This week has been both enlightening and rather frightening (must be in rapper mode this week!). Firstly the web programs out there really provided me with some food for thought in terms of how I could use it to benefit the students and make their school work more accessible for their parents. The social sharing programs and the interactive websites were the most engaging.
There is a saying that springs to mind when I think of social sharing "why have a dog and bark yourself".
These services provide unending resources for teachers to use in their classrooms to stimulate thought and discussion and all at the click of a button. Therefore the time saved on creating the resource for the lesson allows the teacher additional time to develop a more stimulating lesson. In addition, students are provided the opportunity to see whether the quality of what is out there from text, image, audio, video is valuable or not. This can then be extended to allow for guidance of the students to create their own product which they may share within a suitable forum. It is great to know that the students could write their own script to a story or poem and play around with audio/visuals to create their own online play. Once again here, I hop on my privacy horse and would reiterate the importance of the student sharing being done on restricted or private channels.
However, I am aware that feedback from a wider audience is important in certain instances. This is where the teaching opportunities on internet usage and safety must come into play. Following a Cybersmart information session with ACMA last week which I attended, our responsibility in helping students understand safe internet usage has only become more apparent. Thankfully, ACMA have a large amount of resources to help us with this. I particularly enjoyed this animation. ACMA also have a good series of cartoons called Hectors Cartoons
I found the cybersmart session a real eyeopener! Children really need to know the dangers of revealing too much about themselves online and it is the job of parents and teachers to educate them on this matter. Children can be so sneaky...I know...but as a young child, I was easily amused with a good book or playing with my dolls but today, with childrens increasing accessibility and reliance on the internet for entertainment, it makes me worry about having my own kids!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary. I completely agree with you on the privacy issue, especially after the seminar this week! Teenagers seem to think cybersaftey is simply an overreaction of worried adults; however by starting young with primary school students perhaps we will produce a generation of very wise-internet users.
ReplyDeleteIt seems most of us found the Cybersafety seminar very beneficial! I know, i certainly did. I agree with you Mary, that the responsibility in teaching students about internet safety falls on us and its not a matter that we can just briefly touch on. The issues raised were really an eye-opener!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the cartoons as well, Mary! :)
Yes, the Hector's World cartoons are great resources to use with young learners - and, as Liz said above, it's important we start offering children training in cybersafety from a young age.
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