So Much to Learn...So Little Time

Internet Safety Tips from Sean The Bass Player

A great post from Sean The Bass Player.

He starts with having a wee go at the Panorama programme last week (which I didn't see so can't comment on, but most of the post is a series of 7 valid, well thought out tips about how to stay safe online.
This is not some aloof educator from the blogosphere or some random teacher (like myself) sounding off but a student who has decided to pass on his advice to others from his own experience of using the web.
I particularly like his advice on why it can be a good idea to use voice and video chat:

...if someone is cool with you seeing what they look like on webcam, or
are cool with having a chat on skype with them when they have the
required gear then they are most likely going to be who they say they
are.

I would like to recommend to any teacher reading this that they pass on Sean's blog address to their students and allow them to read the advice for themselves. I will be cross posting this to my other blogs and passing it on to colleagues.

Technorati Tags: seanthebassplayer, adamsutcliffe, internetsafety, panorama

Powered by ScribeFire.

A 2oh student's plea.

Sean The Bass Player has come up with some interesting thoughts in his latest Students 2.0 blog post. In short he would like not only to be taught to pass exams but to ensure that students are kept up to speed with technology. His thoughts were piqued by the Queen going all 2.0 by posting her latest Message to the Commonwealth on YouTube, along with a variety of historical films.

Uploaded with Skitch!

He asks that if an institution as old as the monarchy can move with the times, why can't education?

I think this question is very valid. Why indeed does the education establishment not move and evolve more quickly. Well we all know the stock answer boils down to funding, or lack thereof; but unfortunately there also tends to be quite a lot of inertia in classrooms. If a certain way of doing things has got kids past their exams for the last10 years ago then it will jolly well do so now...if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The inertia thing is quite a difficult problem to deal with as it involves trying to persuade folk to do things they have no desire to do, and I don't wish to go in depth about that here.
But what about the other issue that crops up...funding. Many schools operate on networks that are long past their sell by dates. (My place has only just replaced the Windows '98 machines we were operating.) Now obviously updating these costs a heap of cash, but many of the very usable applications available on the net are free, especially to educators. I'm thinking of applications such as YouTube (or any video hosting site), Flickr, Animoto, Voicethread, Skype etc., etc. All these and more are free and are outstanding resources for educators and their students, BUT how many of us can actually access these sites in schools? Many are banned in the name of child protection, for (a very real) fear that kids will access inappropriate content.

This is where we the educators and students such as Sean ( and his 2.0 colleagues) need to step in by dealing with digital literacy on a daily basis; by educating and encouraging thoughtful, sensible use of the resources on the web. Then maybe, those who hold the keys to the filters may unlock them when they see that these tools are being used wisely and how useful they are to education. And then Sean et al  will feel that they are getting an education that goes some way to preparing them for a future that we cannot yet know.

Photo credit:  Dia 48 - School's Out, originally uploaded on April 18, 2007
by MëL

Online Teens

How creative are you?
Thanks to David Warlick for drawing my attention to a recent survey of teenagers in the US, by PEW Internet.

Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004.

How much longer can the vast majority of educators continue to ignore the fact that a huge number of the youngsters they teach each day are connected and online AND being creative. How many educators can seriously say they have actually created something recently. (I can. I can.)

Girls continue to dominate most elements of content creation. Some 35% of all teen girls blog, compared with 20% of online boys, and 54% of wired girls post photos online compared with 40% of online boys. Boys, however, do dominate one area – posting of video content online – online teen boys are nearly twice as likely as online girls (19% vs. 10%) to have posted a video online somewhere where someone else could see it.

Interesting that girls are dominating the blogging side whilst boys dominate the posting of video online. Could we learn from this fact. Do we need more visual ways of educating to bring more boys on board?

Another thing that comes out from the survey is that teens appear to be inveterate commenters:

89% of those teens who post photos say that people comment on the images at least "some of the time." Teens who post videos report a similarly large incidence of feedback, with nearly three quarters (72%) of video posters receiving comments on their videos.

Now we all know that at times these comments can be insulkting and appropriate but there are times when these comments can be useful critiques and show a level of thought and dare I say it a kind of Peer Assessment.

For me the "killer" info in this survey is this:

For many teens they are now an integral part of the system of communication that they use to conduct the work of their lives. Fully 41% of the teens who use MySpace, Facebook or other social network sites say they send messages to friends via those sites every day.

If just under half of all teens are using social networking sites to communicate educators must get involved in this (r)evolution at some time, otherwise we are going to lose all contact with those we are charged with educating.

Tellingly, even more so than internet stuff, mobile phones are THE preferred method of communication:

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of teens now have a cell phone and for teens who have them, they are the premier communication method for talking with friends.

Why? Well they are relatively cheap, easy to use and many can do most of what kids want them to do (and they don't have to share access with parents????). Although it pains me to say it I think these things are going to overtake computers as the primary net access source, so rather than banning them in schools
we need to educate about appropriate use and harness their power and omnipresence.

What do you think?

All quotes taken from PEW Internet and American Life Project Press Release (19 Dec 2007)

Students 2.0

Well if the posts to come on this excellent blog project are as eloquent and thought provoking as those on the first day of its existence Students 2.0 could become an influential and important read.
I have rarely read such insightful and reflective posts, particularly from ones so young.
If you've not read it yet or haven't heard of the blog yet get over there and read what these students have to say about education...it might just challenge your perceptions.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Students 2.0

I'm really quite excited by this new arrival on the web 2.0 scene.
As an avid reader of my feeds I am really rather pleased that students are now getting on board. Enough of us teachers guffing on about the potentials of web 2.0. Now students will let us know their thoughts.