Module Nine:
Scootle is a search engine for teachers. It is based on Australian and New Zealand curriculum areas. Teachers can locate interactive learning tasks for students and share them with other teachers. They can also search for resources and organise for students to log in to access them then work on them together or individually. You can also copy and paste an address to create a hyperlink directly connected with the teaching program.
Teachers should not be communicating with students via Facebook or Myspace accounts. Facebook is a social networking device...a way of connecting with friends and friends of friends. It is important to make sure the account is private and the settings are secure.
Twitter is also a form of social networking. It is for personal use and should be set up from home to ensure students do not have access to it.
I am struggling with how these experiences are labelled 'social networking' sites when they actually disable social and personal interaction with limited direct, real contact with others. I recognise that this is the world in which our students live however I wonder about the extent to which these experiences are going to deskill our students in their capacity to deal with the real world and interact personally with others in a sensitive and human way.
Perhaps this is our 21st century challenge, particularly as Catholic educators?!?
I completely agree Cathy. Our students won't be able to communicate at all unless there is a computer involved. It is especially dangerous for the very young who have a limited experience of communicating with authority figures or workmates. They won't know any other way.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that facebook has a lot to answer to when it comes to the unlimited access, lack of protection for young people and what seems like unrestricted accessability. Parents have little control over their children as the site can be accessed from any internet access point. While access could be restricted/banned in the household, a parent cannot deny this access remotely. The time young people spend on the site could be now considered an addiction. Even with warnings, young people still conduct inappropriate conversations, harrassment and bullying and there are no restrictions on the creation or joining of "HATE" groups that bully and defame publically, nor the photos they place of themselves and others.
ReplyDeleteI have had to go to the length of changing my daughters password to prevent her access. She has become far too distracted by this and school work is suffering. Unfortuneately, due to the nature of the site, there is still nothing preventing her creating a new page.
I really think some kind of security and authorisation needs to be put in place so juniors need to be verified by adults and pages need to be verified by owners prior to display. Adults and children alike need to have some kind of protection from "Fraudulent" pages being created. This is yet something facebook is to develop and provide to it's users.
I am also of the belief that Facebook is addictive. I have seen a number of people in my own life who can easily spend an hour or two on Facebook when they don't have the time to do so. People are losing the ability to speak to people face to face and although technology is the way of the future the personal touch should never be lost. Sites like Facebook would make this my greatest fear.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really valid point that social networking sites may be infact breaking down social interactions in the 'real world'. In some ways I think that facebook also encourages egocentrism rather than social connectedness. Is it more about me and my profile, my friends, my photos than it is about connecting me with you?
ReplyDeleteGiven recent events in the news, such sites can also be very dangerous. It concerns me the way that some people on facebook divulge so much personal information about themselves especially photographs. Unless privacy settings are specifically changed then much of this information is readily available for anyone on the internet. It's no wonder many employers are now searching profiles before employing an applicant, there can often be lots to learn.
But I am still a facebook user and it can be a great way to stay in touch in some situations.
Hi Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that teachers need to be extremely careful if they are going to communicate via Facebook- especially if they are posting images of weekend events etc.
I also do believe that students are growing up with 'social networking' and even though it is amazing what they are learning from the net and each other it is extremely important that they interact with each other by talking and playing.
When taking students on an excursion especially by bus common questions are: Can I take my mobile phone? or Are we allowed to take a DS? My answer is just enjoy the scenery and chat with each other.
Do children / students have to communicate face to face all the time?
ReplyDeleteThese sites allow students to communicate on a global scale. Can we blame them for wanting to explore what they may have not been able to see or cultures they have not experienced - it is called curiosity.
Furthermore, some people prefer to think about their ideas / thoughts first and respond at their own pace.
Also, students see each other five days a week and collaboration / group work occurs everyday in our classrooms. I don't remember that happening much when I was younger - It was more teacher talk and student do. So in many ways students collaborate face to face more these days.
Additionally, many children attend pre-school, rather than staying at home before primary school - communicating with dozens of peers. So a small amount of global networking shouldn't be a problem, just another form of communication.
Lastly, it is not the children's fault that they can not go to the park on their own due to safety reasons - it's reality. Let's look at society - parents don't have time to take their children to the park and turn the tv on to amuse their toddler - we should turn our focus of communication break-down more a family / society issue, before soley blaming the students / facebook...
Yes, these sites come with risk and issues, so we need to work on strategies to minimise risks through effective education, parental supervision...
Sandra Taylor
I completely agree with all of you. If children continue to use face book, they will lack in social skills. Also as a teacher with face book Im very conscious of what I post up, my setting is also on private. Ive heard of teachers adding their students as friends on facebook, I believe this is inappropriate and teachers need to be careful, the students shouldnt be your friends as such. As teachers we still need to maintain a professional nature.
ReplyDelete