Looking Back to Look Forward

I was thinking as I sat down to write blogs that usually writing helps me clarify my thinking but with the work we do using technology – I don’t feel that need at all. Because the discussions are immediate, the problem solving collaborative, the teaching team so focused and communicative, it all seems superfluous to write it down. The people who are usng the exact same programs are right outside my door, and I am a people person. I’d still rather have that personal contact, talk it thorugh, be talked through a problem or a program. If there is no physical proximity or availablility then I don’t hesitate to be on line and write it through.

The purpose of these was to show technology growth, and I don’t think mine do to the degree technology is used to enhance learning. But despite this – I do learn something about technology every day, and teach something every day. Students love to use technology to support and enhance learning and I have t remind myself that10 years ago, how limited our access was and recall the one hour a week in the IT lab. Sometimes I just learn patience when the server is slow, sites have moved, programs crash and we find an alternate method, and other times I learn that it was not the best way to impact learning.

ISB has had many things that potentially could have impacted learning this year – most lately being the political instability with school cancelled. The class blog is such a part of our classwork that students largely carried on regardless.

To even get together to get the focus lesson started for this course did not happen as there are so many conflicts and schedule adaptions. That doesn’t mean things didn’t go on, just that I moved to a new focus and stopped thinking about it and so it all drifted on. I would have liked to do more reading – but could have done that on my own. The discussions about technology are constant in outr team. There is always a new site, program, adaptation to thing about incorporating into our curriculum. I have no doubt that the standards are embedded in our curriculum as we work to do so. I know that this means a far more vibrant learning for the students as the old days of a stagnant curriculum just cannot exist with all that lies within our grasp. And of course I want (okay need) to complete this course, the actual course completion is not what drives me. I like the journey.

Keeping Tech Moving

And when I thought the Korat stories were finished – they weren’t. It seems the first few students followed instructions well, uploaded them to blogs and I relaxed. The rest had completed all expectations for their project, uploaded to our class youtube account and then there was where is became chaotic. If the server was slow, upload did not complete and then there would either be a copy message from youtube, or the students had to go in and delete and start over. On some the sound did not work ,and they re recorded over it.
Some had problems uploading ot their blog as they didn’t use the outube upload selection. Then there was the ongoing illness/absence issue. So the good thing was that technology can be accessed from anywhere and we were able to communicate via e mail, the blog and at school to finalise everything.

All in all it was a drawn out experience but they certainly learnt the process and how to troubleshoot.

As this was going on we were preparing for student let conferences and all students responded to an online reflection.

Hi everybody!!
Yup, it’s finally time for Student-led conferences. Here is my reflection towards my learning:
What have I learned?
• I learned how to stay on task and work well individually and with groups
• I learned how to use the rubric to exceed expectations to get a good grade(:
• How to write a very good and high-level blog
• I learned how situations we play in school can relate to real life situations
• How to use poetry and all the different poetic devices
• About hunger and what causes it, how we can help and how lucky I am
• That everybody can make an impact on somebody’s life
• How to manage my time after school
• How to make better sentences; I know better vocab
• About rural lifestyles in Thailand
• Making choices
How do you know you learned it?
• I feel smart
• I can relate to real-life situations
• I can read my dad’s magazines!
What got into the way of your learning?
I do many different activities after school such as BiSac sports, Jazz Band, Jazz dance and flute lessons. Sometimes these activities get into the way of my learning. This is because I am committed to these activities, so I have to go, but at the end of the day, I sometimes have to stay up late doing homework.
What helped your learning?
• Working with somebody else
• Looking and using a rubric
• Other classmates (mostly Sanjana)
• My parents who helped if I needed help
How did you feel?
I felt very stressed and nervous. I was scared that I would not finish my homework, and the next morning I was really tired.
What do you think you can now apply to a new situation?
• If I have time to finish something, I should not procrastinate, but work on it so that later on, I will have more time for myself and my friends
What are you most proud of? Disappointed with?
• I am most proud of my blog posts and my band achievments (AMIS)
• That I have to work on weekends

Reflection guided their choices for sharing and allowed a structure for them. It also gave m e an insight into their thoughts on their progress and understanding.

Visit our blog to see more student reflection

Our Class Blog

Working with students who are like sponges in regards to technological skills, makes it a pleasure to support and extend learning with computers, and the plethora of programs installed and available. More than half my students have English as their second, or third language and yet they are able to gather and (begin at least to) assess information, collaborate, and produce work that shares their learning in exciting , user friendly ways.
Technology will be used as a vehicle to support, showcase and extend their learning after our class trip to Korat and their digital stories, during the Feeding A Hungry Word Unit of Study, constantly through vocabulary learning, and …

Our class blog is a central point for information, instructions and links. It hosts rubrics, grading guides and links, directly related to current topics. Students go to the blog to comment on each others ideas and reflect on the learning of their peers. It is where students are to go each day to check for updates and to go to links for each others blogs. It is our class communication tool - with links supplied for cross grade sharing. It allows learning and collaboration beyond the classroom walls.

Digital Stories

Another first for the grade 7 team, and for me. Rather than have students write a report, or a reflection, or a journal, or…. we decided to try something different.

The goal was to have students relate to an aspect of rural life in Thailand and express this through images, text and music. In order to this we needed to ensure that each student travelled with a digital camera and had the task outline clearly understood.

Students were all to select a theme to highlight a connection to, and then use digital story telling as their vehicle to convey to others a connection they made.
Examples of possible projects were discussed prior to the Korat trip. Task outlines and rubrics were posted online.

For most students the connection and transfer was easy, but some struggled with topic, selection, collating and sorting their photos. Procrastination really was the enemy of a few.

An interesting note in terms of teaching across subject areas was that we often are using the same median, albeit with a different content and slant, but we aren’t aware. I started off my showing the examples of similar projects and prepared to launch into teaching, only to hear half the class saying “Oh I know this” “I like this” “This is what we used in science for the …” And so what could have been an overwhelming project became something that already had a roomful of experts, ready to transfer their knowledge to a new project, or to new users. It happened that one of the G7 science teachers had used the same program to convey scientific data. Its flow on effect was a comfort level with the vehicle and a confidence that the ‘teachers’ had to share their skills.

Examples of students work can be found here.

Feeding a Hungry World

Joining the 7th grade team this year, meant working with new units. As we started to plan Feeding a Hungry World, we all felt constricted by the 6 Themes of Geography approach and decided to adjust and develop the unit to incorporate a lot more …

All four classes would combine for the final negotiations so we needed to assign countries and roles across the grade. The goal was to have all students prepared for a diplomatic simulation/negotiation. The areas of focus were to involve food security issues and a focus on land use and it’s potential to make a difference, as well as potential resource reallocation.

All students were assigned their countries in Asia and then they needed to source information on demographics. The CIA and WFP sites were user friendly and for most countries provided the basic information.

Each country had clearly defined roles: diplomat, government official, environmental scientist, farmer, citizen. There was a graphic organiser for each role and then each student was expected to contribute to a full group discussion in order to inform the diplomat so she/he could take a position in the simulation. At this time a google doc was set up for each group so they could continue on the research from home to fill in any gaps of information and make their positions stronger.

Students were then spread throughout the classroom and given a packet containing their food (rice grains) land (coloured paper) and money (in line with the GDP) The goal was for each group to negotiate enough food to feed their population by 2050.

This is one of the few times that students have not only not wanted to go out break, but stayed after class to negotiate, challenge and change their countries position. They were well prepared due to the sites selected as a base, their improving research skills on line, their ability to collaborate beyond classroom doors. I had wondered if the content was beyond the majority but it was evident from the on line products and discussions that the majority did grasp the major concepts.

As it turned out actual keeping the unit flowing, as a class, was our biggest problem as we had the H1N1 virus affecting classes and more than half each of my classes was out for over a week, with the number affected for a three week period. Because we were able to use blogs and google docs, classwork was able to proceed for the rest of the groups present.

Tech peripherals

This semester the first new peripheral was the microphone for Smart Recording. Easy to use for the students though there was a problem with constantly recurring lack of sound. This required administrative password access as students accessing settings at will could potentially wreak havoc. It seems there is a solution to this underway though we faced each incident as it arose. I used the lab with the students as Khun Eed was right there and ready to help adjust. We learned very quickly to do a test before launching in to the presentation. The thrill of uploading there finsihed products on to YouTube nipped any complaining and frustration in the bud.

The Document Camera is easy to use in tandem with the Smart board and saves scanning, sending and reformatting. Easy for students and teachers to put up examples and lowers the nerve level as students get used to providing evidence instantly, using it to project a picture or data, as a prop for discussion.

The Smartboard itself can be the bane of my life. It either works brilliantly - or not. With a mac I now have to reset the display every time I plug in. We ( being me and various people from EdTech) have reset the display but dependent on whether someone else has use the Smartboard it is a process and requires me being really organised, using breaks to set up and not expecting to just plug in and go.

For novel study summary the students worked with cameras and movie cameras to summarise plot or showcase charcter development. It was a lot of work to put movies in to imovie but we used the pyramid learning and peer tutor. We've ended up with quite a few experts at pulling movies together. More with this next semester...

Relevant - How?

What is a 'good' educator? Someone who values learning, motivates students to question, connect, communicate, create ... There have been many wonderful teachers in the past who have taught without technology - that is the technology as we know it to be now. Of course one can be a great educator without digital tools but with the right tools for each task the possibilities increase exponentially.

NETs encourage educators to

• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
• Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
  
• Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
• Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Clearly there is relevance in the standards, though as we discussed - the document would and could stand as what many good teachers ahve been doing for years - without the word technology inbedded. They could be applied ot any curriculum area. ISB has come far since being on this new campus. The one computer lab has long gone and laptops are the computer of choice. Technology is a part of learning every day. There are always newer and newer tools. I jsut don't want ot throw out the great ones as new ones appear. It does not have to be the latest - for it to be great. But I, for one, will keep looking. The NETs may indeed help along the way.

Standards

If you teach it, you better understand it - so of course it is every teachers responsibility - regardless of whatever other title they are using - specialist, principal, administrator standards need to be understood. Teachers and administrators have clearly stated expectations and standards which easily align with a wide variety of tasks within curriculum. The NETS are clear and easy to understand, adapt, and work with. Like other guidelines - Gardener's, Taylor's etc., it is impossible to address everything all of the time, but in a spiral curriculum it can be done over time.

NETs address creativity, information gathering and communication. What we need from all learners - an ability to know and understand - - take the thinking to a higher level and of course the ability to communicate their creation - through a variety of programs and media.

Having said that - people's confidence and capabilities vary, so minimum standards being set make sense. At ISB minimum skills for use of Panthernet have been stated in order to facilitate long distance learning when necessary. Incoming educators are often overwhelmed so a succinct document with expectations is valuable.

Leadership comes not only from administrators, but from colleagues and students. NETS outline and reflect possibilites. Learning is always the focus and technology a tool.

Screencasting for Learning

In the two streams of teaching I am responsible for screencasting is accessed, or used by all students. In the IT class it is modelled and taught through Smart Recorder, iMovie, with the end products differing.

With Smart Recorder students develop a screencast that will teach other skills within programs such as Excel, or Word. It takes a sound knowledge of the subject to show, while at the same time confidently tell, how to import images, or make and label a bar graph. For many students it took a number of attempts to be satisfied that it was an effective teaching tool. These screencasts are saved in a file that is able to be accessed by each incoming class.

iMovie was a more open ended project and allowed creativity in combining images to tell about one of their passions. Because it was not content driven the students had a lot of fun, and freedom to choose images and music that appealed to them.

In the Humanities classes, screencasting is used by teachers and students. The teacher generated screencasts from Notebook software or SmartRecording can all be used as an all class teaching tool, as a reference for those who need review, and for students who are absent. In a co- teaching and EAP situation that I work in - it is perfect to view in small segments.


Students all have used Smart Recording for novel review, and geography terms. These have been uploaded to YouTube and onto blogs for sharing. Some students have worked with iMovie to bring to life novels, and have motivated others to experiment. There continue to be many other ways and programs to introduce and use screencasts and those are next on my list.

There's about 200 milliion websites today and there will be more tomorrow.

Five Mind-Blowing Web Stats You Should Know

How to...

Learning, inside and outside the classroom has continued to be impacted by the exponential growth of on line information in many forms - video notwithstanding. If you want to learn how to upload something, there is a video; want to learn how to build a glider, carry out an experiment, there is a video, define a geographical term - it's there.

I can search for appropriate videos to support outcomes. Students can search for videos on their own to enchance their understanding, or students can create their own videos. YouTube provides an excellent host service to upload videos that can easily be accessed by students, their families or indeed anyone who accesses YouTube. Students then can download their videos into their own blogs.

All this is well and good but what are needed are the skills to analyse, assess (accuracy and content), reflect, apply... These have not changed whether it is digital information, or not. If anything, there is more of a challenge when wading through a plethora of information and videos to find the best fit for the subject and ascertain its accuracy.

