Jane Christensen’s Permission Slip
Student Name: _______________________________ Date: ______________ Class: _______________________Teacher: ___________________________ Name and Description of the Activity, the Site/Service Used, and the Reason for Use in Class: As part of our grade three Social Studies unit on “Communities”, students will be asked to post comments and links on “Twiducate” (http://twiducate.com). Twiducate is a “Facebook” like site for younger children. Twiducate is an online site that enables students to write comments respond to others’ comments, post links of other sites they have found, and chat with other students in our class when they are online. Access to the site is through an internet web browser, such as, Safari, Firefox, and Explorer. The site is password and classroom code protected and is only accessed by our class members only. The purpose of using Twiducate for part of our communities unit is for students to be able to: 1. Experience another form of “Community” through social networking with a focus on our Aboriginal peoples’ culture and communities. 2. Have a place where all class-members can discuss, share, and contribute to each others’ ideas and content shared. Please note: If your child is unable to participate in this activity, an alternative activity will be provided. Identifiable Privacy Risks: Students will not need to include any personal information on the site to register. They are registered under my name and email address. However, Twiducate can not control the content students include in any of their posts. As a result students must be very careful to not include any personal information in any of the content they post on Twiducate. The Twiducate server is housed in Ontario, Canada. Canadian laws for privacy are very strict and fall under “The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act” (FIPPA). For more information about FIPPA please go to: http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/96165_00 Consent Statement: I, _________________________________, parent or guardian of __________________________ agree to the collection, use, disclosure and storage of my child’s personal information inside or outside of Canada while using the technology described above for the purposes of engaging in the class activity described above. I am aware of and understand the identifiable privacy risks as described above and will support the classroom teacher in minimizing the exposure of my child’s and other people’s personal information while my child is using the technology and review the materials the teacher provides. Please check the box below if you request that your child use a pseudonym or remain anonymous online for the purposes of this class to minimize exposure of his/her or other people’s personal information to 3rd parties that are not part of this class or project or who are otherwise not entitled to this information: By checking the box on the left, I request that my child use a pseudonym or remain anonymous online. This consent is valid for the duration of the course (or end of the school year) unless revoked by me in writing and delivered to the teacher. Parent/Guardian Signature:_____________________Date: ________________ Sources: Permission slip: Adapted by J. Hengstler from Cooper, Southwell, & Portal, 2011 REFLECTION 1.4 : Social Justice Boundaries
When I first read the title for this reflection, I wasn’t quite sure what was meant by: “Social Justice Boundaries”. After reading the Wikipedia meaning for “Digital Divide” (2013) and Warchaure and Matuchniak’s (2010, New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes) article, I have a better understanding of what “Social Justice Boundaries” are about. The things that stood out for me while reading Wikipedia’s (2013) the “Digital Divide”, and Warchaure and Matuchniak’s (2010, New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes) article were if you were to take away the technology the problem of social division would still be there. There would still be the “haves” and the “have-nots”. The children of middle class and affluent homes will always have access to “more”. More material things, more extra-curricular activities, and more exposure to “academic” people as both Wikipedia’s explanation of “Digital Divide”(2013) and Warchaure and Matuchniak (2010) article refer. All of the things that interfere with, or have an impact on, learning in general, also carry the impact of the digital age. The impact, in my view, is now, not just with lack of food, clothing, and general access to the “better” things in life, but has the added stressors of not being up on technology. We know that many children from lower socioeconomic homes often have lower academic skills. I see it all the time with my students. Even if we give every child a computer, and supply dedicated tech savvy teachers as Warchaure and Matuchniak (2010) discuss in the “New Technology and Digital Worlds: Analyzing Evidence of Equity in Access, Use, and Outcomes”, we are still