigating the breach and taking steps to prevent any further system intrusions.The college has put out the following statements:"The University is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all affected persons. Additinoal information will be communicated within the next 24 hours on how to activate this service.University email communications regarding this incident will not ask you to provide personal information. Please be cautious when sharing personal information.All updates regarding this matter will be posted to this website.  If you have any questions or comments, please call our special hotline at 301-405-4440 or email us at datasecurity@umd.edu".Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 309,079January 7, 2014Risk Solutions International LLC, Loudoun County Public SchoolsAshburn, VirginiaEDUDISCUnknownLoudoun County school officials have responded to a data breach that made publicly available personal information about students and staff members, along with detailed emergency response plans for each school.More than 1,300 links could be accessed through a Google search, thought to be password protected, unveiled thousands of detailed documents as to how each school in the district will respond to a long list of emergencies, which included the staging areas for response teams as well as where the students and staff would be located during an emergency.Additional documents that could be accessed included students' courrse schedules, locker combinations, home addresses, phone numbers and birthdates along with the address and cell phone numbers for many school administrators.The contractor Risk Solution International acknowledged that the breach was caused by "human error" on their part, which is said to be the cause of the data breach.UPDATE: Loudoun County Public Schools administrators released a more detailed statement about the information made publicly available on the Internet due to errors committed by the contractor Risk Solutions International (RSI).According to school officials, the investigation is continuing as to how the webpage, which was made accessible through online search engines without any password protection happened. The page included 1,286 links detailing information on 84 Loudoun schools. It is unknown how long the information was exposed or how many links were opened by unauthorized individuals.Locker combinations were revealed for one school and only one parent contact information was revealed for fewer than 10 schools according to the spokesperson for the district. The statement also made clear that RSI's website was not hacked and that it never lost its password security. Instead, the breach occurred when RSI employees were doing technical testing on November 4th , December 19th and December 24th 2013. (1/9/2014)Information Source:Mediarecords from this breach used in our total: 0Breach Total853,478,157 RECORDS BREACHED(Please see explanation about this total.)from 4,575 DATA BREACHES made public since 2005Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his current employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Source: http://is.gd/cLrvtmAt Connected Principals, in Learning and Leadership, George Couros shared the following:"There are people in this room, no matter how compelling of evidence or ideas that I have shared, or the experiences that I have tried to create, will do nothing different tomorrow.  Are you that person?"The answer is, "Yes, that's me!" Sitting through professional learning recently, my sense of irritation mounting, I find I am no longer inspired by challenging talks that outline "successful leadership practices" and then proceed to encourage me to connect the dots, the distance between my imperfections and the target, clearly articulated by a speaker.Yes, I am the guy that says, "You know what? If you're showing me a possible avenue of growth as an invitation, well, then yes, I'm POSSIBLY open to that...if my learning path takes me in that direction. But, if you're shoving that down my throat, you know where it can go."As I let the anger of my reaction bleed into the hard concrete, I feel a sense of irony. As I probe the irony, wondering why I'm feeling that way, I remember the conversation I had with another colleague only a few months back. "If you want to hold a campus accountable for technology, then why not invite them to try it out?" Source: Sylvia Duckworth via Dr. Z ReflectsI wonder, "How long must we ask and invite teachers to adopt instructional technology practices as part of their work?" The question stems from a profound sense of dis-satisfaction for school districts to embrace teaching and learning with technology.I like this quote that George shared in another blog entry...it's less in your face:"Once you stop learning, you start dying." Albert EinsteinConnect the dots.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

A great learning opportunity for those more technically minded among us...In partnership with Pluralsight, Network World presents a free course on CCNA routing and VLANs. In this course, the student will learn the fundamental concepts of networking, and then immediately apply this knowledge to the configuration of a router and switch. By the end of the course, the student will have enough knowledge to set up a network environment that has multiple subnets over multiple virtual LANs (VLANs), use network address translation (NAT) to connect to the Internet, and hand out IP addresses automatically. Additionally, the student will take a deep dive into IP addressing, using binary, to really gain a fundamental understanding of how endpoints are addressed. All you need as a prerequisite is a willingness to learn and basic computer skills. Click here to sign up for the course.  You’ll need to provide your name and email address, with no obligation or fee. We think you’ll find this course a valuable introduction to networking.Find out more online.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

