We all know that blogging is a very popular mode of communication
today. Many of us use it as an academic
tool with students. Blogging has become a great way for our
students to share information. It
provides us the opportunity to have someone respond to what we blogged about. Personally, I like hearing people’s feedback about
my posts. Online safety is something
that we must be concerned and aware of with our students at any level. Richardson talks a lot in Chapter One about
online safety measures that are important to implement before going online with
a class project. Working with college
students, the safety precautions can vary from those for elementary school
students. Across the board, protecting
the privacy of students and not sharing any personal information is key for students
at any level of education. As the
administrator of a student blog, I would always review student responses/posts before
publishing them. I am happy to report
that I never had an issue with not being able to post something that a student
wrote. Talking about online safety measures and proper netiquette was part of
the introduction of the blog project with the students. Blogging is a great technology teaching tool
but the safety of our students is most important.
What safety precautions do you implement as the
administrator with your student blogs and do you have discussions about the
importance of online safely?
I think this is an important topic, and definitely something that we as teachers will need to carefully consider. I love the idea of teaching students "netiquette" and would add that students also need to have an understanding of the concept that what you put on the internet, stays on the internet!
ReplyDeleteI too think that blogging safety is an important factor for students and teachers. Especially when we are seeing blogging become a way for teachers to introduce writing exercises in the classroom for projects and or homework assignments. For this reason perhaps teachers should consider having a lesson on "netiquette" and or "digital citizenship" prior to introducing blogging etc in class as it will help set the tone for class expectations while using the web. It can help promote responsibility and creating positive digital footprints. Technology is just another outlet teachers can take advantage of to expose students to the many ways they can express themselves through writing so why not teach them how to use these tools responsibly!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all three of you - netiquette and safety are the first topics that need to be brought up before the first assignment in a class will use the technology. I like the security of Blogger for high school students who I think can/should be trusted to publish, but I'd probably change that for younger kids.
ReplyDelete