NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, December 2008
New “AccuKidz” Website – Educational and Safe for Children
By Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director;
Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; Radio & TV Show Host

Iwilsker@apcug.net
(click to email author)

WEBSITES:
http://www.accuweather.com/kidz/

I have written many columns about the threats on the internet, and many of those online threats have been directed at children. The popular social networking sites used by millions of children and adults have been abused by some, and become a source of online threats and other undesirable actions directed against our children. Now there is a free, kid-safe website that is educational and fun for children, which can be used to safely communicate with other children worldwide, and as a display page for student activities and projects.

This new page, a service of the renowned weather service AccuWeather is “AccuKidz”, *(AccuWeather for Kids) and online at http://www.accuweather.com/kidz/. AccuKidz is a special interest site for kids which specializes in weather news, but also offers other beneficial services such as social networking, and a place to display student projects. This website offers the child fun educational topics including weather, photography, video production, science, art, and other subjects. AccuKidz offers free web pages to schools and class teams, including home schooled children, where kids can post their work, photos, weather videos, science projects, and items of community interest for the world to see.

Once a school team creates its own free AccuKidz website, that page is explicitly dedicated to that group or class, and displays photos uploaded by team or class members, shows the local weather in real time, and showcases any projects being done by the group or individuals. Each team or class chooses its own team name, and can use the dedicated website to coordinate special projects, collect and share data, present reports, post news items, or any other material desired by the team.

Among the many features of AccuKidz are the forums where children can ask questions of other children (and teachers), compare ideas, discuss weather and other scientific topics, and talk about community events. Other AccuKidz teams and participants from all over the world will see the forum postings, and many will respond, creating an excellent and educational social network for our children. Teachers and classmates may use the dedicated team website as the designated location to distribute class project information and data, collect results from participants, participate in weather related projects, and provide a source of bilateral communication among the team members and other participants.

There are many resources available to the students and teams, all for free. Children and teachers can access and utilize countless weather maps, radar images, satellite images, historical information, and maps and other information of noteworthy events around the world. The students and teachers can access information on trends, historical averages, facts, figures, graphs, charts, and other resources on temperatures, precipitation, and other data that can be used for student research projects. Other resources that can be freely accessed by the students include numerous articles, forums, and other special features presented by some of the world’s leading weather experts. These resources explain in understandable terms topics including climatology and weather forecasting. In order to make the topic more interesting for the students, and encourage active participation, AccuKidz offers child safe contests, games, and other activities that can enhance the student learning experience. Rather than treating science topics as theoretical, AccuKidz shows the practical relationships of how weather affects our daily lives, ranging from sports to transportation, and from gardening to safety issues. There are ample opportunities for teams and students who desire to focus on areas of special interest to pursue those interests.

The web pages are provided for free by AccuWeather to any school or classroom team, and offer expert site monitoring by an AccuWeather squad, who will remove any inappropriate content, and edit the site for content. The teacher or team needs no technical skills to create or administer the website, and since content monitoring is provided by AccuWeather, the site should comply with most school webpage policies. While anyone can post photos, videos, and presentations, all uploads are monitored for inappropriate content and edited as appropriate. There are very few rules on the use of AccuKidz; it is a place for students, teachers, and parents to present and exchange community information, weather information, and science topics. Unlike the more traditional social networking websites and services, AccuKidz is not for purely personal messaging and gossip, but instead for the exchange of ideas and relevant information. AccuWeather will monitor AccuKidz for accuracy, appropriateness, and compliance with the rules, and edit content as necessary to maintain a high standard of service and content.

Creating an AccuKidz team is fairly simple and free. From the website at http://www.accuweather.com/kidz/ click on “Create Yours”. It is necessary to create a team name that contains the word “team”, and then register on both the photo gallery and the forums. A quick review of the teams displayed (click on “Weather Teams”) is that there is more than just school and class teams, but teams consisting of brownie troops, cub scouts packs, church teams, home schooled kids, teams from museums, and other non-academic teams as well as from more traditional academic locations. Teams can also be created from after-school groups of all kinds, college teams, chambers of commerce, non-profit groups, churches and other religious groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, resorts, tourist attractions, historical sites, photo clubs, video organizations, nature areas, and zoos. This is an excellent educational opportunity for virtually any type of organization.

The heart of AccuKidz consists of forums where participants can exchange information and ideas, a photo gallery with tens of thousands of weather photos uploaded by participants, “Learn about weather” where easy to understand weather information and facts are presented, “Your weather” which displays a localized weather page, an art contest, a listing of “free stuff and games” with online educational games and giveaways, and resources for teachers.

AccuWeather is to be commended for creating such an excellent educational and free resource available to all. I would like to see our local schools, scouting organizations, home schoolers, Sunday schools, and others take advantage of it.

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