TCEA Fiber Boot CampSource: http://goo.gl/RXwatvHelping Districts Leverage E-rate Funds to Provide Future-Ready BandwidthDoes your district need an affordable fiber network to handle increased digital learning demands, but you aren’t sure how to make it happen? Are you having a hard time understanding how the new E-rate rules will help your district acquire the type of bandwidth you know your students and teachers need? Do you need some concrete answers on how to legally leverage your E-rate discounts to help your district get the lowest price for fiber? Have you been told that you will never get fiber to your district at a price you can afford?If the answer to any of these questions is "yes," then you need to attend the TCEA Fiber Boot Camp on August 28 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. This innovative event will be held at the TCEA Conference Center in Austin and will feature top fiber and E-rate experts, including representatives of the FCC and USAC and the EducationSuperHighway. This event could save your district thousands of dollars and ensure that you have the bandwidth your students and staff will need for the future.Schedule: 10:00 - 11:00  The FCC and USAC staff will discuss the 2nd E-rate Modernization Order and special construction/dark fiber options for applicants.11:00 - 12:00  The EducationSuperHighway staff will provide solutions to real-world fiber problems. They will also review their new Fiber Tool Kit. 12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch (provided)1:00 - 2:00 - Round table discussion and Q&A to answer district-specific questions about barriers you are experiencing in acquiring sufficient broadband at a reasonable cost. Location: TCEA Conference Center (3100 Alvin DeVane Blvd., Bldg. B. Austin, Texas 78741)Cost: $10.00 for TCEA members; $55.00 for non-membersIf traveling to Austin is impossible, a live-streamed version of the event will also be provided. The cost for attending the streamed presentation is $10.00 for TCEA members; $55.00 for non-member. Virtual attendees will be able to submit questions and receive answers from the presenters.REGISTER HEREEverything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"What?!? You have how many notes?" asked a casual user of Evernote."Yeah, I have almost 10K of notes in Evernote. But I've been looking for something easier, simpler to manage.""Isn't that a little unwieldy?""Yes, but I haven't found a better solution...GoogleKeep didn't grab me, Evernote is too fancy, text files in Dropbox to simple, but something new may be coming...."Catch MammothHQ on TwitterWorks on iOS and AndroidThat conversation snippet sums up my unending search for an easy to use solution. A few years ago, I began archiving everything in Evernote...great web sites, articles for stories, encrypted confidential information that I wouldn't trust to Google (after all, they did shut my blog down with no reason given...although they restored it, I was a bit gun-shy).What the MammothHQ Board looks like with content emailed in!MammothHQ.com serves as an alternative to Evernote and other note-taking apps that you may want to consider. A few facts so far:MammothHQ works and looks beautiful on Chrome browser add-on and iOS/Android devicesMammothHQ provides 5GB of storage out of the starting gate for FREE accountsMammothHQ uses "boards" to organize information. New information gets added to the bottom of a board.Easy to add comments with a "Twitter-like" comment box at the bottom of each Board.Easy to invite people to collaborate on a Board (lots of applications). Much more elegantly instituted than Evernote's WorkChat (yuck).You can email content into MammothHQ (love this features, especially when updating an existing board...the note appears at the bottom of Board in a grey shaded box that looks cool and suggests a conversation)Start a new board by emailing "new@post.mammothhq.com" where the subject line becomes the name of the boardUpdate existing board with email to "boardname-######@post.mammothhq.com" where ###### indicates your userID (that's what it looks like to me).You can drag and drop content (any type of file) onto a Board and it will appear at the bottom of the Board. Think of it as an email message with attachments hanging onto the bottom.Stuff I Would Like to SeeIFTTT.com API or connection to enable content sharing more easily into MammothHQ2-factor authentication to protect privacy of documentsAES-256 encryption needed, along with ability to encrypt contents of a Board at will. Maybe consider PGP Encryption, Minilock and/or Text Encryption support. Mailvelope technology would be helpful to incorporate here.Evernote migration or file import tool. Ability to group Boards into "Boards and sub-boards" to facilitate organization.Text listing of Boards rather than just pictures (although pictures gives it a Pinterest look without all the annoyance!).Educator price point ($25 a year and I'm in!)Ideas for Using MammothHQ for OrganizationCreate a MammothHQ Board for each of your class' and post email updates with pictures.Collect critical documents by attaching them to a Board (always encrypt confidential files prior to uploading to the cloud)Create and share classroom lectures/meeting notes in a Board, one Board per event.Use IFTTT.com to send email social media updates to a MammothHQ Board setup for that purpose.Use your imagination!Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Source: http://goo.gl/VM76arLooking for free antivirus solutions for your personal Mac? Be sure to check out one of these:AVG Free Antivirus for MacAvira Free Antivirus for Mac "(free, direct) isn't limited to non-commercial users. Avira has made it 'truly free for everyone—private consumers, professionals and even businesses—without exception and without any advertising or marketing pop-ups.'"Sophos Free Antivirus for Mac (free, noncommercial use only). There is no phone or email support for Sophos Antivirus for Mac OS X Home Edition.Have you tried these out for yourself? Unfortunately, on Mac, it's hard to know which will work best...while there are viruses for Mac, I've never encountered one. So, I'd pick the one that's least intrusive and has the best reviews. I'm partial to AVG and Avira because I have used them on other platforms...in fact, I prefer AVG on Windows. Sophos, however, works great, too in a commercial environment. Whether it does the same in noncommercial environment, that is something else. The interface is pretty straightforward. In my Sophos scan, I encountered the following:The malware Sophos turned up after scanning over 1M+ files turned out to be:Genieo is an OSX Adware that could be posting as fake Flash Player alerts, or video codecs, to trick users to download and install itself without user interaction.It would alter users' homepage and search engine settings to its own. Although an uninstaller is offered, it would still require manual uninstallion for a complete removal.Sometimes the uninstaller might not be able to reset browser settings properly so it would require users to restore the settings themselves. Read more hereSo, contrary to what I thought, my machine was infected with those fake Flash Player alerts.Here's a quick look at Avira Free Antivirus:On installation completion...Upon completing an update of virus definitions:In anticipation of a New Scan of computer:Scan didn't reveal issues, which is a good thing!Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Earlier this year, I was introduced to the idea of using GoogleSlides as a page layout, newsletter publishing tool (see examples here, as well as these). You can watch a short video by Kern on this; Wanda Terrell is who introduced me to the idea). One question that came to mind, however, was how to insert an existing Slides creation into another as an embedded object.  Think "picture in a picture" or "slideshow on a Slides page."Question: How can you embed another GoogleSlide slideshow within an existing Slideshow, not as full-size slides inserted into presentation but embedded into the page? Here are 2 workflows that get around embedding a Google Slides into an existing Slides slide; I'm looking for something that doesn't involve an external site:Video Approach1) Export Slides as PNG images2) Import PNG images into WeVideo.com3) Export the whole thing as a video4) Upload to YouTube5) Embed into a Google Slides newsletter.Animated GIF Approach1) Export Slides as PNG Images2) Import PNG images into http://gifmaker.me and create animated GIF OR video (adjust milliseconds)3) Export animated GIF created (if you created a video in step #2, you'll have to put it up via YouTube)4) Import animated GIF into Google Slides newsletterEverything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Source: http://goo.gl/Zl0YGnOver at Assorted Stuff, Tim the Retiree (congrats, BTW! Try not to keel over in a month or so from the shock of not being employed) shares this perspective:In his post yesterday, Doug says he is advocating in his district to give a computing device to all students in grades 6-12. But he refuses to call it a 1:1 program.Instead of emphasizing the device (which that name certainly does), he wants everyone to understand that the primary purpose of whatever is selected is to enable students to have 24/7 access to digital resources.Today, I found myself reaching for a term to describe "1 to 1." While many districts are a long way away from implementing a successful 1 to 1, mainly because the teachers themselves aren't at the top level of the classroom learning activity rubric--let's be honest, you'd have to be super-human, right?--and dropping tech into the mix would just make the bad, worse,  it's a horizon goal. . .that is, a goal that is worthy of aspiring to (aspirational edtech...oh wait, we've been doing that all along!).Wait, let me circle back to that idea of tech making bad, worse. I remember that I was a teacher who wanted to get better, and blending technology into instruction made me get better. I learned so much learning how to use technology with my students--cooperative learning, collaboration, learning at a distance, multimedia, hyperlinking, H.E.A.T., focus on HOTS over LOTS, problem-based learning, project-based learning, information problem solving a la Big6/Super3--that I became a better teacher.We may not call it 1 to 1, but we do need to drop it into classrooms, and give teachers bereft of hope something to aspire to. In fact, as Tim points out, students need to be a part of that conversation, too.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Source: http://goo.gl/IfAPxbListening and watching a webinar on content filtering software recently, I had to laugh at how much has changed in the last few years. A few years ago, many--myself among them--were complaining that school districts blocked and censored the internet too much. Simply, the content filtering prevented access to critical learning resources that should be unblocked.  