Comments on: Discussing avatar and profile picture propriety with students http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:42:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Cheryl Oakes http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57503 Cheryl Oakes Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:46:39 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57503 Bryan,I agree with you on the one strike policy, providing the facilitator has done a good job. Remember, we are starting mid stream with some of our students. They have been living in the wild internet, and now suddenly their teachers have caught up with them. I use "mistakes" as teachable moments with my 5, 6, 7 and 8 graders. Once the mistake has been illustrated and different alternatives have been discussed, thus the teachable moment,after that it is one strike and you are out. One example of a student losing their blog, is usually enough to solidify that learning. Good luck. And Beth, I do really like think.com for my students. For our 4th and 5th graders we kept them 'isolated' to our school. By 8th grade we have them posting on open blogs in a continuum of practice. Cheryl Oakes Bryan,I agree with you on the one strike policy, providing the facilitator has done a good job. Remember, we are starting mid stream with some of our students. They have been living in the wild internet, and now suddenly their teachers have caught up with them. I use “mistakes” as teachable moments with my 5, 6, 7 and 8 graders. Once the mistake has been illustrated and different alternatives have been discussed, thus the teachable moment,after that it is one strike and you are out. One example of a student losing their blog, is usually enough to solidify that learning. Good luck. And Beth, I do really like think.com for my students. For our 4th and 5th graders we kept them ‘isolated’ to our school. By 8th grade we have them posting on open blogs in a continuum of practice.
Cheryl Oakes

]]> By: Beth Still http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57491 Beth Still Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:38:07 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57491 Thank you for getting me to put more thought into this project. I want it to get off to a great start. I have a feeling my students would rather use an avatar instead of an actual picture of themselves. I think it will encourage the students who are self-conscious to participate. I am not too worried about them posting an avatar that is inappropriate. There are four teachers and one principal who will monitor the Ning. We stress the importance of digital citizenship so I do not think there will be any issues with inappropriate avatars. They will be well aware of the consequences ahead of time. If there are issues then we will turn them into teaching moments! Thank you for getting me to put more thought into this project. I want it to get off to a great start.

I have a feeling my students would rather use an avatar instead of an actual picture of themselves. I think it will encourage the students who are self-conscious to participate.

I am not too worried about them posting an avatar that is inappropriate. There are four teachers and one principal who will monitor the Ning. We stress the importance of digital citizenship so I do not think there will be any issues with inappropriate avatars. They will be well aware of the consequences ahead of time. If there are issues then we will turn them into teaching moments!

]]> By: Beth Still http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57487 Beth Still Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:17:41 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57487 I will spend some time checking out the avatar sites you recommended. Suggestions from others are welcomed! I am curious if students will be more willing to join the Ning (it is voluntary) if they are required to use an avatar instead of their picture. Many of my students would rather use an avatar anyway. I want their experience in the Ning to be positive. If there is no pressure to post their actual picture then more students might decide to participate. Thank you for getting me to put more thought into this project. There will be 3 other teachers and a principal who are moderators. I hope that all 100 or so students will participate on a regular basis and take the initiative to form groups. We place an emphasis on digital citizenship at my school so I do not anticipate any issues. However, if issues arise we will turn them into teaching moments! I will spend some time checking out the avatar sites you recommended. Suggestions from others are welcomed!

I am curious if students will be more willing to join the Ning (it is voluntary) if they are required to use an avatar instead of their picture. Many of my students would rather use an avatar anyway. I want their experience in the Ning to be positive. If there is no pressure to post their actual picture then more students might decide to participate.

Thank you for getting me to put more thought into this project. There will be 3 other teachers and a principal who are moderators. I hope that all 100 or so students will participate on a regular basis and take the initiative to form groups. We place an emphasis on digital citizenship at my school so I do not anticipate any issues. However, if issues arise we will turn them into teaching moments!

]]> By: Bryan McDonald http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57481 Bryan McDonald Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:10:49 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57481 I'd say consequences for inappropriate avatars should be based on a one strike and you're out...provided that the facilitator/teacher has done his job in reinforcing/modeling appropriate behavior. I’d say consequences for inappropriate avatars should be based on a one strike and you’re out…provided that the facilitator/teacher has done his job in reinforcing/modeling appropriate behavior.