going to have discrepancies when it comes to home support and low academic skills of some parents, which includes our Aboriginal children. I wonder if we may be adding to the already burdensome stresses that some children have to deal with in their homes. Don’t get me wrong, I think it would be amazing if everyone could have computers and internet access in their homes, which findings from Warchaure and Matuchniak (2010) have shown that students who have a computer at home have better technological skills and academic standings. There may be, however, some parents who cannot support their children with technology because they lack the technological skills to do so. Lack of academic and technological skills of a parent may be cause for more stress in the child’s life. We need to be cognizant of this type of situation and be able to have some kind of plan to support the parents as well. I digress somewhat on some of the other items of which I want to discuss in this reflection. Another point that Warchaure and Matuchniak (2010) mention is that drill and practise on computers is not effective and the use of more advanced technological activities where students can investigate and build upon their knowledge or “construct” their knowledge produces effective learning. The reference was based upon a comparison between lower socioeconomic students verses higher socioeconomic students. I agree that drill and practice does not facilitate life long learning. I will give an example of one of my grade three students who refused to even try to write. Nothing I did seemed to work until I set up an “Xtranormal”(please note that this site no longer exists) account, with his parent’s permission of course. This site was an animation site where students could either use speech to text or typing to enable their “characters” to say what they wanted them to say. I could not tear my student away. Some may say that he wasn’t writing anything, but I disagreed. This student needed to listen to what the characters were saying and do corrections. Also, the text of what the student said was displayed for him to see. Unfortunately, it was late in the year when he started using Xtranormal, so I could not officially gauge improvements in his writing. I don’t think it matters what level a student is at. We need to look at what will engage our students to be life long learners and love to learn. If we don’t engage them then there will be no true learning. I also believe that because many of our lower socio-economic students may be lacking in parent support and knowledge of academic nature. I do not see a big difference in support from parents of my Aboriginal students and Caucasian students of my low socio-economic students. The only main difference is the culture. Often times Caucasian lower socio-economic students have more overt behaviours, whereas Aboriginal lower socio-economic students tend to be more passive resistant. Of course it is important to know where our students are coming from both economically and culturally. My personal focus is not so much on global cultural things, but on each child’s place of which they are at, whether it is because mom and dad are divorced and there is no money to cultural needs of Aboriginal, East Indian, or Asian peoples. For an example, one of my Aboriginal students would not look at me when I was speaking. I asked our Aboriginal support teacher about this and she educated me on the fact that, for Aboriginal peoples, it is actually rude to look at someone directly when they are speaking. Another example is a Caucasian student came from a very strict Christian upbringing and was not allowed to view certain things, one being the movie, “Happy Feet”. I guess what I am trying to say is that with the diverse needs of our students, it is important to acknowledge and work with those diversities in our classrooms. When we are using social media and other Web 2.0 resources in our classrooms, I think it is very important that we are cognizant of all of our students’ backgrounds and needs. I realize that this reflection is about social justice mainly around social media, however, I believe it goes beyond social media. It is about making sure there is social justice in everything we do in our classrooms for our students. REFERENCES "First Nations Connectivity in BC" (Pathways to Technology: Connecting First Nations to the World, 2013 http://www.pathwaystotechnology.ca/interactive-map Picture: retrieved from: http://washingtonsquarecatholic.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=271 Warchaure, M., & Matuchniak, T. (2010). New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 34(1), 179-225 http://gse.uci.edu/person/warschauer_m/docs/equity.pdf Wikipedia, 2013, Digital Divide, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide My head is swimming from all the information I have tried to digest during the reflections readings for this post. Again, I had some idea of the basic issues of privacy, but not as detailed as I read in the readings.
I did know for example, about the basic risks of storing information in a non-Canadian based cloud storage site. I knew that the rules in other countries are not as stringent as ours. However, I was not aware just how invasive the US government is in its ability to view our personal information without our consent. Also, I did not realize that if someone were to share information about someone else and it was stored in a service not in Canada, that you would need that person’s consent as well. (BC Privacy Commissioner’s Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies: February 2013). I did make up a consent form last year when I set up a Weebly (http://www.weebly.com)http://www.weebly.com) site for my class. I did inform parents that information was stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada, but I did not inform them of the details of what being stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada could entail. I have inserted an example of my letter to parents from last January. I can see now that I may have covered some of the important issues in regard to sharing content of my students on the Weebly site, but I obviously did not consider putting in information about the user agreement of the Weebly site nor much information about the setup of the site to name a few items that need to be included in my letter of consent. I also should have put in about the alternative if a parent did not want their child to participate. I did not include a protection plan as was suggesting in Julia Hengstler’s, “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). I did however, include some of what Julia Hengstler listed in the “Primer” for the protection plan, such as only wanting my students to use their initials, not their first or last names for example. January 9, 2013 Dear Parents/Guardians: I have set up a “Weebly” blog site for our class. This site is password protected so no-one else can access the site without the password. It is VERY important to not give out the password to anyone else. My rational for setting up this site is to house educational websites for the students to access sites and to contribute sites of their own. I also want to have a place where students can share comments, ask questions, and respond to others’ posts about educational topics. I will be spending time to walk the students through the site. I will explain about how to post, what to post, and safety issues around personal information. This blog site is for us to share comments, questions, and sites about academic things we are learning or interested in. It is NOT a site to share any personal information. I would like parents to also check to make sure that anything their child posts is appropriate. There is to be no personal remarks about any other student. Each child is required to only sign their posts with their initials, not their full name. It is also important that I inform you that this site is housed in the “Cloud”, which means that the information on this site is stored on servers in the United States. Please note that accessing and contributing to this site is not mandatory and is only for those students and parents who would be interested. I give permission for my son/daughter__________________________________ to participate in accessing/contributing to our “Weebly” blog site. I realize that this site is password protected and no personal information is to be shared. I also agree to monitor what my child posts on the site. __________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian signature I will certainly be utilizing the Appendixes of letters of consent included in Julia Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013) for any further letters of consent. I really like the “Response to an Incident of Concern (2012)” that Julia Hengstler includes in her Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). It is straightforward and graphically easy to follow. I find that it is sometimes difficult to know what to do in certain situations and this format of what and how to respond to incidents makes so much sense and enables teachers to be able to feel confident in their actions with regard to any incidents that may occur. It is also a good idea that data collected after each incident is kept to further develop privacy policies and how we can change our practices to better protect our students. I realize that there are many more items that I may not have absorbed as of yet. I believe that I will become more adept and confident at putting together consent letters, protection plans, and incident reports as I delve further into this area. REFERENCES: Byron, T. (2008). Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_03_08byronreview.pdf Hengstler, J. (2013). A K-12 primer for British Columbia teachers posting students' work online. Blog posthttp://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/a-k-12-primer-for-british-columbia-teachers-posting-students-work-online/ Handbookhttp://Primer on Posting Minor Students Final.pdf Office of the Information &Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC). (February 2012). Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies. http://www.oipc.bc.ca/guidance-documents/1427 REFLECTION: 1.2 PROFESSIONALISM AND DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS
I believe that I had a fairly good understanding of most of my professional responsibilities in regard to social networking. Most of the issues I read in the readings confirmed what I already knew. However, there were a few issues/information that I was not aware of and also of which deepened my understanding. I was quite aware of my content being “out there” for everyone to see, even when I had “safety” measures in place. What I was not aware of was about “The Deep Web” (Bergman, 2001). I liked Bergman’s (2001) analogy of the fishing boats where the one boat just drags a net across the surface, but the other boats have many lines delving into the depths to retrieve the deeper fish. It is a little unnerving to know that there is so much detailed information about me that can be accessed by anyone as Julia Hengstler’s (2011:) list of aggregation services, such as: “CVgaget and Pipl. I went on CVgaget (http://www.cvgadget.com ) and found 2480 Google results, 4200 Images by Google, 240 documents by Google, 884 blogs by Google, and 2 news results by Google. What I found interesting is that there were no Twitter or Myspace results. After taking a peek at some of the information listed, as mentioned by Julia Hengstler (2011: Managing Your Digital Footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles) that there are others with the same name which could cause some confusion and misunderstanding, especially if they are of the unsavory nature. Julia Hengstler (2011:) says to ask yourself, “’Would the content pass muster with my mother, my boss, and my professional standards/ethics?’”. It is interesting how I have used a similar question with my own students. I usually ask, “If your parents would not approve then don’t do it.” I now realize that it is not only something to ask my students, but myself as well in regards to my profession, my boss, and my students and parents. Another thought that followed me as I was reading Julia Hengstler’s “Managing Your Digital Footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles” (2011) was the idea around making sure we keep being aware of our own and our students’ privacy and safety in regard to Web 2.0. I was thinking that really it is not much different than other things we put in place to safeguard everyone outside of the Web. The problem is that what we do within our physical school community is somewhat more containable than the Web. (Hengstler. 2011). I think that it is difficult enough to be consistent and diligent about face to face bullying, for example, that the idea of trying to be diligent and consistent about cyber-bullying is, for me, overwhelming. You can put all the safeguards and rules you want in anything you do, whether face to face or online, but unfortunately, they will not always be upheld. Even when there are consequences in place, you will always have those to whom they will not be effective. My concern, as a parent and a teacher, is that it is one thing for the issues to take place in a physical community, such as a brick and mortar school, but it is a whole other world when it involves Web 2.0. How and can we make a plan that is stringent enough to reduce the possible dangers out there? I guess it comes down to the control. We have a better ability to control what happens when it is right in front of us, such as at school. We don’t have the same control when it comes to Web 2.0. I had a look at the handbook “Safer Practice with Technology: For adults working in schools” (2009) of which Julia Hengstler (2011) mentions in her article, “Managing your digital footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles”. I was particularly interested in the question around ensuring safer activities for primary aged students. I was particularly interested in the sites such as; SchoolsTube (http://www.teachertube.com) and TeacherTube (http://www.teachertube.com) as safer sites for young children to have safer access to the Web. I read the privacy policy and noticed that there is a warning that others using the site could access personal information. It is food for thought and even though these kinds of sites are more secure than others, care should still be taken to educate students and parents of the privacy policies of even the “safer” kids sites. While reading Julia Hengstler’s “Digital Professionalism and Digital Footprints” (April 2012) I was drawn particularly to the part about making sure you don’t keep your personal “life” on school computers. I use my personal computer at school, and have never thought that there might be personal information that could be seen by my students, not that there is anything that would be inappropriate, but just the fact that they could see pictures of my family and know things about my personal life, is unnerving. I will be cleaning up the computer my students use before they use it this year. I think that the biggest piece of information that I have come away with is the fact that there are so many seemingly “little” things that I wouldn’t normally think would be a part of my “professional footprint”, such as, leaving my personal content on a computer that my students are using, and that even a picture of me having a glass of wine in Las Vegas that a friend posts on Facebook, could have negative ramifications. A lot of food for thought. References: Bergman, M. (2001). White paper: The deep web: Surfacing hidden value. The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 7(1). Doi: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view=text;rgn=main;idno=3336451.0007.104 Hengstler, J. (2011). Managing your digital footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles. In S. Hirtz & K. Kelly (Eds.), Education for a Digital World 2.0 (2nd ed.) (Vol. 1, Part One: Emerging technologies and practices). Open School/Crown Publications: Queen's Printer for British Columbia, Canada. http://www.viu.ca/education/faculty_publications/hengstler/EducationforDigitalWorld2.0_1_jh89.pdf Hengstler, J. (April 2012). “digital professionalism and digital footprints”. Document prepared for training session with Vancouver Island University’s Administrative Assistants, Apri 2012. https://d2l.viu.ca/d2l/le/content/37848/viewContent/435719/View Kent County Council. (2009). Safer Practice with Technology for Adults Working in Schools. Retrieved from: http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/UserFiles/CW/File/Advisory_Service_ICT/E-Safety/SaferPracticeWithTechnology-260509.pdf Picture: http://www.weebly.com (picture search within weekly. No url for picture) I thought that I had a pretty in-depth knowledge of what social networks entailed. Although most of what I had read in the associated readings for this post, I realized that I really only had a very narrow knowledge of the many topics that were discussed in the readings. I have also realized that I will probably have only touched on a few important issues and topics in this journal entry, knowing that I will hopefully absorb more as this course unfolds. Having said all of this I will try to touch on some key revelations that stood out for me.
