Although safety is always a concern, I either use a name with no photo, or a photo with no name for the students. I just wish I could have some way to set up folders within my identities for all of my classes- it’s hard to find the student I’m looking for at times, especially the ones with just silhouettes.

But after posting a few of these to our school website, I am now getting requests from teachers to learn how to do this. It’s been a long time coming- no time, no interest, lack of skills or confidence, general resistance to change. Although when MySpace and the other social networking sites first hit the web a few years ago, I was appalled by what my students thought was OK to put online, now that the novelty has worn off and we are all more aware of the safety issues, I am just thrilled by all of the web 2.0 appications which I believe have been spurred on, not by educators, but by social networking.

My next project with my 8th graders is a wiki- on web 2.0 applications. Since I cannot keep up with them, I’m asking the kids to investigate them- and to evaluate them use at school. Voice Thread is on my list.

Given the opportunity, someone could say, “You’re in violation of students’ copyright.” Also, do you have permission to store student work online, counter-signed by your principal AND the students and parents? What steps have you taken to inform the parents of what’s going on, and has that included a face to face meeting?

;->

Miguel

Our latest voicethread is public - with moderated comments: the children are using images of the story of christmas which they downloaded from the Interent and then put into their own ‘order’, to comment and tell the story in their own words. Our first was a collaboration with our partner school - a series of pictures made by local artists from either side of the channel which children and staff added their ‘first impressions’ to - in French and/or English. It’s a fantastic tool and so easy to use. I do wish it would speed up a little sometimes when uploading comments…
Thank you again for sharing your letter.

Jessica: You are right, our schools are more locked down internet-access wise than many people (myself included) think they should– but I will admit I’m not surprised your school balked at MySpace accounts for kids. My recommendation would be to advocate for a moderated social networking environment for students, and work toward having student work as well as social networking opportunities going to the “open web.” This is a very important discussion with no clear answers, Miguel and I tackled this a bit together at TechForum Austin at the start of the month. I would recommend you pursue the use of Moodle or another available learning management system, to both work interactively with students using different online tools and environments, but also providing forums for social networking. You also should check out think.com and get your school registered. Think.com is not a learning management system but is a moderated social networking environment specifically designed for schools, teachers, and students with safety in mind.

Dean: You are right of course, I am taking a very conservative approach with this situation. We have a school in SE Oklahoma (Howe Public Schools) that publishes a weekly video podcast by their high school students, and they use student names, pictures, etc. In the case of the district I am working with, there is currently ZERO blogging, and interactive digital storytelling going from what I have learned… I’m treading lightly because I want to start with a small victory. I agree with you though, the fears are overblown an it’s more than a bit ridiculous that I’m feeling I have to take such a conservative approach. Rest assured this is NOT my preferred approach in every case.

I’m a bit weary of your emphasis on safety. While I hear the same concerns as you do, you and I both know is way less of an issue than people think. I would say that instead of pandering to the overbearing concerns of educators and parents, why not work at emphasizing openness and sharing. I know you do that but I guess everytime we allow and cater to these overly private and locked down exchanges, we do nothing to move people to understand the dangers of posting information online is so minimal it’s hardly worth talking about.

I’m waiting for the day that someone can provide me with statistical or even anecdotal evidence that this is harmful. You and I know it’s not and while I respect people’s decision to maintain privacy, I still question it and will continue to ask why they don’t want to post their pictures or names.

Steve Dembo told me that there are schools in Iowa helping kids to build digital portfolios where first and last names are required along with photos to identify themselves. They are proud of their work and are targetting future employers and institutions.

This is a bit of a rant but I for one, aren’t going to stop making a case for openness and self promotion for kids.