Notes from Millie D

I don’t normally share stories about my home life but this one connects to my professional life and it got me thinking.

I would like to think that I’m a capable and caring parent.  I’m always looking out for the best interests when it comes to my children.  I sacrifice personal needs/wants at times for those of my children.  My wife and I feel like we’re instilling a strong sense of values and morals to carry them throughout their life.  Our oldest daughter seems to have a good head on her shoulders, a sense of personal responsibility, and knows the difference between right and wrong.  Sometimes you take things for granted because they’re still young and think they wouldn’t encounter dangerous situations before you could prepare them for it.  Tonight that changed for me as my oldest daughter (who is the primary grades) told me about how she gave her webkinz password to a friend so he would add something to her account.

She didn’t think it was a problem giving a classmate her password, dad on the other hand was going ballistic inside.  I calmly sat her down and we talked about private information versus public information and what is okay to share with friends and what is not and other things around being safe when one is on the Internet.  She quickly picked up my vibe and asked good questions, in between sobbing stretches (she is a sensitive one).  In the end we came to an understanding about being safe online but still have fun, change the password, and how to handle the questions she might get from her friend at school. I tried to use this as a learning experience for her but it also became a learning experience for me.

This has made me think about online safety through a new lens, not through my teacher’s lens but through my parent one.  Should basic online safety be taught in conjunction with personal safety (don’t talk to strangers, 911 in an emergency, etc.)?  If you want your child to be part of the global society then yes!  There are so many good resources out there to help those who might not know where to start.  Personally I would like to see resources available for parents at pediatrician offices right next to other parenting resources.  Unfortunately (as a society) we need to do this kind of work to protect the innocence of youth.

More and more social networking opportunities are being pushed down to children at younger ages like club penguin and webkinz.  Even Disney has gotten into the fray.  As more and more opportunities are being presented to children, the time to lay down the foundation of safety and security while online is necessary.  The lesson that I’ve learned is the very first time you create an online persona for your child, no matter the age or the type of exposure, your role as a parent should be to have the conversation about online safety and keep reminding your child about it as new things come down the pipeline.  This small act of prevention now can save you a lot when you child is older facing similar situations when the potential dangers are greater and more dangerous.

Something a friend of mine told me that I recalled after talking to my daughter, “It is better to make mistakes early on in life and learn from them than it is later on in life.”  This is so true in this case.  The same kind of mistake 10 years from now for my daughter might result in a bigger, messier situation for our family.  I’m just glad my daughter has the ability to learn from her mistakes.

Looking at the situation through the teacher’s lens I’ll be approaching this grade level a little differently.  I’ll start my online safety unit a little younger than I had done in the past to help keep our children safe but still find value and fun to their Internet experiences.

The best thing about the Internet, if you don’t like something you can always construct it. YouTube is a valuable tool but unfortunately not everything about it is appropriate for the education market. Started in January TeacherTube set out to be an online media property for Education Videos for everyone. The interface is very similar to YouTube (upload, tag, share, comment) plus you can flag a particular video if it is inappropriate.

I feel comfortable letting my teachers explore this tool. Now I’ve got one more vehicle to use in my teaching arsenal. Thank you. Can we start a flickr. Would it be name teackr?

Okay, this one gave me a good laugh.  Even though it is a little tongue and cheek it still makes a lot of sense.

Dad’s Household Computer Rules

* Do not break the law. I don’t have money for bail or fines.
* Do not invade others’ privacy (and I will respect yours).
* Do not give out ANY personal information about yourself or the family.
* Be truthful about who you say you are in online communications.
* Talk to me if anything about a website concerns or confuses you. I know that bad sites can be accessed accidentally.
* Don’t download and install software without my permission. I mean it.
* Be as smart, skeptical, and cautious online as you are elsewhere.
* Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do if I were watching you. I just might be.

If I were rewriting these today, I would add:

* Watch how much time you spend online. Too much and you’ll go blinky and possibly psycho.

Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Dad’s Computer Rules

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Web 2.0 tools are impacting how I’m thinking about teaching everyday.  I think about my initial technology integration work and I would also wonder, “did it make an impact?”  With Web 2.x (I think we beyond the .0) I can/will know the impact through the read/write nature of the tools. Blog comments, wiki updates, views on the flickr account are all ways for me to measure that impact.  As the technology evolves teachers can make more and more social connections with their students, parents, and community and hopefully making it more meaningful.

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Technology for Teachers : Coming of Age: an introduction to the new world wide web

The new world wide web offers so much potential as well as risk.  It is awesome to be involved at a time when some many things are on the verge of changing the landscape.  The one thing I am constantly going back to is the ideal that there is only 24 hours in a day.  At some point people reach a technology overload point.  We have been exposed to so much technology that it could be a full time job just reading blogs and keep up with the newest of the new along with the impact it could have on teachers (wouldn’t that be a great job). 