What stood out for me when I read Julia Hengstler's blog, "What Parents Should Know Part 1: Basic Understanding of social Media & Digital Communications" (Friday, May 24, 2013 was how quick I was to skim over the "terms of use" section on sites that I have signed up for, such as, Twitter and Facebook. I must admit that I really don't want to read "boring" stuff. Now, however, I will make an effort to actually read the "terms of use" sections. I didn't really get it that I was "trading (my) information to use their services" (Hengstler, 2013,05 24 "What Parents Should Know Part 1: Basic Understanding of Social Media & Digital Communications. http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/what-parents-should-know-part-1-basic-understanding-of-social-media-digital-communications/) I liked the analogy of riding a bicycle that Julia Hengstler (2013,05 24 "What Parents Should Know Part 1: Basic Understanding of Social Media & Digital Communications. http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/what-parents-should-know-part-1-basic-understanding-of-social-media-digital-communications/) mentions. It is so true that sometimes I forget that there are some things that shouldn't be taken for granted. It is important to have those training wheels on when we are using social media with our children. It is also important to walk them through all the ups and downs of the social media world so that they do not become victims of cyber bullying or leaving themselves open to cyber predators. This is a very serious matter for me as I really want to have my students learn about and use social networking sites, however, I am very reluctant at this point until I can get a better handle on the safety protocols, and after reading Julia Hengstler's, "What Parents Should Know Part 1: Basic Understanding of Social Media & Digital Communications." (2013, 05 24, http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/what-parents-should-know-part-1-basic-understanding-of-social-media-digital-communications/) become even more aware of making sure that my students and parents are walked through the process and safety protocols of social media well before we delve into the social media arena. Something that I have just learned through reading Julia Hengstler's above mentioned article is that I thought that I had some idea around what is appropriate to post as far as comments and pictures and of privacy procedures, however for example, I did not fully realize the implications of what a student posts as private can be redistributed without their consent very quickly. I also got to thinking about what sites there were out there that would accommodate young students that would be more fitting than Facebook (https://www.facebook.com) or twitter (https://twitter.com). I did a little exploratory searching and came across "Common Sense Media" (http://www.commonsensemedia.org) that had examples and reviews of some social networks for kids. (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-lists/social-networking-kids). They give ratings for each site and give a fairly detailed review. One such site that is mentioned is Everloop (http://www.everloop.com/) where children can sign up, with parental guidance, usually between the ages of eight and thirteen. Children can sign in safely and parents have easy monitoring access. You can be sure that I will pay close attention to the "terms of use" agreement and privacy protocols when I am checking out the networking sites for kids that the Common Sense Media site reviewed. I am also looking forward to looking at the Common Sense Media website in more detail as it has a lot of interesting links and resources from digital citizenship to reviews of innovative tools. Another point that I was not aware of was, as Lankshear (2011) mentions, how social networking, such as, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com) can be used as a literacy tool or "literacy format". It stands to reason that when you engage people in what their interested in, that they will be more likely to be involved. People need to read a post and understand it in order to make a connection. When that connection is made a response is usually forthcoming whether it is by clicking "like" or adding a comment of their own. I can see this as being a powerful tool for young students with the right social networking tool. I found the lists of questions that Julia Hengstler, Hengstler (2013, “Social Media Overview 2013, https://d2l.viu.ca/d2l/le/content/37848/viewContent/441654/View) shares in the overview are useful and straightforward. I was aware of most of the items in the questions lists. I was not aware, however of making sure that there are clear rules and procedures around dealing with incidents, as I don't think there are formal guidelines for this. I will check with my principal. I was also not aware of the importance of referencing my "opinions" as not necessarily representative of my employer. This is something else to think about when I am posting anything to do with my educational endeavours with my students. I also found it unnerving, while not surprising, while reading the Wikipedia (2013) entry on "Social Media" ( 2013, "Social Media". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media) how there is an increase in cyber bullying and sexual predators and a decrease in face to face interactions. Even though I was aware of this, it is a reminder of how we need to make sure that the safety processes and digital citizenships are fully incorporated into our education system from an early age. I say early age because there are sites, such as, "Club Penguin" (http://www.clubpenguin.com/?country=CA) geared toward very young children, where there is a community of players who interact through chat. I realize that I have not even touched on the myriad of information that is important to absorb yet. I think the most pressing issue for me is to get a handle on the safety policies for our district to make sure everyone is on the same page and that there is a clear policy so that I can move forward with engaging my students in the world of social networking. REFERENCES: Club Penguin (2013) http://www.clubpenguin.com/?country=CA Common Sense Media. (2013) retrieved from: http://www.commonsensemedia.org Hengstler, J. (2013, 05 24). What Parents Should Know Part 1: Basic Understanding of Social Media & Digital Communications. Retrieved from http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/what-parents-should-know-part-1-basic-understanding-of-social-media-digital-communications/ Hengstler, J. (2013). Social media overview. OLTD 506 2013. https://d2l.viu.ca/d2l/le/content/37848/viewContent/441654/View Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies. Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Picture: retrieved from: www.ethanhein.com Wikipedia. (2013). Social Media. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media Wikipedia. (2013). Social Networking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking |