While attending the "Teachers Teaching Teachers" Independent Schools Conference this past Saturday at Hockaday, I received some insights about my concerns about student safety/privacy and the internet.
Greenhill, Hockaday, and St. Marks all have a parent log-in in order to access their teacher pages, such as www.home.hockaday.org.
That way elementary teachers can put video, photos and blogs of students with their names, without fear of public access or violating privacy and identity protection issues of minors. It completely eliminates their worry as teachers and enables them to be as creative and spontaneous as they would like to be with technology integration projects.
I love that! I wonder if Parish is moving in the same direction and how soon?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Protecting Our Younger Students On-Line
This blog is set up as private. The only people who can view it are people I invite. The only comments that can be added are ones that I have seen and approved. I set it up this way in less than 10 minutes. Because it is private, I can have students use their first names and photos in their blogger account profiles. However, we as teachers, must ensure that all of our google sites (blogger is one of them) are set up with this privacy in mind.
Before we set up accounts for students, we need to agree on this degree of privacy. I suggest that if Dolores needs temporary access to show at a conference or something, then that could be allowed. However, I also suggest that public access NOT be allowed at least for 4th grade and below (perhaps for 8th grade and below).
Students would rather see their real name and photo than have their account be public. If, for some reason, we need blogs and wikis to be public, then we must go to anonymous names such as 3Bl-1 to stand for 3Bledsoe, Student #1, or something like that.
As I continue to research Web 2.0 technologies in the world of education, there are plenty of sites (blogs, video, voicethreads, wikis) that have made public their 1st graders photos with their first names only. It could just be me, but I feel uncomfortable with that.
What are your thoughts on this?
Before we set up accounts for students, we need to agree on this degree of privacy. I suggest that if Dolores needs temporary access to show at a conference or something, then that could be allowed. However, I also suggest that public access NOT be allowed at least for 4th grade and below (perhaps for 8th grade and below).
Students would rather see their real name and photo than have their account be public. If, for some reason, we need blogs and wikis to be public, then we must go to anonymous names such as 3Bl-1 to stand for 3Bledsoe, Student #1, or something like that.
As I continue to research Web 2.0 technologies in the world of education, there are plenty of sites (blogs, video, voicethreads, wikis) that have made public their 1st graders photos with their first names only. It could just be me, but I feel uncomfortable with that.
What are your thoughts on this?
What about "Buddy Classes?"
I have an idea about how to help bridge the physical distance between the EC and UE divisions for next year. If we all had web cams and I set you up with Skype, we could have buddy classes with the Hillcrest campus. 4th grade could be teamed up with 2nd grade, and 3rd grade with 1st grade. There will be one 3rd grade and one 4th grade class left over (since the last we heard there will be only 4 sections of 1st and 2nd grade). We can match the left over 3rd and 4th grade classes with a kindergarten class each. That leaves two kindergarten classes who need a buddy class, so perhaps Religion would like to buddy up with one class and Art could buddy up with another class.
What would we do with our buddy classes? Well maybe, just during homeroom time (except religion and art, who would just pick one of their classes to do this with), two or three students could have a "Show and Tell" (video conference)about something great they are doing in their class (class project, field trip, interesting learning). Limit the show and tell to 10 sentences or less, perhaps, and then have your buddy class do something similar. You could just touch base with your buddy class once or twice a week, or as you and your buddy teacher see fit to do.
The teachers would determine what they would do with their “Buddy Class” over Skype. There are endless possibilities. Here are a few: book discussions, presentation about 2nd grade learning about Greece to 4th grade Buddy Class, 4th grade share with 2nd grade about Austin trip, teach each other a song related to curriculum, 3rd graders demonstrate to 1st graders how their rockets will work (this matches some of the 1st grade science curriculum too), 1st grade share some of their learning about Egypt with 3rd grade, and the list goes on. The 4th graders can reminisce about and share with the 2nd graders what they remember about their experiences, and the 4th graders can provide previews and build excitement for what the EC students will be experiencing as they move on up. The same holds true if we partner 3rd with 1st. With web cams in place for each teacher, they can instantly connect without waiting for me to install the camera, set up their accounts, etc.
An extension of the idea? You could have one of your 3rd graders have an assigned buddy in your buddy class. That would help to foster that personal connection. You could arrange your "Show and Tell" times based on buddy students, topics of study, student interests etc.
What do you think? It's just an idea to toss around.
What would we do with our buddy classes? Well maybe, just during homeroom time (except religion and art, who would just pick one of their classes to do this with), two or three students could have a "Show and Tell" (video conference)about something great they are doing in their class (class project, field trip, interesting learning). Limit the show and tell to 10 sentences or less, perhaps, and then have your buddy class do something similar. You could just touch base with your buddy class once or twice a week, or as you and your buddy teacher see fit to do.
The teachers would determine what they would do with their “Buddy Class” over Skype. There are endless possibilities. Here are a few: book discussions, presentation about 2nd grade learning about Greece to 4th grade Buddy Class, 4th grade share with 2nd grade about Austin trip, teach each other a song related to curriculum, 3rd graders demonstrate to 1st graders how their rockets will work (this matches some of the 1st grade science curriculum too), 1st grade share some of their learning about Egypt with 3rd grade, and the list goes on. The 4th graders can reminisce about and share with the 2nd graders what they remember about their experiences, and the 4th graders can provide previews and build excitement for what the EC students will be experiencing as they move on up. The same holds true if we partner 3rd with 1st. With web cams in place for each teacher, they can instantly connect without waiting for me to install the camera, set up their accounts, etc.
An extension of the idea? You could have one of your 3rd graders have an assigned buddy in your buddy class. That would help to foster that personal connection. You could arrange your "Show and Tell" times based on buddy students, topics of study, student interests etc.
What do you think? It's just an idea to toss around.
Blog or Wiki? - It depends on your goal.
What do you as an individual teacher OR as a grade level OR as a subject area want to do with your students with respect to their learning goals?
You want to have a discussion? Then we can create a blog.
You want to co-create and co-edit? Then we can create a wiki.
Examples:
Mrs. Fuchs wants her students to exchange ideas about why smoking is bad, how it affects the lungs, if students have family members or friends who have been affected by smoking. She would do this in a blog. Perhaps she just starts with her homeroom class as her initial test project.
But, Mrs. Lothamer wants her students to co-create a really solid descriptive paragraph on the topic of the week. They can create this in a wiki, where the students are ALL editors and co-creators of this document. They can also add comments or attachments as they are working on this project. Again, she could just start with her homeroom to see how it works.
Mr. Stevenson wants students to discuss current events that relate to 4th graders. He can do this in a blog...again perhaps just starting with his homeroom, or perhaps this topic lends itself easier to opening it up to the entire grade level. Mr. S controls the topics that are posted, and students respond with their ideas and reflections.
Mrs. Durling wants her students to extend a discussion on the novel they are studying. They could have "Novel Novel Discussions." Based on her class' studies of Jackie Robinson, she could pose a question to her students such as, "If you had to move to another country with your family, what would be some of the most difficult challenges you think you would have to face?" That would best take place in a blog.
Mrs. Aderhold wants her students to problem solve math problems related to building a fence for their own backyards. She could do this in a wiki OR a blog, depending on defining more specific goals.
Mrs. Hicks wants to create a class prayer journal. This would involve co-creating and co-editing. This would best take place in a wiki.
So, you see, the question is NOT do we all do a wiki or a blog. The question is what do I want my students to be able to do, accomplish, understand, etc. Once you understand this, then Michelle, Dolores and Lucy can help you with the technology. Believe it or not, that's the easy piece. It's coming up with the purpose that's the most difficult and the most important.
You want to have a discussion? Then we can create a blog.
You want to co-create and co-edit? Then we can create a wiki.
Examples:
Mrs. Fuchs wants her students to exchange ideas about why smoking is bad, how it affects the lungs, if students have family members or friends who have been affected by smoking. She would do this in a blog. Perhaps she just starts with her homeroom class as her initial test project.
But, Mrs. Lothamer wants her students to co-create a really solid descriptive paragraph on the topic of the week. They can create this in a wiki, where the students are ALL editors and co-creators of this document. They can also add comments or attachments as they are working on this project. Again, she could just start with her homeroom to see how it works.
Mr. Stevenson wants students to discuss current events that relate to 4th graders. He can do this in a blog...again perhaps just starting with his homeroom, or perhaps this topic lends itself easier to opening it up to the entire grade level. Mr. S controls the topics that are posted, and students respond with their ideas and reflections.
Mrs. Durling wants her students to extend a discussion on the novel they are studying. They could have "Novel Novel Discussions." Based on her class' studies of Jackie Robinson, she could pose a question to her students such as, "If you had to move to another country with your family, what would be some of the most difficult challenges you think you would have to face?" That would best take place in a blog.
Mrs. Aderhold wants her students to problem solve math problems related to building a fence for their own backyards. She could do this in a wiki OR a blog, depending on defining more specific goals.
Mrs. Hicks wants to create a class prayer journal. This would involve co-creating and co-editing. This would best take place in a wiki.
So, you see, the question is NOT do we all do a wiki or a blog. The question is what do I want my students to be able to do, accomplish, understand, etc. Once you understand this, then Michelle, Dolores and Lucy can help you with the technology. Believe it or not, that's the easy piece. It's coming up with the purpose that's the most difficult and the most important.
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