fighting a lost battle?

image from this flickrer

Article: E-safety and Web 2.0 - Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4
Mike Sharples, Rebecca Graber, Colin Harrison and Kit Logan

Wow, just when you think teaching/learning technologies and Web2.0 tools are amazing, the darker side rears its ugly head. Cyber-safety and cyber-bullying are INCREDIBLY important topics, ones that ABSOLUTELY MUST be thoroughly explained to students. This excerpt from the article above highlights the role a teacher must play in keeping children away from danger:

Schools can have a role in educating children to use the new internet safely and responsibly. Teachers can help children to appreciate when they cross the line from normal and acceptable Web 2.0 activity, which may include posting some personal details online, to abnormal and risky behaviour. Currently, most children are prevented from engaging in any social activity on the web at school. While this may remove the immediate danger to children and protect the school or local authority against lawsuits, it may also store up further problems for society at large. Now that most children have home access, safe behaviours are essential, but a strongly protected online environment at school may not provide the opportunity to learn these.

While on prac, and during my work at a before/after school centre, I witness verbal and physical forms of bullying every day. It saddens me to think that once more and more technology is introduced into our schools, cyber-bullying will become much more apparent. I believe that it is absolutely vital to teach our children social skills and how to interact fairly in group work/play situations - THEN and only then, introduce technology into the picture. If our children grow up to be anti-social beings, ones that have no idea how to cooperate fairly in teams, then what is the point of adding another thing that teachers must fight against - tackle the underlying issue first.

But then again, are we really fighting a battle that has already been lost? Many children nowadays have severe anti-social qualities, and alot have computers in their bedrooms. If we do all we can as teachers to educate about online safety and cyber bullying, is that enough? I think parents more so than teachers need to first be educated about the risks of allowing their children to surf the net unsupervised.

Martine, in her blog, provides a checklist of information that parents/and additionally teachers can use when discussing and implementing internet safety:

- keep the computer in a family room, NOT in a bedroom
- understand parenting controls on your internet browser and how to block websites and emails - find softwares that can be used to help protect your child
- dont allow your child to submit personal information on line without your permission
- encourage them to show you and tell you about anything that makes them uncomfortable when surfing the internet
- familiarise yourself and talk to your child about who they contact on-line

For more information, the article linked above provides statistics and easy to read information about these issues. All in all, a very thought provoking issue!

catching up on some blogs.

images by morgan
(my prac classroom)

The issue of advancing technology and the question of whether to include it all in the classroom, is difficult for me to respond to. Like alot of other people, I was fortunate enough to have a smartboard in my prac classroom. But did it add to learning? I am not quite sure. Of course, it was great fun to use, but was it purely novelty? I have been reading Liam's blog, and he asks:

"...are smart boards enhancing learning or detracting from? Are they drawing the classes’ attention away from the lesson at hand with loud noises, distracting behaviours and an incessant need to break the ‘keep your hands to yourself’ rule. Are smart boards the new class clown?"

These questions NEED to be asked. In my class, smartboards were definately distracting. I constantly needed to reinforce 'no hands on the smartboard screen or touching the smartboard pen" etc. It became frustrating. But then again, there were times where it was just so much fun, the kids loved it, and wanted to be involved. Do you think though, that in a few years, this novelty will wear out?

I'm not sure about bringing EVERY little bit of technology into our schools. I really don't think it is necessary to have Ipods, Ipads, and Iphones in the classroom! Seriously, there needs to be a balance. Maybe I'm just getting a little sick of all this technology!

Selah.

{Selah - 'to pause and reflect'.}

We have just had another superb tutorial, with everyone giving their presentations and introducing us to a bunch of fantastic resources that promote 'meaningful learning'. To record our attendance at the session we needed to post a thread on the discussion board relating to our two favourite resources and a little commentary on the issue of 'evaluation'. Additionally, we needed to post a link to our 'Delicious' social-bookmarking site. Here is what I wrote:

After hearing so many wonderful presentations this afternoon, I have decided that I like the look of the StoryBird Website, and the FossWeb site. The StoryBird website is very sweet, and basically allows students to write and draw their own 'online story' for them to export and share with family/friends. It also is free, which is such a major benefit. The FossWebsite is a science based website that has really fun and interactive games for students to learn about science based content such as 'Solids and Liquids'.

The process of evaluation, for me, is actually quite tricky. There are so many aspects to consider when analysing a type of software/hardware, such as:
- how does it promote meaningful learning?
- how can teachers use this in the classroom with it being beneficial?
- can students 'construct' anything out of these soft-wares to make their learning more in-depth?
(These are just a few questions you need to ask yourself)
Additionally, you must weigh up the positives and negatives, and relate them to studies/research and readings! Despite the lengthy process, evaluations must be done in order for us as pre-service teachers to sort the meaningful learning technologies from the dodgy ones. I would like to find out how other people evaluate resources, so that if I have missed out on something, I can learn how to better evaluate and analyse.

It is also interesting to note what other sites my fellow bloggers found interesting. Hannah raised some interesting points on what whether sites that are interactive, are automatically promoting meaningful learning. Additionally, Martine (whose blog you may not be able to access, only if you are included in UTSonline) finds the iPhone Basic Maths Deluxe application really innovative and educational. It is always good to be looking at what other students find interesting, as they may introduce you to an amazing resource that you would never have found on your own.

Now, I'm off to prepare my 'Mid-Semester Statement'!

*image thanks to Shirshir Naik, who posts his art on the 'StoryBird' website.