Group Presentations

There were some (all!) great presentations on Tuesday and a TON of awesome information from each one. I first want to give a shout out to all #I4Ed'ers for making it such an informative class!

For anyone that was not able to make it to class, or if you want to watch our video again, here it is...

Cyber-Bullying:

#BYOD: I think this is a great idea. There is one point that will for sure come up when anyone speaks of this topic, and it will be this: How will you get administration on board?
It is true that there is a good number of the more "mature" (to not be offensive) crowd that is using technology, and even more in-depth than some of us that have grown up with it most of our lives. This could be because of having to learn how to use it anyways, so they might as well go all out, or it could simply be because they are wiser and see the value in it. With that being said though, I know a lot of the "mature" crowd who still struggle with technology. My father, for example, refuses to learn new skills on the computer, but spends 2-4 hours on it every day. For him to use the internet he has all of the sites he wants to look at in his bookmarks so he doesn't even have to type (he is an old school 'hunt-n-peck' guy).

Either extreme will be possible for us to have as new teachers in the coming year. I think it will just be a matter of pointing out what exactly is so beneficial for the students and why they cannot gain those skills without technology... and to think of the children!

How NOT To Steal From The Internet: This is a huge issue in the schools that students do not even know (or care) about. Sure a teacher may tell their students to make sure they list where they got their information from, but why? That is the topic that really needs to be covered.

During my one student teaching placement I got to watch students give a presentation on an animal of their choice, and how they adapted to their environment. After looking at the resources some kids gave, it was a little shocking (I guess shocking wouldn't be the word... more like taken back). "Wikipedia", "Google", and "Internet" were just a few of the resources that were given, and from more than just one student too! This obviously says the students have not been taught how to give references and why to give references, just to give references. It is a scary thought that this is happening all around the world in classrooms, but the fact of the matter is it will always be this way if we do not do something about it.

The Internet: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: My thought on this topic is simple... Everything starts as a good, and it takes something or someone to turn it bad or ugly.

I believe everything on the internet starts as a positive. If someone is posting information onto Wikipedia, for example, their thought of sharing is good! However, when they have the notion to post false information instead of true, that is where it turns.

Students of today's classroom have to be knowledgeable on what good and bad information look like, and the only way to do this is teach them about it! If we are able to create that knowledge, then maybe, one day, there will be no need for filters. That is one BIG maybe though...

Filtering and Blocking in Schools: This is a topic that will receive much support from both sides, but also some in the middle. There will always be people thinking there should be no internet filtering at school, some will think there should be thorough filtering, and some may think there needs to be some filtering, but not excessive amounts... That is where I stand. 

I feel filtering is needed in schools and we will never get away from that. It is something that needs to be there to protect the students, the teachers, the administration, and anyone else in the school. The line for me though is when schools have vague filters that may block something that is entirely educational.

The filters need to be specific so they only interrupt unwanted searches and activities. Like the example given in class, if searching Mars Explorer, it may be blocked simple because of the fact that if put together, the two words look like this: marsexplorer. I don't think it matters how much time we spend on making the filters relevant though, there will be some thinks that will always be blocked if using any sort of filter.