I am sure from all of my previous posts you remember my stance on this. HOW CAN THIS BE??? This is terrible. Why are we stuck in the past? How can kids learn from this? UGH!!!
Here a quote from his post:
"One coach even told me that she was asked by one of her board members who was concerned about their budget, "Why do you need the WHOLE Internet anyway?" Seriously! You can't make this stuff up! How do you respond to that? How confident can you possibly be in the sense that your school board is making intelligent decisions for the education of all the children in the district? How empowered does that make you feel?"
I think someone saying that is completely ludicrous! How can someone who is supposed to be involved in the decision making in schools, be so far off base from what our reality is today? If they are removed from a classroom for more than 5 years, then they are not very relevant. If they are not visiting schools often enough, or are not wanting to move forward, then why are we allowing these people to make the decisions? The problem lies in the old-school way of thinking. Allowing individuals who are uncomfortable themselves with technology to be in charge is a mistake. A forward thinking, technology-friendly individual is what is needed. We need to be using these tools in the classroom. They only enhance learning and engagement - no big deal huh? That is kind of the key to being a good educator - to use innovative ways to teach students the curriculum so they understand it and are engaged in their learning process.
In order to teach children to be digital citizens (because that is the age we live in), we need to allow them opportunities to develop the proper skills to be on the WHOLE web, and use the tools properly, not just block them and have them run-amok at home and possibly get themselves into trouble. If we aren’t teaching them how to navigate safely and appropriately then who will? Education is all-encompassing profession in today's world and everyone in the system needs to be on board with that – especially about technology. I’ve already sent out the email and posted it on my blog…haven’t they gotten the message yet?
"Why do you need the WHOLE Internet anyway?" For real? Phft. Silly talk.
Interesting you bring this up, Priscilla. Right now, I'm on the committee to decide on content filtering for our division. I'm split on the issue. I see the need for management and filtering, but it can't just be a hammer. Part of it is management (bandwidth consumption for non-educational purposes is getting very high), but we need to achieve balance. The issue is not just students, though. A huge part of the problem, in my opinion, are the teachers, who really don't understand how to monitor their students' activities or don't know what their students are doing when they're using the computers. Maybe more than filtering, we need a list of best practices and strategies for teachers who are less tech-savvy so they can teach their students how to be responsible with their time and the online resources and to help them be aware of what their students are doing online.
ReplyDeleteJoe,
ReplyDeleteI think you are on the right track as well about making sure the less tech-savvy teachers are more/better prepared to deal with student internet usage. Maybe some PD is in order? It would be ideal to have a teacher (minimum of one) to be a "go-to" person, who is given time (at least 1-2 periods a week) to help those other teachers in the school to deal with and help manage student computer usage. Tools taught to teachers, students taught proper ways to use the internet in a school setting and answer the biggest question of WHY we need these things.
Thanks for commenting. I appreciate your perspective on these types of concerns.
- Priscilla
I'd like to do more with simply making teachers aware. Too many teachers simply don't understand the Internet or they ignore what it can do (both good and bad). I'm thinking that we need to work toward designing instruction for both teachers and students on this, hopefully before filtering goes division wide.
ReplyDeleteEven a guideline to follow as a beginning point for those teachers who need to become more aware of what the Internet is all about. Maybe some PD like I mentioned earlier, along with some formal guidelines from the division to help focus in on a few specific issues that need to be addressed when students are on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe!