As promised from last week's blog, I'd talk about my being ignorant.
Got about 8 hours? :)
Last week's discussion was on modeling, and to me, modeling for students also means showing them that you fail sometimes, and that failing is a good thing. Failing, or admitting ignorance, can lead to growth.
So the wikis are a chance for me to show off to my students. Hey kiddies! Look what I don't know! And, because I spend so much of my time trying to show them what I do know, it'll bring me back down a bit - it'll help establish another commonality between the students and me.
So three cheers for ignorance!
The NETS T4 standards (http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf) deal with digital citizenship and responsibility. To me, the first part of the standard is a prime chance to show students ignorance, not only from my end, but from many educators, politicians and the everyday Joe out there. The first indicator states the following:
Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
Of course, much of what occurs online is pretty clear as to whether it's safe, legal and ethical. We've seen this recently with sexting, including the tragic circumstance of Jessie Logan of Sycamore High School, who committed suicide after sending a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend and then was taunted.
But some actions online are more difficult to define. For instance, can a student, on his or her home computer, get in trouble at school for posting negative views on a teacher, including profanity and threats? What about if my students post their favorite music or poems on their wikis? Are they infringing on copyright laws?
It's exciting to be on the edge of this new way of teaching and affecting students, but like any new adventure, there is a level of apprehension, too. It sure would be safer just to continue to teach the way I've always taught ...
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So true Fred...there are so many difficult lines that exist, sometimes it is very hard to determine what would cross them.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with you, Fred. It's great to have these technologies and they are a great way to share information, but like you said, if a student writes their favorite poem, are they infringing on copyright laws? It's the same way with art and images. For every image you find online, are you really supposed to write down every place you find an image?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree- it is a totally different world of education than we were brought up with. The internet is so helpful, but so dangerous also.
ReplyDeleteFred:
ReplyDelete1) Sorry that I just now allowed you membership into my Wiki. :) I was a bad teacher and did not see your April 1st comment until class today. My apologies, but let me know if there's anything you need in creating your Wiki. That stinks that you have to delay the process, but I bet your students will think it's a fun/cool/innovative way to finish off the year! :)
2) I definitely think that the point you brought up in your blog is valid- especially @ the high school level, where everything seems to become increasingly controversial. I think when it comes down to it, you and the students just have to make "best judgment calls". My opinion on posting online poetry? Have the student write the title of the poem, the author of the poem, and the title of the resource (title of the poetry anthology, website, book, etc.) that the poem was retrieved from on the Wiki page. And if it was a website, just have the student copy and paste the URL into his/her Wiki page. That way, anyone who might ever have a discrepancy with the copyright information can visit that same site and view the poem. Then, it's out of your hands-- and there's an "electronic" paper trail.