Dear Nancy
The word from the wise! I think you are so right in everything you say.
Well before I retired in 2006, the state education department I was working for had
a policy about
the sorts of activities that teachers could engage in with students, and those that
were expressly
forbidden for their own safety, such as attending the parties that inevitably
follow Yr 12
graduation. This grew out of a similar situation you describe where the teacher
appeared to be in a
compromising situation. From memory, his presence was deemed enough for him to be
condoning the
drinking by the under-18 grads who were there.
No doubt the policy has now been updated to include the cyber environment, and I
would hope that the
teachers adhere to it.
Having been through an experience team teaching with a teacher who was later
convicted of a
paedophile offence, and agonising and turning myself inside out trying to think if
there was
something I could have done or seen to pick up on his predilection and prevent the
incident, I
cannot imagine why anyone would want to put themselves into that position in either
a real or
virtual world.
I do believe, that as educators, we should know about these sites and how they
work, because that is
the environment many of our students operate in out-of-school-hours but I really
don't think that
they will learn Internet etiquette or safety just because we demonstrate it on our
pages. I think
that is something that needs to be explicitly taught - it is not something they
will pick up by
osmosis, just as they won't pick up good nutrition habits by seeing what you have
in your lunchbox.
I also believe that we should adhere to the T&C of these sites - I understand that
they are set at
13 because under that age, in the US, a person cannot enter into a legal contract,
or there is
something about your Privacy Act that makes 13 a 'magic' age. I also think there
are other better
Web 2.0 tools that can be used more effectively to share library-based information.
I am not a wowser - I do have a Facebook page, set up as part of the SLJ 12 Things
course I did last
year. But I only have three friends - my kids who live interstate - and I have not
even responded
to requests from some of my LM_NET colleagues to be friends with them. Nothing in
my life is
important or interesting enough to be shared beyond my family.
This has been an interesting discussion and I am going to start it on the
Australian lists to see
what the local perspective is.
Barbara
Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
COOMA NSW 2630
AUSTRALIA
E. barbara.288@bigpond.com
Together we learn from each other
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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