Thursday, December 16, 2010
CED535 Week 1
This class should be interesting. I do not currently have a WIKI that my students look at, or a blog for them. I have concerns about these types of communication. I know that our administration does not want us encouraging our children to sign up for an email, or other kinds of Internet sites. I guess my boss is worried that if something happens the school would be responsible. While reading one of the assigned chapters for this week, I was happy to read that statistics are low for incidents with children. I guess I'm interested to learn how to use these sites for educational purposes, in a middle school setting. It's not that I don't think it can be done, or useful. These sites are new to me and I don't know how to use them yet.......but hey.........that is why I signed up for this program. I know my students would enjoy doing these types of activities, but I need to learn how to do it and make sure it's safe for them. My other concern is time. I feel like we are learning great things, but they seem to be time consuming. I guess it'll become easier with time, but right now I feel overwhelmed. Last........ I just worry about putting my students names, pictures, or videos on the Internet. I still don't feel like anything is "safe". I need some convincing! Hopefully these are all concerns that will no longer be on my mind when we finish.
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Christy-
ReplyDeleteThe administration at my school is in the same boat as yours, but I do see their position on the issue. Maybe it is up to us to change their view! And keeping our students safe is at the top of our to-do lists. There is a lot we can do at school to teach them how to be safe, but I think their bad Internet habits start at home so some safety rules and expectations need to be set and followed at home.
Christy,
ReplyDeleteOne of the concerns that I have is if one student would share the information of another student for whatever reason. But, I guess with all of the social networks they are a part of they could be doing that now. So maybe, it is up to us to show them the etiquette and do's and don'ts.
I have always been really afraid to put my students, or my own kids for that matter, out there on the internet, but after looking at starting e-pals I feel a little more confident. I was able to set up accounts for each of my students completely anonymously, which gave me hope! However, I have the advantage of teaching third graders, not older kids like you and Bill. My kids are still pretty innocent, and if I tell them to make sure not to put anything personal out there, they won't. Nor would they ever think about divulging personal info about their peers. But once again, that's with younger kids, not upper elementary or middle school kids. I think our main goal should be to teach them the right and wrong of the web, which is a skill they will use for a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteChristy, great blog. My administration is a little in the dark when it comes to technology like this. One has some skill with the internet and the other can barely run the computer. I know that our tech department does a great job of monitoring our activity online, students and teachers alike, and even record every key stoke into the keyboard, but it is another thing to lose that ability when the student is at home. I think being cautious is great, that means that you know where your administrators are coming from, but it appears that we are on the brink of rethinking the way we teach, and using technology more frequently may be the only way we can stay current with our students. Not to mention, if we don't teach this to students now, will they learn it later on in the workforce, or will it be too late?
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