The below presentation outlines why it is important to move from banning and blocking social media to empowering students to use this resource. It features real ways this is being done in elementary and secondary school. It also provides ideas for analyzing what the internet says about us and suggests some food for thought around how educators will incorporate social media into their work with their students.
Thinking Outside the Ban Keeps Students Safe Online
The below presentation outlines why it is important to move from banning and blocking social media to empowering students to use this resource. It features real ways this is being done in elementary and secondary school. It also provides ideas for analyzing what the internet says about us and suggests some food for thought around how educators will incorporate social media into their work with their students.
Social media doesn’t “cause” unprofessional or inappropriate behavior. It “catches” it.
"The use of the Internet and social media, despite best intentions, may cause members to forget their professional responsibilities and the unique position of trust and authority given to them by society,"
World’s simplest online safety policy
These acts were created to protect children. They were not created to keep students stuck in the past, educated in a disconnected school environment that shares little resemblance to the real world for which we should be preparing our children. These acts do not say we can’t publish online student’s names, videos, work, pictures, etc. They do not prevent us from using social media, YouTube, email, or any of those things that may be blocked in many school districts. An important goal of education is to strive for creation and publication of content by students. In today’s world technology and the Internet are an essential components of that process.
By blocking students from the digital world, the jobs of administrators and educators are made easier, but if people became teachers, education leaders or parents because it was easy, they’ve selected the wrong profession.While it is true that banninig is an easy way out, doing so is short sighted and not visionary. It does not approach the innovative status that we hear so much about. If you’re wondering how to navigate these waters and what is really allowed, read on to find a simple policy that addresses the three main acts: FERPA, CIPA, and COPPA explaining:
- a simple policy
- how to do it
- why to do it
- safety
- a link to each act
- a brief overview of each act
- what it means to educators
- a real life example of each
World’s simplest online safety policy
Students can access websites that do not contain or that filter mature content. They can use their real names, pictures, and work (as long it doesn’t have a grade/score from a school) with the notification and/or permission of the student and their parent or guardian.
How
Notify parents/guardians that their child’s work, likeness, name will be shared across the year, and let them know the procedure for opting out. Have the permission release provided and signed as part of the student registration packet that includes things like emergency notification contact.
As specific projects come up, notify parents/guardians in traditional ways i.e. a note home and/or using methods like a voice or texting notification system to parents, or an email. You may also want to have updates on a parent page of your school website, or on a class website or class blog.
Why Not Ban?
Establishing a purposeful online identity of which one can be proud is an important skill to teach students. Equally important is conveying the idea that being safe and responsible online does not mean hiding your identity, but rather defining it and owning it. After all, If your child is not developing his/her digital footprint, who is? In elementary school students like Armond McFadden are publicly publishing work and engaging in real learning communities about his area of passion, both online and in life. Anyone can begin making a difference and contributing real work at any age.
Never before in history have kids had the ability to create and publish so much content, so easily. Never ever have people had the ability to access so much information without leaving a seat. These are awesome abilities that come with awesome responsibilities. These abilities and responsibilities require skills that are taught and not inherited. Educators need to have the authority to teach these skills. Educators need to be trusted to teach these skills. The world, in which our kids will live, will require their knowledge and skills in this area in order for them to be competitive and relevant.Banning Internet access for misguided reasoning will prevent educators from accomplishing this much needed goal.
These articles provide additional insight and information for parents and educators interested in supporting their children in developing and managing a purposeful and powerful digital footprint.
- Just Say Yes to Publishing! Exposing The Man Behind the Curtain If He’s Still Saying No.
- Controlling your digital identity is as easy as 1-2-3
- Help students manage their digital footprint and effectively participate in social media
- Teaching Kids how to manage their Digital Footprint
- Why social media curriculum is critical in schools
- Footprints in the Digital Age
- Facebook Recap Apps That Inspire Fun and Personalized Learning in the New Year
- Whachu Talking 'Bout? Find Out with Facebook Status Clouds
- A Parent's Guide to Facebook
What about Safety?
Shows like To Catch a Predator sensationalize and feed the fear of parents having their child exposed to a child predator. It is a real fear and certainly a serious consideration.The facts however support evidence that over 90% of child predators are family members, close family friends, or clergy. We do not ban family picnics, playgrounds, family reunions, or church functions. There are no laws addressing these issues.The best way to defend our children against these threats is to educate them. Warn or rather teach them of the dangers,make them aware of the possibilities.Or, we can lock them away, effectively banning them from the outside world in which they will eventually have to live, leaving them to use whatever they picked up on their own about responsible digital citizenship, a topic probably not stressed outside of education.
When it comes to sharing student information and student work, there is a lot of misinformation. The reality is there is no evidence that doing so, responsibly and appropriately, compromises student safety. Instead, representatives from the Crimes Against Children Research Center and the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee explain that what puts kids at risk are things like:
- having a lot of conflict with your parents
- being depressed and socially isolated
- being hyper
- communicating with a lot of people who you don't know
- being willing to talk about sex with people that you don't know
- having a pattern of multiple risky activities
- going to sex sites and chat rooms, meeting lots of people there, and behaving like an Internet daredevil.
To follow are brief overviews of each of the acts that address online safety along with a link to the original act, what this means for educators and examples of each.
The Educator’s Guide to CIPA, COPPA, and FERPA
Children’s Internet Protection Act
Overview:
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. It applies only to minors in places that apply for erate funds. The law requires an Internet safety policy that addresses:
- blocking or filtering Internet access to pictures that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors).
- a method for monitoring (not tracking) activities.
- access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet; the safety and security of minors when communicating electronically, unauthorized access to hacking, unauthorized use of personal information, restricting minors’ access to materials harmful to them.
First, you can and should request that the teacher computer is unfiltered. There is nothing worse then frustration in not being able to do work because you get blocked at every turn. I’ve been in teacher training centers where they’ve falsely claimed they could not unblock because of CIPA requirements. Not true. Educators need to be empowered not only with access, but also with a way to preview sites to choose for use and have unblocked for students.
When working with students, we want to empower them to independently use online tools not only at school, but in life. Ensure you have conversations with students about appropriate use and consequences. Additionally, when planning lessons and units, you should have the sites students will use vetted in advance with proper safety settings selected i.e. “safe search” in Google. You should also consider creating a learning outline or guide for students with directions and direct links to sites. This helps keep the lesson on track and the students focused.
There are services like Renzulli Learning that provide educators and students access to thousands of vetted sites that are aligned to students passions, talents, interests, abilities, and learning styles. This might be a service to investigate. When doing searches, there are safe search sites such as KidsClick which is great for elementary students and also sorts by reading level. For secondary students Google is a terrific site where not only can you do a Safe Search, but you can also search by reading level, language, and you can choose to translate the results.
Example:
I served as a library media specialist in Central Harlem in a Pre-K to 8 school where I complied with CIPA rules by using myself as the method for monitoring and teaching students to use their brain as a powerful filtering tool. I empowered my students to be able to be safe and appropriate online not only in school, but in life. Sure, there were times when a site was accidentally accessed. The students knew to hit “ctrl w” to close the window and continue. We also set “safe” settings on the sites we were using. Perhaps most important, when working with students, I vetted our list of sites in advance, knowing exactly where students would be accessing information. I, as their teacher, was their filter and monitor. I had an unfiltered environment at a tough school in Harlem. Students appreciated the privilege to use the computers and the respect afforded to them. They didn’t want to lose that opportunity, which they would, had they purposely abused their right to use them appropriately.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
Overview:
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction from children under 13 years of age. It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13.
What educators should know:
This law makes the job of today’s educators easier putting responsibility on website providers to keep children under 13 years of age safe. While children under 13 can legally give out personal information with their parents' permission, many websites disallow underage children from using their services because they don’t want to bother setting up such accommodations. If there is a site which you are interested in using for learning purposes that restricts use of those under 13, consider contacting the site to see if they would be interested in supporting you in using the site with children under the supervision of a teacher, parent or guardian with proper consent. Many organizations (Google, Wikispaces, Voki, Voicethread, Facebook) are interested in supporting learning and appreciate having educators and parents as partners.
Example:
First grade teacher Erin Schoening knew Facebook would be a great tool to build 21st century literacy with her students and strengthen the home-school connection. She uses Facebook with her First grade students and their parents with the permission of parents, updated appropriate use policies in place with her district and blessing of Facebook in Education Division.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Overview:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. It applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. Most of the act addresses children’s education records providing parents and students the right to inspect, review, question, and have updated incorrect records. It also states that schools must receive permission from a parent or guardian to release information from a student's education record. There are exceptions to needing consents such as the case of audits, evaluation, financial aid, judicial orders, etc.