I'm lucky to work on a team where we work collegially and are always looking for improved ways to support learning. This IT course continues to remind me of the options 'out there'. For someone like me who likes to follow the most obscure lead, finishing blogs have been the lowest priority. It's about the journey for me, and I have expanded my 'bag of tricks' from understanding of programs, to new tools, questioned my use of technology, changed tools - and best of all I know I will continue to do so. Thanks Jeff and Kim

Digitally Exploring

Mixing It Up

As a summative project for a novel studied, students could choose from podcasts, powerpoints, iMovie clips, movie making, Smart Recorder - to name but a few.The intent of whatever mode of story telling they chose was to clearly show the themes within the novel, and to entice others to read and understand the novel.

Logistically I wondered if it might become a nightmare due to computer bookings, cameras and the diverse groupings the students selected. The only real issue, as it turned out, was that the students who chose to make a movie did not realise how long it would take them to pull it all together. None of them saw it as work and once given extensions spent much of their weekend editing and re-filming. There were issues such as group dynamics to deal with but many told me how much they loved the experience and how hugely proud they were of their final product. They clearly showed understanding of issues in the novel and key concepts.

When we played the completed projects it was a celebration of group work portraying clearly showing understanding with more than a twist of creativity.

From their reflections I know that there is enthusiasm to try something new, different, challenging. There is a pride in their newly acquired skills. Raising the bar...

From basic powerpoint such as

Less is More

The Grade 7 Team has 4 new members this year and so, 5 weeks into the year, it was time to present to parents our curriculum, we reviewed the Powerpoint presentation from the previous year. Apart from the curriculum content changing, the slides had too much information on them. We agreed to go for minimal words and more powerful, thought provoking images.


We divided up the 16 slides amongst the four of us, and each added our own perspective to the presentation. At the next meeting we ran through the slides and critiqued each in terms of clarity and conciseness. One of the images was changed as it didn't make the same connection we felt we needed, and we wordsmithed in order for succinctness.

Because the slides were much more minimalistic is allowed us each to have a common base but to add our own personalities into the presentation whilst keeping it consistent content and theme wise, across the grade. As much of the curriculum is current, as opposed to historical, the parents were made aware of the possibilities open to their child's learning. It made for excellent discussion.

It is not only within the G7 classes that I am constantly working to make presentations more precise, and I find Powerpoint an effective vehicle to do this. It is not on the web so we are not reliant on the server - which can still be inconsistent - and powerpoint has so many temptations to clutter up a presentation is is easy to showcase from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of clarity and purpose of each presentation. Skills learned within powerpoint are easily transferred to other visual presentations.

Worth 1000 Words

Geography terminology doesn't always inspire enthusiasm in students, so I am always looking for new ways to make learning vocabulary engaging and most of all memorable in the educational sense. In order to share the work, and spread the knowledge of terminology so we can move on to the more complex understandings I decided to have each student make a Smart Recording that can be part of a 'Geo Bank' and used as a class resource, as well as beyond the walls of the classroom. The image above was used on the first page of the example given as the visual guide for students, and inserted in a word document along with Word Art and a text box for the definition. All simple. Clean, clear, effective.

The second page includes a world map and three diverse examples of the term - e.g. isthmus. Upon completion the students then make a recording describing their visual and using their document, picture and Google Earth to clearly show examples and locations of their selected term.

The big project is the creation of their own island and culture so these should provide a rich resource of their island and neighbouring countries.

As more than 1/2 of my classes are below the 43rd percentile in the area of vocabulary(according to recent testing) it is imperative that visuals be clear, and catch the viewers eye and provide that hook for learning. Not only will curriculum content be supported by these images - it will be enhanced. In Medina's Rule of Thumb for presenters, the increase in understanding is clearly shown that recall is 3x stronger with visual and 6x stronger with a combination of visual and oral. Not only for the ESL students - for all.

Always learning

Teaching two streams of classes - humanities and IT class is quite different. One is teaching skills (keyboarding, programs etc) and the other much more using skills to support learning of curricular content. What is evident is the transfer from one class to other - cross grade, and over time. In the IT class the students learn to make movie clips and focus on Excel or Word to feature in their clip. One year/class later in the mainstream classes they transfer the knowledge to the geography terms to collaboratively form an on line resource for Geo Terms.
That's just one small example but what it does is allow so much more shared and peer supported learning. Students can focus on the content and not the application. I'm lucky to work in a very competent IT team and as I follow in their wake I am able to consolidate what I do know and constantly incorporate new ideas to support learning.
Reflecting - I know it is a combination of what this course forces me to do and what I find useful and applicable. I'm simply on a journey of absorption and adaptation of IT skills.

