A Reminder to Myself

…that it’s all about the students. 
In my case, children ages 5-10. 

“It’s Cool To Be Connected”(my hallway decoration)

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

500 Pound Gorilla in the Room

As my more recent posts suggest, my district’s technology team has been having some productive conversations about using online collaboration tools with students and staff.  I”m excited by the positive reactions from our administrators and IT specialists.  However, they have a few concerns….

When is it alright to talk about this?

Photo by: Mike Harbison

 

I”ve been to a few workshops recently where presenters or attendees have either scoffed at or brushed off teachers who raise their hands to say:  “My district won’t let us do that.”  At times, it seems like when a teacher voices that concern, they are treated as if they are unwilling to change.  We’re learning about great tools and how to use them effectively with our students, but we’re ignoring the 500 pound gorilla in the room:  many districts are NOT allowing students to collaborate online…in fact, most tools are blocked for students and teachers alike!!

 I completely support the most common response to those hand-raising teachers; we need to be creative innovators to win over our administrators. ..be agents of change….don’t just believe in it, do it!  (A moving post by Joyce Valenza will fire you up!  Thank you to Media Specialist Amy King for sharing.)

Last week, I attended RTEC(Rutgers Technology in Education Conference) presented by Rutgers University.  Peter Oyler from Apple Inc. spoke about what 21st century learning environments look like.  It was a very good presentation, which ended with an opportunity to reflect on our role as educators to determine if we were truly giving our students the best opportunities to learn and how technology could enhance that learning.  I wondered how many teachers in the audience were thinking what I was thinking, “Yes, I want to do this, but my district….”

The administrators in my district have concerns, and honestly with the number of lawsuits against schools growing, I understand why.  Here are some of their concerns:

• If a child is the victim of cyber-bullying while not in school, but while using a district approved online tool, can the school be held liable?
• If our students use collaboration tools in school in a safe “walled garden” manner, yet chooses to use the tool in a completely public manner at home and that child’s safety is compromised, can the school be held liable?
• Online predators**:  what is the (real) chance of an online predator contacting our students with these tools?   What is the (real) chance of an online predator finding information about a student (name, photo) and using that information to harm/kidnap a student, if we allow students to use these tools?
• Can an AUP and staff/student/parent education concerning online safety and digital citizenship completely protect the district from lawsuits?

**I’m waiting to hear back from Dr. Tim Tyson, who gave a great iSafety presentation at RTEC.  I”m hoping he can share his resources which brought some very interesting facts about online predators to light.  I’ll post about the details when I hear back from him.

I do not have a background in educational law.  I’ve done a few searches for recent lawsuits in this area, but so far haven’t found much at all.   However, I’m assuming that my district isn’t the only district dragging their feet because of potential legal issues.

I will continue to strive to be an agent of change.  I will continue to research, collaborate and learn about this wonderful world in which my students should be participating.   However, until the concerns listed above are addressed, it’s likely we won’t budge.   For me, now is a good time to talk about these issues.

My questions:  Does your district have these concerns?  If not, what legally supports your programming?   Even if you don’t agree with the concerns, are they valid?   What can be done to make my administration feel comfortable about using online collaboration tools with students and staff?

Thanks for reading!

Hi, My Name is Christy and I’ve Participated in a PLN for 8 Months

Information Junkie

Many bloggers post about the joy of reading other blogs, and jumping from link to link…practically swimming in new ideas and information.  (Will Richardson describes it as a dance, and Steve Dembo reminds us to Link it Up!)  To be honest, I often feel what I like to call RSS two-way guilt  (I may or may not be the first person to use that term, but I’m surely not the first person to feel it.)  When my Reader has 100+ posts, I feel guilty that I’ve neglected my ever generous, always stimulating PLN.  After 2+ hours catching up, I feel guilty when my non-educator husband calls from the living room, “Are you still blogging?”  (He doesn’t differentiate between PLN activities..everything is “blogging” to him, mostly to yank my chain. I can’t imagine what you folks with kids do.)  Would some basic time management help?  Of course, but there are only so many hours in the day.  I have Twitter, Nings, wikis, and emails to stay on top of!  Did I mention I’m also a full-time technology AND gifted/talented teacher?   But, alas, I cannot stop…

Believe Me, I’m Not Complaining!

Discovering this “new world” of information 8 months ago is the BEST professional thing that could have happened to me.  (I have Lisa Thumann to thank for a great Web 2.0 workshop at Rutgers University.)  I was lucky enough to attend the Google Teacher Academy in NYC this past November. (Here is my application video) I met amazing people who have the same (and different)goals and ideas as I do.   I’ve encouraged my district administrators to continually add “Web 2.0″, for lack of a better term, to each technology meeting agenda.   Today, I pitched the idea of using Google Apps. for Educators with our teachers and students.  I made this simple presentation, and it sparked a forward-moving conversation.

Go Team!

My Free Master’s Program

I completed my Master’s degree in Educational Technology in 2005.  I’m very proud of that degree, but feel…well…sad, when I think about the hours I spent in musty campus computer labs creating projects that proved my knowledge of Flash (a car driving across the screen) or my superb PowerPoint abilities (creating a Jeopardy game).  In three years, I have never felt the need to recreate either of those activities.  Participating in my PLN, even if my activity is limited at times, is a free, incredibly engaging opportunity to stretch and grow.  I feel the ups and downs that all life-long learners feel:  discomfort and hesitation with the new material leading to confidence and pride with the things I’ve mastered.  I feel like the student from the YouTube video Networked Student by Wendy Dexler.   The last bit of the video describes the role of a teacher as someone who guides, supports and encourages rather than acts as the “sage on the stage”.  Somewhat ironically, I think it reinforces the need for f2f learning environments as well.  I’m very interested in learning and sharing with my peers in my PLN, but nothing beats seeing the excitement on a fellow educator’s face when they say, “My students LOVED this… it was so cool.”