Schools may disclose, without consent, information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students and allow parents and students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose information about them.
What educators should know:
FERPA does not prevent many of the things you hear people saying it does. As long as parents/guardians are informed, schools may disclose, or allow students to disclose, information about themselves as long as it is not a grade or score. Notice permission is not necessary under FERPA. They only need to inform parents/guardians this is taking place. Parents can ask their child not be included and schools must comply, but schools can still engage in planned activities. Remember though when it comes to websites, under COPPA you must obtain parental permission for students under 13 to share information or work online.
Example:
Students and teachers are sharing successes through videos and pictures at http://innovatemyclass.org. There you will find examples of real projects students and their teachers are doing with technology. Schools have consent forms from parents/guardians and a link to the page featuring their child is sent to parents so they can get an insight into and share the success of their children with others.
These laws were passed to keep children safe, not keep children out of the 21st century. With a little common sense we can ensure schools are not committing educational neglect by keeping students stuck in the past.
For more information:
Check out this interview with the Department of Education's Director of Educational Technology, Karen Cator.
Check out what educators in Free Range Schools say about working in a no filter zone in this Facebook chat.
Contributors:
Lisa Nielsen, Creator of The Innovative Educator blog, Twitter: @InnovativeEdu
Tom Whitby St. Joseph’s College, New York.Twitter: @tomwhitby
My Blog: My Island View
The World's Simplest Social Media Policy
- Classmates
- Teacher
- Friends
- Boyfriend/girlfriend
- Family
- Parents
- Employer
- Clients
- Business partners
Now isn't that easy? A smart guide for life online and off. For the original post visit Mike Brown on The World’s Simplest Social Media Policy.
Ten Innovative Ideas for Getting Started with 21st Century Teaching and Learning
10 Ideas to Begin Educating Innovatively
1. Equipment
In order to get started on your road to success, you need a laptop, projector, and internet access. As an innovative educator, I could not survive or teach effectively without these three things. If my school could not provide these basic pedagogical tools, I would invest in them myself, apply for a grant or write to http://www.donorschoose.org/. Next, I recommend investing in low cost laptop carts so students also have devices. For information on these options read Low Cost Computing Options That Will Enable More Educators to Consider 1-to-1 Environments and Bridging The Digital Divide in NYC. If you begin on the path to creating a 21st Century environment for students and educators, you will also want to consider Starting a Student Support Team in Your School.
2. Innovation Integration Plan
The use of 21st century tools must be planned for and integrated into the day to day work of teachers and their students. Channel 13 has put together an Action Plan Template and gives advice for Writing an Innovation Plan that will help schools do just that. To help with planning across subjects in each curricular area consider using the Content Area Innovative Integration Plan Template which supports teachers in looking at what they are currently teaching, reviewing the standards, and then determining how what they can teach more innovatively.
3. Standards
You can’t plan without knowledge of the technology standards and ideas for infusing technology into the curriculum. Become familiar with ISTE's Educational Technology Standards which serve as guides for teachers, students and administrators to help them focus on the skills and expertise needed to teach, learn, and lead more effectively in an ever changing global community. Teachers can use the standards to facilitate student learning and creativity, create digital work and assessment, model good digital citizenry and pursue personal growth and leadership.
4. Curriculum
You need ideas about how to enhance the curriculum with technology. A great place to start is with the Information Communication Technology Literacy Maps. In collaboration with several content area organizations, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a series of ICT Literacy Maps illustrating the intersection between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy and core academic subjects including English, mathematics, science and social studies (civics/government, geography, economics, history). The maps enable educators to gain concrete examples of how ICT Literacy can be integrated into core subjects, while making the teaching and learning of core subjects more relevant to the demands of the 21st century. The download the maps below to get started.
- ICT Literacy Map - Geography - Map
- ICT Literacy Map - Math - Map
- ICT Literacy Map - Science - Map
- ICT Literacy Map - Social Studies - Map
- ICT Literacy Map - English
5. Professional Development
Of course, effective integration of technology into the curriculum also takes a well thought out professional development plan and if possible onsite support and coaching. Check with your local school district to determine what offerings they provide for teachers and work to schedule a plan across the year based on the goals of your technology plan. In New York City many schools use this Professional Development Resource for Innovative Educators which is a site that provides professional development materials in the areas of literacy, science, social studies, math, fitness, cyber safety, interactive whiteboard training and more. To see some of the elements for a successful curriculum and professional development rollout read The Power of 21st Century Teaching and Learning Brought to Life at Bronx Middle School CIS 339’s Open House.
6. Social Networking
Join social networks. It is no longer acceptable for innovative educators not to be involved in social networks. It is crucial that educators begin learning how to function in these environments which have tremendous potential for enhancing teaching and learning. Despite what you’re kids or students may have told you, YOU'RE NOT TOO OLD FOR FACEBOOK. Must joins are http://www.facebook.com (for everyone), http://www.classroom20.com (for educators interested in using web 2.0 tools), http://iteachilearn.ning.com (for NYC educators in tech-rich classrooms), and http://www.futureofeducation.com (self explanatory). To get started read Why Every Parent and Teacher Should Learn Facebook.
7. Blogs
Find some great education blogs to read. You probably want to find blogs that are written by a teacher for a student audience (Techbrarian), blogs written by educators for other educators (Techomnivore), blogs written by students (Newly Ancient), blogs written by parents (NYC Public School Parents) and blogs written by principals (Practical Theory and Greg's Weblog). Subscribe to these blogs (Google Reader is a great tool for this). Once you get to know them, begin commenting on the blogs. Commenting on blogs is one of the most important things innovative educators can do. Vicki Davis, an excellent, well-respected, and widely read blogger explains how to comment effectively in her post How to comment like a king (or queen!).
8. Wikis
Wikis are an amazing and transformative tool for educators and Wikispaces » for teachers let’s you get started for FREE. You can see what educators are doing with wikis over here. You may also want to check out the Wiki Walk-Through from TeachersFirst. The Cool Cat Teacher blog post How I use wikis. What do you do? identifies these 5 uses of wikis in education.
1 - Lesson Summaries
2 - Collaboration of Notes
3 - Concept Introduction and Exploratory Projects
4 - Dissemination of Important Classroom Information beyond the Classroom
5 - Individual assessment projects
9. Online Safety
Make sure you are aware of online safety concerns. There are some useful resources at HOW DO I HELP MY CHILD LEARN TO USE THE INTERNET WISELY?. At the NYC DOE we partner with i-Safe, but there are many organizations providing free materials. Visit TIE's Internet Safety for ideas.
10. Assessment
It is important to have a method to assess how you’re doing. I’ve listed quite a few at Tools Innovative Educators Can Use to Assess the Infusion of 21st Century Skills Into Instruction. The post includes ideas for assessing teachers, classrooms, and administrators.
These are ten ideas to get innovative educators started with 21st century teaching and learning. Of course, there are an endless number of ideas and technologies to consider. Start with a few of these that make sense to you, and build upon these ideas to accomplish your goals.
YOU'RE NOT TOO OLD FOR FACEBOOK
Facebook has surged in popularity not only as a social ground for students, but also as a meaningful networking tool for innovative educators. Joining a social network is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity for success in the 21st century education arena. However, I’m sure like me, many of you know a few holdouts who hesitate to accept your Facebook me! invitation for fear that others (colleagues, students, mom, etc.) will be able to peer into their lives. The non-adapters, resistant to hop aboard, unfortunately, may have another fear to confront as the tide moves ahead without them.
Here's why....
Innovative educators and leaders understand that a digital existence and savvy-ness is moving on the pendulum from novelty to requisite. The inability to operate in the digital environments in which our students (and a growing number of peers) flourish is being seen more and more as a weakness. Individuals without a digital presence and literacy who are unable to interact and navigate these waters are considered, by some, "washed up,” “out of touch,” “irrelevant.” For innovative educators, our clients include our students and not being in touch with how our clients operate is career suicide. Furthermore, Facebook provides educators with an amazing window and communication vehicle into the lives of our kids.
Because social networking sites like Facebook have a learning curve, those without a developed network and fluency with apps, settings, etc. are seen by many as already behind. Being digitally illiterate and lacking the ability to successfully navigate the 21st Century social and professional environment is quickly becoming an insurmountable liability. Innovative educators who are savvy networkers know it takes some time to learn the ins and outs, develop friends, grow your network, find the right groups, and learn appropriate procedures, practices, and protocols. Furthermore innovative educators understand and take on the responsibility of their moral obligation as an educator to serve as a role model and begin setting acceptable standards and practices for students and their colleagues.
That said, there are some viable fear factors. We've all heard of people being fired for emails, texts, or blog posts. It is also true that people have been Fired for Facebooking, MySpacing, Blogging, etc. However, closer investigation reveals that these outcomes could have been avoided with a little bit of common sense sprinkled with some savvyness thrown into the mix on both sides – There are unfair punishments by the digitally illiterate employers and educators such as Student Faces Academic Charges for Using Facebook Groups for his Class. However, with those key ingredients (common sense and savvy) allow users to stay connected, while keeping their livelihood safe and serving a role model for colleagues, students and family. The key is being responsible and creating a purposeful and respectable online presence.
Here are some recommendations to keep in mind…
Facebook makes you an online celebrity.
- Yes, you are now being watched and are accountable for your actions. Do not post anything on Facebook that you would feel uncomfortable having others see or write about. Recently a friend and colleague had his Facebook Page posted when receiving a new career appointment. The page was clean and represented who he would want his public self to be. It is important to realize that anything you post online becomes part of your digital footprint and is a historical record of you. While there are privacy settings that you should use, ultimately like anything online, Facebook is public. Anything you post could end up anywhere. Be professional, responsible, and considerate.
- If someone does post inappropriate information on your wall, you can and should delete it and politely ask them to refrain in the future.
- If there is someone who you friended, but realize is just not the type of person you want to be publicly associated with, you can block this person usually, without their knowledge (see Friends, Until I Delete You). If that seems too harsh, use your privacy settings to control how they can interact with you and what they can see.
- Be familiar with the 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.
- If you join a club or group that you do not want others to know you are a part of, don’t do so on Facebook. It is right their on your info page for all to see. Not only will others know about this potentially secret hobby, it may end up resulting in inappropriate posts to your wall, where friends, family, students, will be reminded of your membership.
Professional work practices.
- Don't tie your Facebook account to your work email. You don't want to have your professional email box flooded with Facebook notifications giving the appearance of a barrage on possible non-work related activity.
- Do remember that social networking has valuable and important professional networking benefits. From the obvious opportunity to have a group of colleagues process, interpret, and make meaning from a recent news clipping or article shared, to the ability to find a common bond between colleagues, to the forming and/or joining of groups and causes. Remember to create lots of those kinds of interactions.
- Balance is key to a happy and productive workforce. It is okay for your employer and colleagues to see the whole person. Just make sure you're not spending an unreasonable amount of time during the day on non-work related updates and comments. Think about how you may treat personal calls during work hours. A post or two, like a personal call or two, is fine.
- Do remember that social networking is an excellent and time-efficient way to keep up with colleagues. How many of people work in large departments often unfamiliar or out of touch with what colleagues are up to. Facebook provides a way to combat this.
Connecting with students, colleagues, friends, and family.
- Do realize Facebook is an extremely powerful networking tool that allows you to access, collaborate, and share ideas in ways never before possible. Commenting on others posts provides a virtual way to develop bonds, connections, commonalities, and relationships never before possible with such great ease.
- A social networking tool like Facebook enables employers, family, and friends to see the balance of the whole person that you are. Use good judgment and you’ll be in good shape with getting and giving the whole picture of who you and your Facebook friends are.
- Both person al and professional information can help build bonds and develop deeper relationships with those in your life. For instance, I often post news clips about issues of great interest to colleagues on which they can comment and reflect. I also come across great resources that I think others would find useful or join groups or sign up for events that colleagues would be interested in, but would perhaps never know of, if not for this tool.
- Facebook has great features to help users set up events and groups that would be of interest and beneficial to you and your friends. Organize events and invite friends. Start groups. Join groups. Invite others.
Ultimately if you are an educator, parent, student, or employee who stands behind what they are doing Facebook is place to proudly set a strong model for online networking, If you’re not sure what that looks like my best advice for learning more is to become friends with other educators using Facebook and see what they’re doing. My suggestions for people to “Friend” include an invitation to Facebook me! or connect with some of the innovative educators I’m friends with like (alphabetical order) Paul Allison, Vicki A Davis, Lucy Gray, Mike Hasley, Bud Hunt, Chris Lehmann, Angela Maiers, Sylvia Martinez. Kathy Schrock.
Keep Your Students Connected This Summer with A Social Network