I have to keep reminding myself that it is okay to let some of this new technology go.  We will probably keep up with the technology with the help of others who keep pushing it to the front page (or the top of our RSS feeds).

KISS=Keep It Simple Sweetie

It is better to take 1 new technology and do it well than it would be take 5 technologies and do them okay.  It is still about the teaching and the education of children, the technology should help be a beacon on that journey with your students.

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Wow, now I remember why I don’t work in the summer.  There is so much out there to keep tabs on I need the summer to sort it all out and figure out ways to implement in my classroom or advise others in their classrooms.  The first moment I had like that today is when Cheryl showed us Springdoo.  I had forgotten about the different uses for it.  My first thought goes to students with written language needs and how they still be an active participant in a Web 2.0 environment.

The whole iTunes in the K-12 arena is very interesting.  I’m not sure if teachers would view it as “sub” plans or if it would be used to enhance what they already do.  I wonder if kids at Stanford and others that use this service still attend the lectures…

Thanks Bob for showing off the different Garageband tricks.  I’ve only scratched the surface (and I knew it) when I used Garageband to Podcast.  Now I see a great use for it instead of using Audacity (which still has it’s place).

I still think the most valuable piece of this class is the conversation and dialogue that goes on.  We aren’t doing enough of it in Professional Development and it needs to (the kids are already doing it themselves).

It was nice this afternoon to see so many people starting to get those “a-ha” moments like we hope to see in our students.  del.icio.us offers a lot of potential.  I just read about using del.icio.us to store podcasts.  That would be great to archive good ones and share them with others by directing them to del.icio.us.  Like I said the potential is great and the more people use it that potential becomes greater and then evolves into results.

Today had a lot of different features to it when working with technology.  We had a really nice discussion around Prensky’s article, it was hard not to do any bashing of the powers-that-be.  Out of that discussion was the topic Second Life.  I’ve only just started looking around but from I’ve been exposed to this has some serious impacts on education.  We may be looking at the future so people may really want to get on the train and go for the ride.

People may not believe it right now but RSS will be a huge time saver if people stick with it.  I easily would loose an hour of the day before checking up on websites before I use bloglines.  Now I’m able to go to one place and find out what’s new and save what I really want to read for later in the day.  Teachers can use this service in providing current event articles for students who may not know where to start.  I’m sure people will come up with other uses as well.

Bob,thanks for showing the clippings feature. I hadn’t played with it before but now I see a few usages for it.  Messing around I don’t know if I would have used it and these kinds of moments is what professional development is all about.

Keep your chin up Alice, you made it through lunch now on to del.icio.us.

This first class always brings anxiety and tension and today was no different. Fortunately I feel like this class has a little bit of everything with a lot of different perspectives. This will give me the chance to have my thoughts and knowledge challenged or extended. This is always a goal I try to have in every class I take as well I hope that I try to stress upon my students. “A good-full day is one which you cry, laugh, and think.” Jim Valvano  Translation:  I don’t feel like I’m at the top of the class or at the bottom, which is a great feeling going into a class.
I thought today’s interesting conversations centered around the usage of 21st Century Learning Technologies and the role of the school in its’ management. Schools have a tendency to quickly shut down “disruptive” technologies before they understand it. I can remember MLTI 1.0, student misbehaviors with the laptop meant that the laptop was taken away. This was a natural reaction in peoples eyes but then it was challenged. The challenge was “Would you take away the textbook if the student was misbehaving with it?” Most people would say “NO!” Next came the insight, the laptop is equivalent to the textbook. At that point schools had a better understanding of the technology and it’s potential impact. I would say that not all 21st Century Learning or “disruptive” Technologies could be rationalized as neatly as the laptops were in a 1-to-1 environment but when a discussion comes around to shut down a piece of “new” technology think about the potential in the classrooom as well as who are they going to learn the proper usage of the “new” technology.  Shutting it down might cause more harm than good in the long term.
Another discussion that made me think today was the rush to hit the send button prior to thinking about it’s consequences. This is a very tough lesson for children as well as adults have to learn. Sometimes learning the lesson through the consequences is the only way that it will sink in. I know that I’ve had a couple of students learn that the hard way. The challenge for most people is the balance of the instanteous benefits of today’s communication tools versus doing the rational thing. I try to impress on my students my experiences. I can think faster than I can type/write so often I skip key words or details that make my thoughts complete so I try to always re-read what I type before hitting the send button. Often I can catch myself from something I may latter regret. My students seem to understand that analogy and hopefully they practice that trait.

Even though a lot of time was spent “setting the table” there was some good discussions that might lead to further insight.  Bring on the next class…