Previous by Date[Date Next] Date Index
Previous by ThreadNext by Thread Thread Index
LM_NET Archive



Hello,
 
I've been trying to avoid weighing in on all of these discussions, but I can't 
resist joining this one.
 
Paula's point about lack of educational use for My Space or Facebook is well taken 
as I have not yet, personally, seen or heard of any examples of educational uses of 
either.  I had some teachers interested in trying to use social networking to do a 
project, but we could not find a social networking platform that met our 
Administration's comfort level for privacy, etc.  so the project went in another 
direction.  

That being said, however, I also cannot agree with some educators' knee jerk 
responses to the MySpace/Facebook issue that effectively amount to pretending that 
social networking doesn't exist. Banishing social networking from the kingdom 
doesn't mean that students aren't accessing and using them and unless we ask we 
won't ever know what kids are ACTUALLY doing with them.  It is very much an 
emerging technology.  In the book Wikinomics, Don Tapscott gives numerous examples 
of ways that corporations from Boeing to BMW to Geek Squad, are BEGINNING to use 
collaborative computing and communication platforms to change the way that they do 
what their work.  As educators we need to understand that our students are doing 
the same kinds of things. Believe me, I AM NOT one of those people who immediately 
wants to go set up my library's Facebook profile, but I AM saying that we need to 
make a serious effort to understand HOW kids are using technology so we know what 
policies will be right for our institutions. 

I know, for example, that even though we provide school e-mail accounts, that 
students in our school are, indeed, organizing themselves into study groups for 
courses that they set up themselves in Facebook.  I don't know numbers or 
percentages, but students I've asked confirm that, that is indeed happening.  For 
many (but by no means all) Facebook is their online communication medium of choice. 

In the interest of full disclosure, we banned access to Facebook and MySpace in our 
library very early on a few years ago as kids DID spend unreasonable amounts of 
time surfing profiles so there might be very legitimate reasons to block access to 
Facebook and My Space.  I just don't want to see us chuck the baby out with the 
bathwater and just because blocking access was right two years ago, doesn't mean 
that blocking them now is still the right thing to do.  Indeed, if we revisit our 
policy and decide that blocking is still right, that won't mean that blocking will 
be right two years from now.  The technology is emergent and changing so I think 
that it only makes sense that our policies are the same.  

Personally, I also worry that students are woefully informed about privacy. I have 
found that some of my middle schoolers have some very wrong perceptions about 
Facebook networks which makes them very ill prepared to make good privacy choices.  
Perhaps there is NOTHING wrong with Facebook Beacon, but I have serious 
reservations that a majority of my kids know enough to make that determination for 
themselves well.  If I choose to ignore the existence of social networks, I see 
very few other people on campus who are well equipped to educate them.  If 
anything, I'd like every other adult on campus to be able to talk to kids about 
this issue and the way that I see it, FINDING a way to use social networking in 
school might be the best way to make that dialog happen.

Just my 150 cents.

 
Dave Wee, Librarian
Harvard-Westlake Middle School
700 North Faring Road
Los Angeles, CA 90077
dwee@hw dot com

"The fact that she had a nut for a head made it hard for her mind to grasp new 
ideas."
~~ Miss Hickory, Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, 1946 ~~

________________________________

From: School Library Media & Network Communications on behalf of Paula Yohe
Sent: Fri 11/30/2007 4:12 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Website that lets kids access myspace, etc



LOL Nancy I can't wait for someone to tell you myspace
is an educational activity.
And then I can't wait for the next posting where
someone is bound to say -- I have academic freedom.

And I want those folks who seem to think that anything
goes -- need to start looking at the bandwidth

My next biggest complaint is the Internet is so slow.
Well when have the place is trying to watch American
Idol -- download music - etc. it takes up bandwidth
and heaven forbid when you try to block it or limit
the bandwidth.
I actually have adults complaining to me about how
slow some of the things they are trying to do are
and by gosh -- I just didn't know that watching TV
shows in an office was work related -- but hey - let's
remeber free and unfettered Internet access.

