Submitted by Jim R. Moulton (not verified) on March 29, 2008 - 11:27.
Laura -
First off, I have to say that I think complications are part of a teacher's lot in life. A teacher who seeks a professional life "without complications," must be constantly frustrated.
Oh yes, harm can certainly be done through thoughtless posting, but people don't need a blog to be indiscreet... How many times have I heard comments in teachers' rooms that I have to believe the speaker would love to be able to retract...
Perhaps, "Discretion is the better part of blogging," eh? In fact I would suggest it is that very public nature of the blog that is one of its strengths. Inappropriate uses of social networking sites by kids & adults happens either when folks simply don't understand or most likely don't take time to consider the very public & very long lasting nature of their posts, be they text, images, audio, or video.
So rather than not blogging for fear of the open-ness, that very open-ness is a great reason for teachers to blog. We need to help the students understand how important it is to think before one hits "post" or "send" or "reply" or "forward..." After all, they will be using those buttons for a long, long time in whatever career path they take.
How about having a class discussion about whether a post is ready to be sent out for all to see... A conversation about who might agree, who might disagree, etc...
This is an important topic, so if you haven't read it already, you might consider reading Neil Postman's "Teaching as a Subversive Activity." http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Subversive-Activity-Neil-Postman/dp/0385290098
There can be "downsides" to everything...
Submitted by Jim R. Moulton (not verified) on March 29, 2008 - 11:27.
Laura -
First off, I have to say that I think complications are part of a teacher's lot in life. A teacher who seeks a professional life "without complications," must be constantly frustrated.
Oh yes, harm can certainly be done through thoughtless posting, but people don't need a blog to be indiscreet... How many times have I heard comments in teachers' rooms that I have to believe the speaker would love to be able to retract...
Perhaps, "Discretion is the better part of blogging," eh? In fact I would suggest it is that very public nature of the blog that is one of its strengths. Inappropriate uses of social networking sites by kids & adults happens either when folks simply don't understand or most likely don't take time to consider the very public & very long lasting nature of their posts, be they text, images, audio, or video.
So rather than not blogging for fear of the open-ness, that very open-ness is a great reason for teachers to blog. We need to help the students understand how important it is to think before one hits "post" or "send" or "reply" or "forward..." After all, they will be using those buttons for a long, long time in whatever career path they take.
How about having a class discussion about whether a post is ready to be sent out for all to see... A conversation about who might agree, who might disagree, etc...
This is an important topic, so if you haven't read it already, you might consider reading Neil Postman's "Teaching as a Subversive Activity." http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Subversive-Activity-Neil-Postman/dp/0385290098