]]> By: Wesley Fryer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57477 Wesley Fryer Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:51:04 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57477 Beth: There are quite a few websites out there for creating avatars, <a href="http://www.meez.com/" rel="nofollow">meez</a> is one I've looked at briefly. If you are setting up your Ning so it closed to the outside world for even viewing (using a "walled garden" approach) then I think you can feel a bit more comfortable having students use photos on their profile pages. Still, it is important for students to learn safe Internet behavior through practice, and I think the best idea is to have students use avatars of some kind instead of photos. They can still be creative, show their individuality, etc-- but it is much safer than using a photo. Whatever students use in your Ning as an avatar or profile image is also likely to be used by them elsewhere as an IM avatar, avatar on their facebook page, etc. <a href="http://avatars.yahoo.com/" rel="nofollow">Yahoo has an avatar creation website</a> as well you might want to check out. Before you recommend an avatar site to students, however, I recommend you thoroughly check out the site including the example / recent avatars others have created. I think your idea of using a Ning to join the two communities of students together is a great one, and this conversation is certainly an important one to have with student as well as adult participants. I'd encourage you to consider getting other adults involved who can help you monitor and moderate the learning environment. Also I strongly encourage you to check out <a href="http://www.think.com/en/" rel="nofollow">Think.com</a>, which is a free learning environment for students and teachers that includes many social networking features. When you setup your account you can decide if you want to permit students to connect beyond your school or not. I <a href="http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/05/09/podcast57-thinkcom-and-digital-social-networking/" rel="nofollow">published a podcast interview with Cheryl Oakes back in May of 2006</a> that you might want to also check out to learn more about the site. Beth: There are quite a few websites out there for creating avatars, meez is one I’ve looked at briefly. If you are setting up your Ning so it closed to the outside world for even viewing (using a “walled garden” approach) then I think you can feel a bit more comfortable having students use photos on their profile pages. Still, it is important for students to learn safe Internet behavior through practice, and I think the best idea is to have students use avatars of some kind instead of photos. They can still be creative, show their individuality, etc– but it is much safer than using a photo. Whatever students use in your Ning as an avatar or profile image is also likely to be used by them elsewhere as an IM avatar, avatar on their facebook page, etc.

Yahoo has an avatar creation website as well you might want to check out. Before you recommend an avatar site to students, however, I recommend you thoroughly check out the site including the example / recent avatars others have created.

I think your idea of using a Ning to join the two communities of students together is a great one, and this conversation is certainly an important one to have with student as well as adult participants. I’d encourage you to consider getting other adults involved who can help you monitor and moderate the learning environment. Also I strongly encourage you to check out Think.com, which is a free learning environment for students and teachers that includes many social networking features. When you setup your account you can decide if you want to permit students to connect beyond your school or not. I published a podcast interview with Cheryl Oakes back in May of 2006 that you might want to also check out to learn more about the site.

]]> By: Beth Still http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/08/05/discussing-avatar-and-profile-picture-propriety-with-students/#comment-57476 Beth Still Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:41:31 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=2966#comment-57476 I teach at a very small school in western Nebraska. Half of the day I spend teaching f2f and the other half of the day I teach online classes. I wanted to bring these two groups of students together so I decided to set up a Ning. It is only open to students who are enrolled at alternative high school or who are taking an online class. I stipulated that they must include a picture of themselves. Now I am second guessing myself. I insisted on the picture because I have a much easier time connecting with the people in my PLC who provided pictures of themselves. But, I also have been able to connect with those who supply an avatar. I just don't want them to keep the generic default image. I am one of those people who have to have some image in my head to connect with the words. Thoughts on this? I want the Ning to be successful so I want to do it right from the beginning. Any suggestions on good sites for teens to use to create an avatar? I teach at a very small school in western Nebraska. Half of the day I spend teaching f2f and the other half of the day I teach online classes. I wanted to bring these two groups of students together so I decided to set up a Ning. It is only open to students who are enrolled at alternative high school or who are taking an online class. I stipulated that they must include a picture of themselves. Now I am second guessing myself. I insisted on the picture because I have a much easier time connecting with the people in my PLC who provided pictures of themselves. But, I also have been able to connect with those who supply an avatar. I just don’t want them to keep the generic default image. I am one of those people who have to have some image in my head to connect with the words.

Thoughts on this? I want the Ning to be successful so I want to do it right from the beginning. Any suggestions on good sites for teens to use to create an avatar?

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