I would love to - but with 4000 users and a 10mg
circuit -- hey you just can't do everything --
It;s kind of like getting your paycheck -- you have so
much money and you have to prioritze what is more
important...
Is that a radical concept? --

SInce I am a librarian I block as little as possible
and have a different filters for different age groups/

I have traffic monitoring software in place -- and
when the traffic starts hitting 50% or more - I look
to see what sites are taking up bandwidth

And for just once - I would like to see it be
instructional -- instead - I find -- radio stations,
TV shows, on-line college classes that teachers are
taking, etc.

I also allow teachers and students to request to have
websites unblocked and they are normally unblocked in
a matter of a few minutes unless there is an emergency
and everyone in my office is away from their desks.

SOmetimes legitimate sites have been blocked - but
inthe majority of cases -- the website was spelled
wrong -- or they tried to guess at what the website
should be --
and I go and find the correct website and copy and
paste the URL into the email.

Legitimate sites that I have found blocked -- have
been very few.

Now I know that is not the case in alot of places --
it takes alot of time and effort to provide this much
flexibilty...
And I think because I am a librarian -- I take the
time to do it --
but alot of folks aren't librarians and one size fits
all for them.

I disagree but before you start crtiticizing the IT
staff - you need to find out how many staff members
they have - how many computers are in the district,
what type of access to the Internet does your district
have, how many servers, how many software
applpications --
SOmetimes you have to choose --
If you have a very small staff --and alot of servers
and software applications -- you are going to spend
your time there -- the most people you can keep
functioning.

Try to remember those things when you start
criticizing yout IT dept.

--- Nancy Willard <nwillard@CSRIU.ORG> wrote:

> The reason students should not be accessing MySpace
> and the like from
> schools is that is not an educational activity.
> Internet use in school
> should be for educational purposes. Further there
> are some liability risks -
> like cyberbullying. But schools really ought to have
> monitored social
> networking environments for educational activities.
>
> I have had a librarian tell me that she used to have
> teachers come to her to
> bypass the filter to get to sites that were
> inappropriately blocked. But
> they are not doing this any more. She thinks this is
> not because the
> filtering has improved, but that the teachers also
> have figured out how to
> bypass the filter. Hmm. I had someone else tell me
> that his son has set up a
> proxy on their home computer that the *teachers* and
> students use to bypass
> the filter to get to sites needed for educational
> activities (probably not
> the only reason).
>
> So here is the issue for you to consider: A teacher
> has worked on a lesson
> the night before and comes to school early in the
> morning, checks her
> lesson, finds she can't access a site or two, it is
> now 7:45 and her class
> comes in at 8:00. Do you have procedures set up so
> that by 8:00 this teacher
> can access the site she needs for her lesson?
>
> If this would not be possible, then changes need to
> be made. And do not tell
> me - or let your tech director tell you - that this
> would be a violation of
> CIPA. The only reason CIPA was upheld as
> constitutional was the finding that
> filters could be rapidly and easily overridden to
> provide access to
> inappropriately blocked sites.
>
> I am making this point really clear in the PPT for
> schools I am working on
> addressing effective Internet use management in a
> Web 2.0 world.
>
> Nancy
> --
> Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
> Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
> http://csriu.org <http://csriu.org/> 
> http://cyberbully.org <http://cyberbully.org/> 
> http://cyber-safe-kids.com <http://cyber-safe-kids.com/> 
> nwillard@csriu.org
>
> Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the
> Challenge of Online Social
> Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)
>
> Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young
> People Learn to Use the
> Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by
> copyright law.
>   You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting
> LM_NET postings
>   by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail
> address book.
> To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to:
> listserv@listserv.syr.edu
> In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2)
> SET LM_NET NOMAIL
>  3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow
> for confirmation.
>  * LM_NET Help & Information:
> http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
>  * LM_NET Archive:
> http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
>  * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select:
> http://lm-net.info/
>  * LM_NET Supporters:
> http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
>  * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
>


Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com


      
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.  
http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
 * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
 * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------


LM_NET Mailing List Home