'We need to start instructing students in the use of computers, zeroing in on seven core skills: defining, accessing, managing, integrating, evaluating, creating, and communicating information. The seven core skill areas can be broken down into simple tasks for elementary students, and built upon as the students progress in their knowledge of computer skills.'
From the link: http://resourcexpress.net/8/classroom.php?zt=Safety%20Classroom
After researching the use of blogs in the classroom I have become aware of the enormous benefits that blogging provides for our students. How it can enhance writing, reading, creativity, communication, technological awareness, etc. I have read many articles from experts who endorse blogging.
However I think that it is important to examine the cons to this technology as well. As a grade 3 teacher (who admittedly has not yet attempted blogging with my students), I do have some concerns. I only have one 50 minute period in the computer lab a week with my students and although setting up a blog takes only minutes, with a class of 20 young children I wonder how ’smoothly’ that would be. Then their typing abilities come into question. I know that quality beats out quantity, but I think a few could only manage a sentence or two after reaching their blog. I definitely think older students have the advantage here. (Although I guess if you start them young...). There are also concerns about content that would have to be closely monitored of course. Here are some safety tips I found:
Copyright Parry Aftab 2006, all rights reserved. For permission to duplicate, e-mail Parry@WiredSafety.org. Parry Aftab's Guide to Keeping Your Kids Safe Online MySpace, Facebook and Xanga, Oh! My! Keeping yourself and your kids safe on social networks
The quick tips for teens:
• Put everything behind password protected walls, where only friends can see
• Protect your password and make sure you really know who someone is before you allow them onto your friends list
• Blur or morph your photos a bit so they won't be abused by cyberbullies or predators
• Don't post anything your parents, principal or a predator couldn't see
• What you post online stays online - forever!!!! So thinkb4uClick!
• Don't so or say anything online you wouldn't say offline
• Protect your privacy and your friends' privacy too...get their okay before posting something about them or their pic online
• Check what your friends are posting/saying about you. Even if you are careful, they may not be and may be putting you at risk.
• That cute 14-year old boy may not be cute, may not be 14 and may not be a boy! You never know!
• And, unless you’re prepared to attach your MySpace to your college/job/internship/scholarship or sports team application…don’t post it publicly!
And for parents:
• Talk to your kids – ask questions (and then confirm to make sure they are telling you the truth!)
• Ask to see their profile page (for the first time)…tomorrow! (It gives them a chance to remove everything that isn’t appropriate or safe…and it becomes a way to teach them what not to post instead of being a gotcha moment! Think of it as the loud announcement before walking downstairs to a teen party you’re hosting.)
• Don't panic…there are ways of keeping your kids safe online. It’s easier than you think!
• Be involved and work with others in your community. (Think about joining WiredSafety.org and help create a local cyber-neighborhood watch program in your community.)
• Remember what you did that your parents would have killed you had they known, when you were fifteen.
• This too will pass! Most kids really do use social networks just to communicate with their friends. Take a breath, gather your thoughts and get help when you need it. (You can reach out to WiredSafety.org.)
• It’s not an invasion of their privacy if strangers can see it. There is a difference between reading their paper diary that is tucked away in their sock drawer…and reading their MySpace. One is between them and the paper it’s written on; the other between them and 700 million people online!
• Don’t believe everything you read online – especially if your teen posts it on her MySpace!
• And, finally….repeat after me – “I’m still the parent!” If they don’t listen or follow your rules, unplug the computer…the walk to the library will do them good. . For more information, visit WiredSafety.org.
I hope that I have not given the impression that I am 'against' classroom blogging, far from it, but I do think that we need to look at the cons as well as the pros before we take the responsiblity of using it with our students.
Wow, I must admit that I did not know anything about blogs before I began this course. I had never heard of a ’blog’. So, although this course has just begun, I have already learned something new! In the last couple of days I have been surfing to find out more information (starting with the basic concept of ‘What a blog is’) and I am amazed at how ‘in the dark’ I have been, (but it appears I am not entirely alone). In talking to several colleagues there are others who are unaware of this technology too.
In my attempt to expand my awareness of blogs and how I can utilize this technology in the classroom, I found one site that was both interesting and helpful. It was http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/02/blogs.php. It contains an article written by Kristen Kennedy about Writing with Web Logs. In it she explains that “Web publication gives students a real audience to write to and, when optimized, a collaborative environment where they can give and receive feedback, mirroring the way professional writers use a workshop environment to hone their craft.’ She goes on to say that by doing this we ‘enhance writing and literacy skills while offering a uniquely stylized form of expression.’
My students have used computer programs to publish their writing before, but I think that the concept to creating a blog would generate more enthusiasm for students. As Kristen Kennedy says, this ‘uniquely stylized form of expression’ would be the motivation for witing for my students. There audience is usually limited to me, the teacher. I believe their excitement about having a wider audience would increase their writing efforts. At another interesting site, http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0450.asp?bhcp=1, a fifth grader, Dominic Oullet-Tremblay, confirms this by saying, "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link.” This seems to be the concensus, not only from students, but also from educators (as pointed out by Jeremy from the article he found that stated, "Although blogging in schools is still in its infancy, anecdotal evidence suggests that students' interest in, and quantity of, writing increases when their work is published online and -- perhaps even more importantly -- when it is subject to reader comments.”
Hello Everyone, My name is Carolyn Burns and I am a grade 3 teacher at an inner city school in Hamilton. This is my 2nd year in grade 3. Before this assignment I taught grade 5 for about 6 years. I have taken 2 courses that were half on line and half in the classroom. I am still a little wary of doing this fully on line, but I'll give it a go! I am really looking forward to learning a lot about computer use in the classroom.
