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=Blog If You Love Learning: An Introduction to Weblogs in Education=

November 18, 2006
The session agenda/notes are provided below. Please feel free to add to these resources by clicking on "Edit This Page" above.

Live Demonstration

 * What is a blog?
 * What is the read/write web?
 * What do these things mean for you and your students?

The Read-Only Web

 * Powerful resource for educators and students, but…
 * Information moves from publishers to consumers
 * Information cannot be edited
 * One-Way Web (Web 1.0)

The Read/Write Web

 * It is now as easy to create as it is to consume.
 * Anyone can publish, share, and change information
 * Two-Way Web (Web 2.0)
 * This is changing our world!

Blogs

 * Web + Log = weblog, or “we blog”
 * Easily created
 * Easily updated
 * If you can email, you can blog.
 * Blogs allow visitors to comment.

Educational Blogs

 * Teacher web sites
 * Class web sites
 * Learning journals
 * Book Clubs
 * Connect with Authors and Experts
 * Pen pals
 * Professional Development
 * Reflective Practice
 * http://www.edublogs.org (Free Blogs for Teachers!)

Engagement and Motivation

 * Digital Natives already enjoy these technologies
 * Interactive and responsive
 * Personalized
 * Appeal to multiple learning styles

Context

 * Students access, process, and create
 * Authentic Purpose
 * Authentic Audience
 * It’s about content and communication - not the technology

Inquiry

 * Students discover, explore, and contribute
 * Authentic problems
 * Individualized
 * Empowering

Collaboration

 * Students connect with peers and experts
 * Interpersonal skills
 * Tools of the 21st Century workplace
 * Results oriented

Reflection

 * Students consume, consider, and compose
 * Writing is learning
 * So is creating and editing other media
 * Metacognition
 * Reflective Practice
 * And Feedback!

Information Literacy

 * Relevance?
 * Source?
 * Agenda or bias?
 * Fact Checking
 * Trusted Sources

Inappropriate Content

 * Offensive, sexual, or violent content
 * Due Diligence
 * Increasingly difficult to filter
 * Appropriate responses to the inevitable

Inappropriate Sharing

 * Students may post:
 * Inappropriately
 * Unsafely
 * Irresponsibly
 * Provocatively
 * Illicit or illegal behavior
 * Students will post outside of school!

Threats and Cyber-bullying

 * Students may post threats
 * Threats that impact attendance or academics are a school concern
 * Credible threats may be a criminal matter

Free Speech Concerns

 * Students do have 1st Amendment Rights
 * Parody is protected
 * We cannot control students, we can educate them

Intellectual Property

 * Academic Honesty
 * Copyright Law
 * Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
 * Alternative licenses

Fraud and Identity Theft

 * Students may put their families and friends at risk
 * Students are at risk
 * Fraud
 * Theft
 * Identity Theft

Stalkers and Predators

 * Most serious consequence of inappropriate sharing
 * Predators do hunt children through online social networks
 * Students can protect themselves

Another Perspective

 * Citizen Journalism
 * Citizen Police Work
 * Threats, suicides, and risky behavior are often reported
 * Sting operations catch criminals
 * “My space is safer for teens than predators.”

Lack of Understanding

 * Fear of the Unknown
 * Some adults vilify technologies with many benefits
 * Deleting Online Predators’ Act 2006
 * Potential for rebellion and destruction of trust

Legal Protections

 * Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
 * Filtering, Monitoring, & Policies
 * Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
 * Policies, Parental Consent, Protection of Info
 * Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
 * Stiff Penalties for Offenders, National Registry

Safety Tips for Students

 * Do not share identifying information.
 * Do not share personal information.
 * Do not share provocative images.
 * Beware of grooming.
 * Consider the consequences and the future.
 * Talk with parents, teachers, or other trusted adults.

Safety Tips for Parents

 * Move computers into shared spaces & make monitors visible
 * Watch for Alt+Tab (or Alt+F4)
 * Check history (is it suspiciously blank?)
 * Beware a reluctance to be candid

What else can teachers do?
>
 * Communicate with students
 * Communicate with other educators
 * Communicate with IT
 * Communicate with the police
 * Confront students who are behaving in irresponsible, inappropriate, or unsafe ways. Do not look the other way.

Reflection

 * How can you use blogs in your role as an educator?
 * How might your students use blogs as part of their education?
 * What are your next steps?

[|Online Evaluation]

Learn more about blogs in education:
www.weblogg-ed.com - Will Richardson’s blog www.davidwarlick.com/2cents/ - David Warlick’s blog http://anne.teachesme.com/ - Anne Davis’ blog www.speedofcreativity.com - Wes Freyer’s blog www.supportblogging.com - A Wiki about blogs in education www.mabryonline.org - A great example of a blogging school!