Applying blogging as a classroom assignment or activity makes me feel very nervous right now. I feel that I don't have the knowledge to help my students achieve a productive and successful learning environment. Maybe as I continue to learn more about the tool and what type of roles it would take in a lesson or throughout a unit I might feel more open to implementing it. These are the times where I feel I am a digital immigrant. I should have the students teach me about blogging. Most of them are already on facebook or myspace and do this on a regular basis, but do they know they are blogging?
I've learned throughout my years of teaching (which is still limited) that students of any age at times seem to be oblivious to the fact that people other than their friends have opportunities to look at what they post on the Internet. I understand talking to students about safety on the computer does help and causes realization and understanding, but does the information get applied to their daily Internet activities? Stories I have heard about administration surfing facebook and myspace because someone is suspected of doing something inappropriate has become a normal thing and yet students still post pictures, stories, and video incriminating themselves. My mom teaches elementary school and she just recently shared a story about one of the 6th graders posting her full name on a web page she created along with where she went to school. She was discussing the web page with students in her class and then wanted to show it to her teacher. The teacher become instantly worried and had the young girl remove the information. As my mom continued the story she said something which worried me. The students parents had no idea their daughter had posted anything and the young girl didn't understand why the teacher wanted her to not post her name. This was even after the teacher gave detailed explanation.
How do I reach all of my students (which I know is only wishful thinking, I can't reach all of them)? When do I know? I know this is going to sound a bit closed minded, but how can I use this successfully for ASL?
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Hey, interesting comments and concerns. I looked back through history I tried to come up some thing similar to the posting challenges for kids, with privacy concerns, I mean. I honestly couldn't think of anything close. That makes this a relatively new concern, huh.
ReplyDeleteAs with ASL, I thought what an amazing door opener this could be for anyone who is deaf to communicate with the rest of the world. I bet there are blogs out there already in existance. Most of my deaf friends are immigrants, so we are still relying on e-mail.
I can't believe that high school teachers have the same worries that elementary school teachers have, even after YEARS of teaching students about safety on the internet. Putting any personal information on the internet is a scary thing (hence my reluctance with blogging), however...there are safe ways of using the internet for learning and personal purposes...REMEMBER THAT (I'm saying that to me too). :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as ASL...excuse me if this sounds ignorant, but isn't there technology that you can purchase to to read the computer to you? I'm sure that someone can create a blog and a computer can read it, allowing for the same capabilities. Even if that is just wishful thinking for the future (gotta love looking ahead), you can use the blog for your sight students to use on a given topic. Have them edit, revise, add, and even delete information for their research on diseases or something. I wish I could offer better advice but I am ignorant on your curriculum.