"Educate the Fear Out of Them"
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Posted by Lucy Gray
Posted by Lucy Gray
Thank you, Cheri Toledo, for this phrase.
In Google Wave, several educators have been discussing the fact that all the great tools and learning environments that we regularly explore are blocked in many districts.
This blog post by Ewan McIntosh also has me thinking:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2009/10/why-backward-socialnetworkbanning-education-authorities-are-wrong.html
I think we need a significant repository of schools where Web 2.0 technologies are welcomed and used in a safe and thoughtful manner. These stories would serve to educate districts out there who are grappling with implementation and safety issues.
I was part of a team that created such a space last summer as part of an Apple Distinguished Educator project last summer. This online network was created for the purpose cited above, but I also think that we need a simple directory of schools as well. So I am also creating a Google doc form for this purpose: http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutions
Please fill out this form or pass it on to someone who might want to share their information. All fields are optional. To see the results, visit http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutionsresults.
It's time to embrace innovation and networked learning, people!
In Google Wave, several educators have been discussing the fact that all the great tools and learning environments that we regularly explore are blocked in many districts.
This blog post by Ewan McIntosh also has me thinking:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2009/10/why-backward-socialnetworkbanning-education-authorities-are-wrong.html
I think we need a significant repository of schools where Web 2.0 technologies are welcomed and used in a safe and thoughtful manner. These stories would serve to educate districts out there who are grappling with implementation and safety issues.
I was part of a team that created such a space last summer as part of an Apple Distinguished Educator project last summer. This online network was created for the purpose cited above, but I also think that we need a simple directory of schools as well. So I am also creating a Google doc form for this purpose: http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutions
Please fill out this form or pass it on to someone who might want to share their information. All fields are optional. To see the results, visit http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutionsresults.
It's time to embrace innovation and networked learning, people!
Labels: Lucy_Gray, LucyGray, networks, PLN, social networking, survey
4 Comments:
This is dead on, Lucy. I am hoping to start a boot camp program for school administrators to indoctrinate them to the benefits that Web 2.0 technology offers schools today. I will keep you posted or contact me at ann.hamel(at)gmail(dot)com.
Ann is right, You are absolutely correct. Sadly though, school administrators have to learn too AND Colleges of Education that are training future administrators have to start teaching this stuff and exposing them to it. Fear tends to rule school too many times. And how often do administrators participate in Technology in-service or staff development that goes on in their own schools. I hate to admit it but I always chuckle when I read the ISTE NETS Standards for Administrators. Most don't even know they exist, much less make an effort to meet them.
As a third grade teacher, I constantly encounter the problem with finding appropriate technology for my students that is not "blocked" by my district. It is very frustrating. I feel that I can not teach my students about new technology because I cannot access it. I promise that I am not trying to corrupt my students or expose them to something inappropriate. I just want my students to have to opportunity to experience some of the great Web 2.0 tools that are out there.
I understand that need to having to limit the students' access to certain sites. But aren't we doing them a disservice by not providing them with the ability to experience the latest technology.
Every now and then I stumble upon a post like this. It seems there's quite a bit of this same sentiment out there...is it perhaps in the hearts and minds of the wrong people? I'm an Instructional Technology Specialist for a north suburban Atlanta school system, and we have a top-down restriction approach - no access to Facebook and SN sites, YouTube and some other video streaming sites, even Google Images.
Unfortunately, what we really need - and I think it often reflected in posts like yours, Lucy - is a bottom-up approach. Start in the younger years to teach kids how to monitor their own internet activity, what's safe and what's not, what's appropriate for school and what's not, etc. We also need to teach teachers how to effectively monitor student use, not just "turn them loose in the computer lab."
But I'm sure I don't have to tell you all how slowly the wheels of change turn in education...
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