Teaching About Web Includes Troublesome Parts
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/education/09cyberkids.html?ref=education
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: April 8, 2010
This article is a great read for all educators and parents. It constructively discusses some of the negative sides to the internet and how students use them. These types of issues will become even more important for us to consider next year as every student may have a laptop at school.
Before coming to FEC, students in my classroom (5th and 6th grades) were blogging and using email and there were several instances that came up where students were posting or sending inappropriate things. Calling students names. Talking about how students dress, sound, etc. The types of things that were usually said on the playground, but now were posted for the whole world to see and comment on. Plus, things that are posted to blogs or websites stay up there a long time - it's like saying something over again every time someone reads it.
My initial reaction (and the reaction of most principals and other administrators) was just to stop using blogs, email, websites, etc. altogether. But that's not the answer. It may keep me from getting into trouble, but what does it teach the students? If they are not already, they will be using these technologies at home anyway so I can't keep them from using them 100% of the time. So, what do we do?
We need to teach them how to use these technologies appropriately. This topic has not been discussed yet but hopefully will as student laptops or iPads become a reality. This is something I am very passionate about and will make sure to focus on next school year and as long as I am here.
