Comments on: Digital immigrants just don’t get it

By: Dangerously Irrelevant

Dangerously Irrelevant — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:50:45 +0000

Online predators: Overblown threat?…

Much conversation has occurred in the educational blogging community about DOPA. One of the arguments against DOPA that hasn’t popped up that much is the fact that the perceived problem may be largely overblown. While it’s obviously important to keep…

By: Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » So, what’s the best way to protect kids from online predators?

Fri, 12 May 2006 01:57:32 +0000

[...] No, Rep. Fitzpatrick, this bill is reactionary, statist, ignorant of technology, and almost certain to do more harm to students than good. Reactionary because it is trying to solve a problem by attacking the medium rather than the cause. Statist because it assumes that the government, not parents and schools, are the best agents for educating kids on how to use technology safely. Ignorant because it opens the door for a wide range of educationally useful web tools like del.icio.us or wikis (or maybe even a few simple blogs) to be placed beyond the reach of the kids who could use them. As one commenter in this post wrote: “We should definitely ban pencils, pens, paper, etc. because students can write offensive things and share them with others. We may want to look at banning markers too.” [...]

By: Cheryl Oakes

Cheryl Oakes — Thu, 11 May 2006 23:54:58 +0000

Another example of digital immigrants coming up with “rules” for the good of themselves. Today’s schools are not our mothers’ schools. Instead they are schools of the future. Or as one high school senior said about working on laptops at our high school, oh yeah, they have things blocked, but, with a smile, we know how to get around them with proxies. I had to smile too!
Speed bumps will only slow them down it won’t prevent them from going places. However, my computer classes about Internet safety and Netiquette are about spending quality time and quality conversations students will reflect on for years to come.

By: Infomancy » Dealing with DOPA

Infomancy » Dealing with DOPA — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:57:40 +0000

[...] Andy Carvin, writing at his PBS-based learning.now blog, has an excellent review of the bill with quite a nice discussion taking place. Wesley Fryer from Moving at the Speed of Creativity also has some great points about digital immigrants banning what they don’t understand. Will Richardson, David Warlick and others are also looking at the original article from C-NET in disbelief. It goes without saying that any pressure you can bring to bear on elected officials is a good thing (and I hope it goes without saying that the pressure needed here is for a rational reconsideration and a drastic re-write of this proposal). Protecting children is good, but educating them is better. [...]

By: astephens

astephens — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:57:09 +0000

I think you are on to something… We should definitely ban pencils, pens, paper, etc. because students can write offensive things and share them with others. We may want to look at banning markers too.

Seriously, education is the key. People hear what the media is reporting in regards to social networking sites but they have never seen the positive side of these technologies.

By: Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:56:14 +0000

Wes,

These knee jerk reactions in an effort to protect our children have so many flaws it’s hard to even list them all. The recent announcement about the city of Aurora raises the issue of filtering among the free service that will exist throughout the city. I’m guessing the city of Aurora won’t be filtering nor should they.

THis reminds me of a recent discussion on the spending habits of the Cancer Society. They are spending 90% or there abouts on reactionary measures and only 10% on prevention. THe money being spend on filtering could be much better spend on being developing teachers and students who fully understand the implications of the the online world and are able to make informed choices. They’ll always have the choice outside of the classroom but with filtering, they’ll never have to consider their choices.