Preparing for Mass Collaboration

Students collaborate willingly on a daily basis. They are on line more outside school hours, than they are in school. They collaborate on Facebook, My Space, mail, HI Five, You Tube, MSN, Skype, Genie, World of Warcraft, and Counterstrike. Their social interactions – hopefully positive in nature set much of the groundwork for collaboration with the easy to and fro with their ‘friends’.

“In the economy of things you are identified by want you own – your
Land, house,car. In the economy of ideas that the web is creating,
you are what you share – who you are linked to, who you network
with, and which ideas, pictures, video, links or comments you share.
The biggest change the web will bring about is allowing us to share
with one another in new ways and particularly to share ideas. That matters because the more ideas are shared the more they breed,
mutate and multiply, and that process is ultimately the source of our creativity, innovation and well-being.”
(We Think Leabeater. Charles P. 6)


Students need to be taught that collaborative communities do have creators and leaders, but the format is not the same as they may have traditionally been aware of. As collaborators they need to be taught to create and answer interesting conversations, and be open to adaptation. Basically good people skills translated into an elearning situation. These develop over time and creations such as Web Quests can be very effective steps in that direction by directing learning with multimedia - combining individual and collaborative efforts and shared ownership. People create for many reasons – grades, recognitions, altruism – but whatever the motivation mass collaboration can bring changes we have yet to imagine.

SUPERWEB

The power of the web lies in its exponential growth in terms of access, knowledge, ease of use, and our growing reliance on it . It has power to transform lives in positive and negative ways. It is far more powerful than the radio, or the television ever was in their time as leading communication models.

The web connects for social and business reasons. Information sharing beyond anything imagined by most users. Barriers of knowledge and information are crumbling. It impacts learning of all – and connects learners not in the same room, nor country. A collective learning model is emerging. It allows innovation and mass production. It draws people into political issues, and influences presidential elections. If we don’t like the world we live in, we can join or create a virtual world.

In the classroom it allows us to communicate with other classrooms sturying similar topis, to take virtual tours
The impact on our daily lives continues to grow and at times the ability to totally disconnect takes a monumental effort. That living in the moment with the people or place you are physically with is threatened many times by our electronic world. It has the potential to be an invasion in our lives. Will the web allow us to be more in control of our lives… or less?

It seems there will be nothing the web cannot reach and so we must be discerning.

ON LINE SAFETY? You? Me? Whose responsibility?

If it takes an entire village to raise a child when you are physically with them, so where does it begin and end in a virtual world?

If it is shared technology, it is shared responsibility by all– always. Shared by parents who purchase the technology for their children, shared by schools who supply the technology, and shared by the people who use the technology. It is constant and current. Acceptable Use Policies(AUP)outline clearly what is acceptable behaviour across the board, and from that safety can be addressed.

What to post – and what not to post on line.? NetSafe – a New Zealand organization outlines many common safety broaches committed by teenagers such as home addresses, posting sensitive pictures, negative comments, first and last names next to e mail addresses and identifying photographs. It also teaches how to adjust settings for optimum privacy on social networking pages such as Facebook.

All users need to be aware of the life of anything sent, or posted on the internet. It needs to be taught explicitly and embedded in practice. In parenting – consequences for the inappropriate use that will almost certainly happen, need to be in place.

Currently a cyber bullying case at a school in Sydney has made headlines for the way information was removed from networking sites and manipulated into defamatory information.

“Several teenagers at an elite Sydney girls school are coming to terms with the full magnitude of their public betrayal via the internet. Where to begin? One has had her genitalia discussed in anatomical detail. Another has had her face likened to a koala's. A third has learnt that her circle of friends is not friendly at all: "She thinks she's best friends with lots of people but they actually hate her."
Two year 9 girls at Ascham, who thought they could casually destroy or trash the reputations of other girls in order to advance their own social standing, have left the school in disgrace. So at least some natural justice has been handed out. Thirty-one Ascham girls have been named and dissected in a posting on the social networking site MySpace… “

Ascham Fallout – Sydney Morning Herald. May 2, 2009


Sadly most people do not learn lessons until it directly impacts them even when (ironically) Ascham was one of the first schools in Australia to be involved in responsible internet behaviour.

COPYCAT SOCIETY

Photo Beware of copyrights, etc. by Spushnik


Interpretation? Ethics? Ownership? Copyright ???? “Imitation is the highest form of flattery?”

Having read and re-read the copyright laws of Thailand, the image of a sieve stays in my mind. Sometimes things may flow through almost unseen, and other times not. The escalating number of prosecutions is tantamount to the global pressure exerted perhaps. Or it could simply be a response to the exponential growth of postings on the web. I am unsure that I actually know anyone who has not lived in this country and purchased a 90 baht dvd without losing sleep and so it seems to me that unless we are blatantly flaunting ‘the law’ and that the biggest impacting factor is our own integrity. Do we value that someone else has the creative edge, has made the effort, and put in the time enough so we acknowledge and indeed acknowledge them as creator. And be willing to pay for it? It worked for when they bypassed record companies – they made the most money ever from sales.

“Do as I say – not as I do” is a saying I heard years ago and seems to be quite fitting for most benders of copyright rules. Academically I’ve always cited in essays, presentations etc – well the lesson I learned the hard way at university has stayed with me. Do I consider fair use? Is work transformative? When working with students I’ve taught the acknowledging of others’ work through citing or referencing. It has to be said that I still have a ways to go myself despite taking al the pics from Creative Commons and pointing the praise the photographers way. Small steps in this grey world seem to work.

Not for the Pirate Bay crew though –one of the world’s top websites for illegal filesharing - they have received jail terms for promoting others to infringe upon copyright laws though the site is still in operation. Read on if interested… http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/04/18/1240008818154.html


Meantime I am reading We Think by Charles Leadbeater (and 257 other people). He put his book on line as a work in progress. He was told repeatedly the book would not sell – people would steal his ideas. He needed to copyright it etc etc. He didn’t – and it has sold. In his foreword Leadbeater says “We are living through a great levelling brought on by the power of the web. What we make of it is still thankfully up to us.” The focus of his book is not copyright – apart from how it was created -but it has made me think – if the personal computer is indeed replaced with more controllable gadgets such a the iPhone – what will it to do the progress of innovation of the web due to the control Apple exerts over it and indeed Leadbeater sees the Apple iphone as a “seductively dangerous little tool” due to the constraints. Still reading …

The New Private…

It would seem that the point of most communications on the net involve sharing. So another conundrum indeed. We want to share information and social tidbits, but we do expect privacy for many transactions on line. We would hope that personal e mail and bank transactions remain private and secure, But is this realistic?

To allay parental concern, many of the internet sharing that occurs within ISB – is in the form of an intranet such as Panthernet. Of course anything within that system could be copied and pasted, attributed to whomsoever’s name is attached – and that is out there also.


Of interest is our Digital Shadow which incorporates all the information generated by a user at any given time.

“Your shadow includes things like images of you on a surveillance camera, your bank records, your retail and airline purchase records, your telephone records, your medical database entries, copies of hospital scans, information about your web searches, general backup data, information about credit card purchases, etc.”

("The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe." EMC)

This shadow is larger than what is created by the person and the implications for the security of this are enormous. I did not start generating a footprint until I was in my 20’s so imagine the size of one generated by those beginning as they begin school. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new_tool_calculates_your_digital_footprint.php

Privacy? Who knows honestly – when images of us outside our homes and in the streets can be uploaded by satellites without our knowledge , anything is possible…

DIGITAL TATTOO

tattoo_750 by clocker

In the perfect world Digital Footprints would perhaps be little like a walk along the foreshore, some footprints staying a while, and some washed away. As this is not the case, internet users of any age need to be made aware of the permanency of digital word and image, and their expansive reach. Digital Tattoo seems a more fitting image as the possiblility of being stung by it or attempting to erase something once posted, would be about as successful, and perhaps as painful in the interim.

A digital footprint is a record of our activity in places such as Facebook or My Space, e mails sent and received, photos and blogs etc. We send these presuming they are only going to be seen by the people we have selected, but not so. Links spread the word – both good and bad. Having noted that – it’s here -the internet is the major form of communication now for many people and so responsible use is the key.

Childrens’ mistakes would likely be small, teenagers a potential cacophony of inappropriate postings and comments as they stretch and grow, and often feel invincible. They keyboard giving a sense of distance in terms of connectivity. As educators, teaching and modelling responsible and respectful use explicitly is important. Ultimately though students spend much of their time out of school on their social pages, so it is also the responsibility of the parents who purchase the computers to ensure their children are using technology appropriately. Footprints will differ digitally, as everything else about individuals does. So will the need to monitor and direct.

Silvia Tolisano clearly spoke of the positives for learning and is what educators are doing – using technology to learn in an every expanding environment.