Internet Safety

As the web 2.0 becomes a part of school curriculum, issues such as personal internet safety need to be addressed. Many students feel a false sense of security online because they have experience on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. Sites such as these offer built in security options which limit the amount of information others can see. However, when students post information to a public site such as a class blog, discussion board or other media, it is open for everyone to see if not protected properly.

The first step teachers need to take is educating their students about how to prevent personal information from getting on the web. The OSPI website offers links to resources including iSafe. The next step is for teachers to protect the sites by requiring registration and teacher approval before access is granted or a password known only to students. Teachers should also monitor these sites and remove any personal information such as pictures with names, personal details such as where students live and any other information which could identify individual students.

As teachers, we have a responsibility to keep our students safe. OSPI has also included it in their standards (Educational Technology EALR 2.1- Practice Safety: Demonstrate safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology.) We have monthly fire drills, intruder drills and even an earthquake drill during the school year. Teachers also need to education students about how to keep themselves safe while on the internet.

Differentiated Instruction with Technology

Good teachers are able to use students’ differences to their advantage. These teachers avoid the easy “one size fits all” approach and seek to engage each student as an individual. This is commonly done by teaching to different learning styles or incorporating students’ interests. This can also be done using technology.

All teachers have projects that involve a presentation or written report. These appeal to only a select few learning styles and the others have to suffer through it. Take for example a book report. The students who learn by reading and writing do fine while the visual learner wants to draw pictures or a flow chart and the physical learner can’t sit still long enough to write a full paper. Below are some programs that could be used as alternatives to a written report for various learning styles.

Group learner- Post the report on a blog and have other students leave comments. (WordPress)

Kinesthetic learner- Act out an important part of the book on video and tape yourself explaining the significance of it. (video editing such as iMovie)

Visual learner- Create a flow chart showing the connections and important events for each character in the book. (Inspiration)

Aural learner- Record yourself explaining a significant part of the book and then let other students record their own observations and comments. (VoiceThread)

As you can see, these are only a few options teachers could use. The goal is to start with an existing project and find appropriate technology that enhances it. The focus should be on the content and learning goals while the technology merely engages students’ interests and learning styles.

Socially Constructed Learning

The article “Minds on Fire” suggests that traditional idea of lecture-based learning needs to be re-thought given the current technological advances. Learning needs to be viewed as participation in a community which allows students to acquire knowledge  when the need arises. This new approach to learning is not so new as many teachers have used labs and projects to encourage student interaction but not necessarily using the internet. Let me provide an example of how the web 2.0 of blogs and Facebook has opened up new learning opportunities.

As a young high school running coach, I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to planning running workouts, injury prevention and various the components which go into coaching a cross country or track team. Books, websites and videos have provided me with information but it is difficult for me to apply it to my particular situation. Unfortunately, I am the only distance running coach in my school so the opportunities for collaboration are few. The best resource I have found so far is a blog by professional running coach, Jay Johnson. Jay posts his workouts, strength routines and everything else that goes into training his runners on his blog. On top of that, he engages in dialogue through the comment section, direct email and Twitter with other athletes and coaches around the country. Being able to participate in this dialogue and email Coach Jay has helped me grow immensely as a coach. I can get affirmation and guidance from him and other coaches without ever meeting them face to face. Jay uses a variety of mediums such as slide presentations, online videos as well as the blog and Twitter mentioned above.

In a high school science classroom, I foresee this new approach to learning helping in areas such as using equations to solve story problems. One of the biggest problems students have in physics is knowing when to use which equation and how. There are a lot of tricks and exceptions in physics which make this a difficult process. I demonstrate these problems in class but students usually write down a few steps and the answer without the explanation. If I uploaded a few example problems to a website using VoiceThread, students could have that as a resource. Students could also be required to write and solve their own story problems and then critique someone else’s. I could monitor these discussions and provide information or clarity when needed.

Socially constructed learning involves learning in an online or physical community. Information is provided when it is needed and learning is achieved through collaboration. By using blogs, VoiceThreads and other media, learning can take place in a guided environment outside of the classroom and at the student’s own pace.

Coach Jay Johnson