There was an interesting point brought up at http://weblogg-ed.com/ by Will Richardson. His latest blog post was called It’s the Parent’s Fault. Not. It talks about a discussion that he had with a high school principal after a presentation. It was brought up during the presentation that no one is really teaching kids how to use MySpace or Facebook. The principal feels that it is the parents who should be teaching the students the ins and outs of the Internet. The presenter feels that it is our job as teachers and administrators to teach the students about the Internet and Internet safety. He feels that there is no reason why we cannot in some way figure out how to integrate those skills into the curriculum of first-third grade.
I think that this is an interesting question to ask and really got me thinking about whose responsibility it is to be teaching these children about the Internet. When I read this blog there were 34 posts to it. The posts were really interesting to read and it seemed like it was a topic that people have strong opinions on.
4 comments:
Tamra,
What an interesting conversation that was. It really had me thinking as well, especially since I deal with younger students each day. I agree with the one comment how both the parent and teacher/educator are responsible, but I also feel that the child is just as responsible. Yes, teaching the children appropriate content to place on-line at younger ages possibly could help but I feel that at certain ages (high school/middle school) students will do what they wish when they are in the privacy of their own homes. Parents should become more aware of the time being spent on the computers and hopefully schools have those sites blocked so that it will not be an issue there. I do, though, think it is very important for students to understand that whatever they put online can and will be found...eventually. Great article...thanks for sharing.
Tamra --
After reading your post in the article, a few lights went off in my head. Although I do not know who should be the first authority figure to educate the students on the topic of Internet safety, I think it should be worked into the students' education, even if they have to hear it again and again. My district has a majority when it comes to students without computers at home. Therefore, the parents may not even know about safety issues. It couldn't hurt to repeat a lesson like Internet safety. Plus, the factors change as children get older and as technology advances. Many children are naive to the outside world. To connect, as much as I thought I knew as a child on the Internet, there was much more to learn. I never gave out information, but there is so much more to teach the children regarding Internet safety. All in all, I know that I would not mind taking out some time to teach this to my students.
-Steph
Tamra,
This was an interesting conversation. I think it really should be a combination of both parent and teachers educating students on internet safety. I know that in my district many students do not have computers at home. Therefore, some students are only using the internet at school. Parents cannot teach their children about internet safety if they are not using the internet themselves. I think the teacher has to be proactive in taking responsibility and providing students and parents with information regarding computer usage and internet safety.
-Hailey
Who is responsible for teaching the uses of the Internet is a very open ended question. I don't think MySpace or Facebook have a place in our curriculum and to that end, educators ought not face criticism for teaching safe practices. In my opinion, the principal has it right, that should be taught at home. Having said that however, since technology is gaining prominence in education shouldn't teachers at least demonstrate its uses? As teachers integrate tech into their individual classrooms it stands to reason that they will show students how to use necessary applications and in that respect, satisfy the parents expectations. Perhaps the best solution is for both teachers and parents to educate the kids on safe and appropriate uses.
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