Then, the spectacular debacle when a filtering vendor treated students as agents of evil to be defended against. A short time later it seems, we were complaining that content filtering needed to be a community/digital citizenship decision, not a "network nazi" decision.  Rather than technology being used to control human behavior, we developed a community ethic that moved away from inappropriate use to responsible use (and now, others are advocating another evolution).I chuckled as I watched the content filtering webinar--most of the features would go un-used. That's good, right? After all, you may own a weapon, but the most satisfying aspect is that you never have to use it...I don't filter or censor you because we can have an open conversation about what is happening. Of course, it's ironic that as this is happening in schools, other cultures are having problems about openness and transparency.Not too long ago a school district near me systematically blocked any Web sites that dealt with homosexuality. It was only after the ACLU became involved that the school district backed down in a very public display of contrition which included having to pay the ACLU attorney fees, unblocking non-sexual pro-LGBT sites and reporting regularly about blocked Web sites to an outside party.In both of the examples above, could the issues have been resolved had there been a collaboratively developed and board approved selection policy in place with a procedure for the reconsideration of Web sites? Of course we know that even with policies in place, a common problem with censorship challenges is that administrators don’t follow their own policies, but even so, having a policy is an important step.Floyd Pentlin, "Banned Web Sites: Are Your Policies Up-to-Date", Knowledge Quest, Septemeber 8, 2015 as cited by Doug "Blue Skunk" JohnsonI'm happy to report that some of us, because I'm quite sensitive to the fact that others have not, have arrived at our happy state. Let me tell you, as I look back, I'm pleased to report that all the bad things that we were afraid would happen, did not.Does that mean that bad things won't happen? No...only that we're prepared to free the hard-boiled egg from the shell of experience and add some seasoning.Source: http://goo.gl/M9j5U0Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Note: I previously published this article via the Big6 web site a few years ago. I'm sharing it again here since info-problem-solving strategies for students and teachers in schools remains an elusive goal.http://goo.gl/Si2egqThe communities of Santa Teresa, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas have something in common÷both communities are monitored by the U. S. Border Patrol, but not in the way that many illegal aliens have come to expect their attention. The U. S. Border Patrol has set up outreach centers to bring about goodwill and provide teenagers with the opportunity to explore career possibilities. For the legal citizens of these communities, this is a wonderful initiative. For the undocumented aliens, parents of teenagers coming face to face with the U. S. Border Patrol in school, it's a nightmare.Illegal immigrants fear that the U. S. Border Patrol may try to identify children of illegals, and then use this information to locate and prosecute the parents. Despite the U. S. Border Patrol's protests that this will not happen, the relationship between parents and school officials is tenuous. How will parents who are illegal immigrants attend school meetings if they fear encountering deportation officials? While the stakeholders of these border communities probably have not heard of ill-structured problems, they are certainly in the middle of one.Ill-structured problems like this one are messy by nature. They are like the real-life situations students can expect to encounter when they leave school, and they can be great learning opportunities as a form of problem-based learning. Problem-based learning (PBL) uses real-life problems modeled after a contemporary or historical case to engage students as they pursue specified learning outcomes that are in line with academic standards or course objectives (Stepien & Pyke, 1997). Students work through the problem as a stakeholder. The teacher acts as a guide or advisor as students explore the issues involved, formulate questions, conduct research, and consider possible solutions to the problems.Since most problems spring from a lack of information, problem-based learning makes an ideal tool to use and reinforce the Big6 Skills. The Big6 approach to information-problem solving provides a framework for students to find, organize, and present the information that they need to solve-real life problems. This accomplishes two goals÷to help them complete their assignment efficiently and successfully, and to remind them that they must be information processors in their life beyond school. Combined with graphic organizers, the Big6 becomes a powerful tool to help students work through the U. S. Border Patrol scenario.Using graphic organizers with the Big6 process can help students build their own knowledge and reflect on how new information links to their mental framework, or schema, of the world. This is important because, according to Buzan (1996), the human brain works primarily with key concepts in an interlinked and integrated manner. For each step in the Big6, there is at least one graphic organizer that helps students integrate new information with information that they already know (see Table 1).Table 1. Matching Each Big6úSkill with a Graphic Organizer ToolTable 1BIG6 SkillGraphic OrganizerTask Definition 1.1 Define the problem 1.2 Identify information neededChain of events: Use to plan out problem-solving process.//Fishbone Mapping:// Use to identify problem causes and interrelationships between them as they relate to the problem.//Cycle:// Use to show interactions between events.//Spider Map:// Use to explore a topic and identify main ideas and details.//Problem/Solution:// Use to identify a problem and consider multiple solutions and possible results. ||Information Seeking Strategies 2.1 Determine all possible sources 2.2 Select the best sourceClustering: Use to generate ideas about possible sources of information.//Compare/Contrast:// Use to compare/contrast information sources. ||Location & Access 3.1 Locate sources 3.2 Find information within sources//Spider Map:// Use to determine key words for searching.//Clustering:// Use to generate ideas and key words. ||Use of Information 4.1 Engage information in sources 4.2 Extract relevant information//Continuum:// Use to develop timelines, rating scales or show historical progression.//Compare/Contrast:// Use to compare/contrast information sources.//Venn Diagram:// Use to identify similarities/differences. ||Synthesis 5.1 Organize information from multiple sources 5.2 Present the result//Clustering:// Use to pull together ideas organizing a product (project, presentation, or paper).//Compare/Contrast:// Use to organize compare/contrast information.//Problem/Solution:// Use to articulate problem and consider multiple solutions and possible results.//Storyboard:// Use to map out presentation or Web page. ||Evaluation 6.1 Judge the result 6.2 Judge the processInteraction Outline: Use to judge the problem-solving process, and the interactions between team members. ||Problem-based learning is a valuable tool for students of many levels. However, the task of designing a problem-based learning lesson can be daunting÷the problems are large and messy, and it can be a challenge to know where to start. The following Big6-related five actions can help you keep your problem-based learning lesson under control and moving along.Action 1 - Select a Problem and Brainstorm an Idea to Explore Its Potential (Task Definition)According to Stepien and Pyke (1997), a problem-based learning situation must meet several criteria. The situation must provide an effective way of engaging students with experiences that scaffold higher order thinking. The situation should also accomplish curriculum objectives and include age-appropriate topics. Further, the learning situation should take the form of an ill-structured problem to foster inquiry at a level that is cognitively engaging but not frustrating. Lastly, the situation should make efficient use of instructional time allotted to the unit.When selecting a problem, the teacher can either look through academic standards and objectives for a dilemma, or search news stories for a problem that will allow the introduction of academic standards. In examining the problem, the teacher can use a brainstorming map to explore the content that students may encounter as they go about examining the issue and suggesting possible resolutions.Brainstorming with some form of visual aid (e.g, spider map, clustering, fishbone mapping) can be an important tool for teachers to consider the breadth of the issue and to include cross-curricular connections. For example, in the past, the author worked with a sixth grade social studies teacher who was asking the class to examine the core dilemma involved in dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. By focusing only on activities to teach history, the sixth grade teacher missed the big question, "Should we have dropped the bomb?" and possible explorations through the stakeholders' points of view (for example, President Truman, U. S. Air Force Pilot, residents of Hiroshima, etc.).Action 2 - Engage Students in a Real-Life Problem (Task Definition)This action builds a blueprint for inquiry and the investigation process to follow. As the teacher, you identify key curriculum goals and work forward from those to pose an engaging introduction that reflects a real world, ill-structured problem.As in real-life, students must use the inquiry process and reasoning to solve the problem. The narrative that introduces students to the real-life problem is the key to a successful problem-based learning lesson. You can find sample narratives at: http://www.esc20.k12.tx.us/cut/ The Curriculum Using Technology (CUT) Institute Materials web page.Action 3 - Focus Inquiry and Investigation (Task Definition to Information Seeking Strategy, Location & Access and Use of Information)Once students are engaged in the problem, they begin to write down their hunches about it and identify with a stakeholder. Following this, they can begin the process of locating, gathering and using sources of information using the Big6. Inquiry and investigation builds a basis for students to design a solution product.Action 4 - Support Problem Resolution (Synthesis)As students work their way through the different points of view according to the stakeholder position they have taken, it is important that they share information with each other. One way to do this is to encourage students to suggest a solution to the problem that considers the various points of view of all stakeholders. The teacher will want to facilitate a discussion to determine how students will share information to arrive at such a solution.Action 5 - Facilitate Problem Debriefing (Evaluation)After solving the problem, a key piece of problem-based learning is to debrief students. The debriefing step asks students to consider what steps they took to solve the problem and to determine the effectiveness of their reasoning. In addition, students reflect on whether or not they believe their solution will address the causes that were identified in Task Definition. For example, students can look at the criteria identified in Task Definition and ask themselves, "Did I find research from multiple sources?" and "Did I spend my time well in gathering and using information from various sources?" The role of the teacher is to help students focus on metacognition and to review issues inherent in the problem (Gallagher, 2000).An Example: On the BorderThis article began with a presentation of a problem that exists on the border of the United States and Mexico. Here's how the author used this situation to develop a problem-based learning (PBL) lesson called "On the Border," which reinforces essential Big6 information problem-solving skills.Don't forget that preparing curriculum is an information exercise for the teacher, just as the lesson itself presents an information problem for the student. Since lessons based on real-life problems are broad and information-rich, Task Definition is a particularly important step for the teacher.A particularly useful Task Definition exercise for lesson planning is the articulation of curriculum objectives and learning outcomes. When developing the On the Border lesson, the author identified four curriculum objectives:Students will:Examine how history, culture, and geography influence a person's perception toward a particular issue.Construct an understanding of the various stakeholder points of view by immersing themselves in the role of individuals who live there.Research, analyze, and synthesize how the historical, geographical and cultural implications have influenced the views of various groups of people found on the border between the U. S. and Mexico.Apply what they have learned concerning differing points of view, and technology, to create a multimedia presentation to the class.Once the teacher has defined the desired learning outcomes for the lesson, the next step is to consider possible issues associated with the central problem. This will help the teacher to identify and anticipate ways that students may potentially approach the problem. In developing the On the Border lesson, the teacher used a brainstorming map (http://www.geocities.com/mguhlin/writings/ontheborder.jpg) to examine the issues connected with this particular ill-structured problem. The brainstorming map identifies possible stakeholders, issues arising from the influx of undocumented workers, the deaths of border patrol agents, the culture clash between Mexico and the United States, the impact of free trade policies the federal government has enacted and much more. Of course, as any experienced teacher knows, there is no way to anticipate everything the class will come up with-expect to be dazzled by your students' insight and creativity!While Task Definition deals with the problem at hand, it also asks you to define the type of information needed. For the teacher, this means considering what he or she expects for the final product of the lesson. The author determined that as students progress through the lesson, they would build a portfolio for assessment. Each assessment task pinpoints specific learning objectives. An overview of the assessments for this lesson include:Student Product Objectives (I=Individual Product; G=Group Product):Fishbone map of the causes and effects. (I)Cluster map of stakeholder questions. (I)Comparison/Contrast chart on information sources. (I)Spider Map that identifies stakeholder question responses. (I)Problem/solution map that reflects all stakeholders' information. (G)Venn Diagram with different points of view. (G)Multimedia Presentation (G) assessed using the Multimedia Presentation rubric.Peer Evaluation (G) assessed using the Peer Evaluation rubric.Engage Students in a Real-life Problem (Task Definition)Once the teacher has gone through his or her own Big6 process to plan the PBL lesson, it is time to present the lesson to the students and prepare them to engage in their own information problem-solving process to complete the lesson successfully. First, it is important to help the class understand the importance of the problem. Role playing is one way for the students to become actively involved in the problem. The student must say, "My mother is an illegal alien. How do I feel about the U. S. Border Patrol in school?" or perhaps, "As the U.S. Border Patrol Agent in charge of setting up the outreach centers, how can I reassure these children that I am not here on official business in order to hunt their parents?"The teacher can use the Big6 and graphic organizers to help students identify with a particular group. Following is an excerpt from the lesson, where students use graphic organizers to help them begin to define the task of their particular stakeholder group.Big6 #1: Task Definition1.1 Define the information problem: The U.S. Border Patrol has created several outreach programs to provide teenagers the opportunity to explore career possibilities. With these programs, the Border Patrol hopes to improve its relationship with residents in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. One particular initiative in Santa Teresa, New Mexico seems to be doing just the opposite. As you listen to the National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast, do the following:Create a fishbone map of the situation.Identify the stakeholders involved with each cause and identify who is impacted in the result.Select a stakeholder that you would like to know more about.1.2 Define the information needed to solve the problem: After selecting the stakeholder you would like to know more about, ask yourself as many questions as you can about the point of view you will represent. Use Inspiration software to create a cluster map of these questions. Develop specific questions about your point of view to which you do not yet know the answer.Big6 # 2, 3, 4: Focus Inquiry and Investigation (Task Definition to Information Seeking Strategy, Location & Access and Use of Information)2.1 Brainstorm possible sources of information: After you have done a Web search on your topic, organize the possible sources in a chart, like the one below. Use the chart to compare and contrast sources of information and to gather information for the questions you've written. Be sure to use citation guidelines for any information you find.2.2 Selecting the best sources: Look at your chart and decide which sources you will use to respond to your questions.Big6 #5 - Support Problem Resolution (Synthesis)5.1 Organize information from multiple sources: Once again, a graphic organizer can help with this task. Create a spider map that deals with your stakeholder questions and summarizes the information you have found to answer your questions. This will ensure that you include all of the important information that you have collected, and will help to illustrate the relationships between ideas. Next, develop a problem/solution map to show solutions from your point of view, what you think the results will be, and how these results will affect the overall situation. This is where the point of view of the stakeholder is particularly important÷keep in mind what your group will think is a good idea, and what solutions the members of the group would be opposed to. Finally, share your information with your team (the other stakeholders) and then create a Venn diagram to show how the different points of view are similar and different. This will give you the information that you need to develop a problem/solution map that includes the ideas of all members of your group.5.2 Present the information: Now that you have analyzed the results of your research, develop a multimedia presentation. Using eight slides, address the major points of your group's problem/solution map, such as:Title of your presentation and list of Group MembersWhat's the problem?Why is this a problem?Who are the stakeholders?What are some of the attempted solutions and their results? (use a different slide for each solution and result).What do you see as the end result of these problems/solutions?List your references.Reflect on your success as a group.Big6 #6 - Facilitate Problem Debriefing (Evaluation)Since students worked both individually and as a group for this project, it is important that they evaluate their individual work as well as their team work.6.2 Judge the process (Individual): Use the following checklist to judge your information gathering process.What I created to finish the assignment is appropriate for what I was supposed do in Big6 #1.The information I found in Big6 #4 matches the information needed in Big6 #1.I have given credit to my sources and have used a standard citation format.My work complies with copyright laws and fair use guidelines.My work is neat.My work is complete and includes heading information (name, date, etc.).I would be proud for anyone to view this work.Judge the Process (Group): Use the following checklist to judge your group's information gathering process.The group received a high score on the multimedia presentation rubric.We have given credit to our sources and have used a standard citation format.The group's work complies with copyright laws and fair use guidelines.The group received a high score on the peer evaluation rubric.Our work includes the components outlined in Big6 #5.We would be proud for anyone to view this work.ConclusionUsing graphic organizers with the Big6 information problem-solving model provides students with essential tools to participate in problem-based learning. Graphic organizers give students maps they can use to locate, gather, organize, and synthesize information from a variety of resources. Then, students can put that knowledge to use in developing possible solutions for real-life, messy problems. The process of growing up isn't easy . . . it requires us to work through problems, running into barriers as we gather information and trying to reconcile new information to what we already know. That's why information problem-solving processes, such as the Big6, are important; they allow us to externalize the process we go through. By making the process external, we can begin to approach the situation, not only as stakeholders willing to fight for our beliefs, but also as people who can recognize and reconcile different points of view.ReferencesGuhlin, M. (1999). Five steps to Big6ú problem-based learning lessons using graphic organizers. [Online]. Available:http://www.geocities.com/mguhlinFreeman, G. (1999). The graphic organizer. [Online]. Available: http://www.graphic.org/ (current September 8, 1999)Gallagher, S. A., & Stepien, W. (January, 2000). Problem-based learning: Blueprint for bringing curriculum reform to the classroom. Workshop presented at the ASCD Professional Development Conference, San Antonio, Texas.Stepien, W., & Pyke, S. L. (Summer, 1997). Designing problem-based learning units. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 20(4), 380-400.On the Border LessonBrower, D. (no date). Border patrol outreach programs. [Online].Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure