Learning Activity #2 – Comparing District Policies
Prezi (http://prezi.com/)
The CBE district states the reason for not allowing Prezi to be used in their district as the user needs to be 18 years or older. This is in fact not quite what the privacy policy of Prezi says. It states the part about needing to be 18 or older, but also states … “- or who have obtained the consent of their parent or guardian to use the Prezi Service.” The Surrey District would be able to use Prezi because their policy clearly stated that many Web 2.0 tools are housed outside Canada and therefore subject to the laws of that country. Parents are informed about avoiding posting their child’s personal information. Therefore, parents can give informed consent. My school district’s policy supports “the implementation of those applications of technology that result in more effective learning and teaching situation; the efforts of teachers to keep abreast of developments in technology that affect the content of the courses they teach.” Also, “The Board shall support all teachers in their endeavours to keep abreast of, and incorporate, changes in subject matter brought about by the application of computer technology.”
Therefore, if my parents are informed of the risks and I have given a sound educational rationale for using the tool, my district will support my use of the tool.
One use that I may use Prezi might be to have students collaborate on a presentation where they needed to use Prezi. If there were student of whom I did not have parent permission to use Prezi then they could use Powerpoint or a paper based presentation with another student.
Another use of Prezi might be to produce an individual presentation using Prezi. If a student did not have permission to use Prezi then using Powerpoint or videotaping their presentation would be an alternative.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
The CBE District states the reasons for not allowing Facebook because it “is a social media site. Protection of student personal information is not possible on this site, and students could be exposed to inappropriate information, material and advertising. Teachers are not able to block inappropriate material.” The Surrey District states in their pamphlet that, “[e]very one of these users has a profile that they create and decide how much information they are willing to share. Names can be searched and networks are created by ‘friend’-ing. Privacy settings allow users to restrict the ability of others to see details such as posted messages, photos or lists of friends. Facebook provides information on its site about privacy settings and has a policy that users have to be 13 years old.” My school district’s policy supports “the implementation of those applications of technology that result in more effective learning and teaching situation; the efforts of teachers to keep abreast of developments in technology that affect the content of the courses they teach.” Also, “The Board shall support all teachers in their endeavours to keep abreast of, and incorporate, changes in subject matter brought about by the application of computer technology.” Therefore, as long as there is informed consent from parents, Facebook could be used.
One use I may use Facebook for would be for asking or following institutions for information about a concept being taught. An alternative activity for this would be to use Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) to find the information or to contact the institutions through email for information.
Another possible use of Facebook might be to post journal entries and possibly share with the class via a class page or group. An alternative for this activity might be to write a paper based journal.
Pinterest (www.pinterest.com)
The CBE District has placed Pinterest on its unacceptable list for the following reason:
“This is a social media site. Protection of student personal information
is not possible on this site, and students could be exposed to
inappropriate information, material and advertising. Teachers are not
able to block inappropriate material.”
Again, the Surrey District’s permission slip and pamphlet allow for the possible use of Pinterest. The permission slip enables teachers to add any other site to the list as needed. The pamphlet states that, “this list contains information about some of the commonly used tools. It is important to consider that as needs and technology evolve, learning tools will change.” My District would approve the use of Pinterest if there was a sound educational rationale for its use, again as mentioned previously, will support teachers in their efforts to implement technology in the classroom, and if the parents were fully informed of the risks and storage issues.
One use for Pinterest could be to find and pin items that would correlate with a unit of study. Students could also repin someone else’s pin to their own board. An alternative activity may be to find the pertinent information in magazines or from Google searches and then “pin” them on a poster board.
Another use for Pinterest could be to do a photo journal of an event or trip. An alternative activity for a student of whom may not have permission to use Pinterest might be for them to do a photo journal using actual pictures they have taken or pictures from magazines. They could make a hard copy collage.
Prezi (http://prezi.com/)
The CBE district states the reason for not allowing Prezi to be used in their district as the user needs to be 18 years or older. This is in fact not quite what the privacy policy of Prezi says. It states the part about needing to be 18 or older, but also states … “- or who have obtained the consent of their parent or guardian to use the Prezi Service.” The Surrey District would be able to use Prezi because their policy clearly stated that many Web 2.0 tools are housed outside Canada and therefore subject to the laws of that country. Parents are informed about avoiding posting their child’s personal information. Therefore, parents can give informed consent. My school district’s policy supports “the implementation of those applications of technology that result in more effective learning and teaching situation; the efforts of teachers to keep abreast of developments in technology that affect the content of the courses they teach.” Also, “The Board shall support all teachers in their endeavours to keep abreast of, and incorporate, changes in subject matter brought about by the application of computer technology.”
Therefore, if my parents are informed of the risks and I have given a sound educational rationale for using the tool, my district will support my use of the tool.
One use that I may use Prezi might be to have students collaborate on a presentation where they needed to use Prezi. If there were student of whom I did not have parent permission to use Prezi then they could use Powerpoint or a paper based presentation with another student.
Another use of Prezi might be to produce an individual presentation using Prezi. If a student did not have permission to use Prezi then using Powerpoint or videotaping their presentation would be an alternative.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
The CBE District states the reasons for not allowing Facebook because it “is a social media site. Protection of student personal information is not possible on this site, and students could be exposed to inappropriate information, material and advertising. Teachers are not able to block inappropriate material.” The Surrey District states in their pamphlet that, “[e]very one of these users has a profile that they create and decide how much information they are willing to share. Names can be searched and networks are created by ‘friend’-ing. Privacy settings allow users to restrict the ability of others to see details such as posted messages, photos or lists of friends. Facebook provides information on its site about privacy settings and has a policy that users have to be 13 years old.” My school district’s policy supports “the implementation of those applications of technology that result in more effective learning and teaching situation; the efforts of teachers to keep abreast of developments in technology that affect the content of the courses they teach.” Also, “The Board shall support all teachers in their endeavours to keep abreast of, and incorporate, changes in subject matter brought about by the application of computer technology.” Therefore, as long as there is informed consent from parents, Facebook could be used.
One use I may use Facebook for would be for asking or following institutions for information about a concept being taught. An alternative activity for this would be to use Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) to find the information or to contact the institutions through email for information.
Another possible use of Facebook might be to post journal entries and possibly share with the class via a class page or group. An alternative for this activity might be to write a paper based journal.
Pinterest (www.pinterest.com)
The CBE District has placed Pinterest on its unacceptable list for the following reason:
“This is a social media site. Protection of student personal information
is not possible on this site, and students could be exposed to
inappropriate information, material and advertising. Teachers are not
able to block inappropriate material.”
Again, the Surrey District’s permission slip and pamphlet allow for the possible use of Pinterest. The permission slip enables teachers to add any other site to the list as needed. The pamphlet states that, “this list contains information about some of the commonly used tools. It is important to consider that as needs and technology evolve, learning tools will change.” My District would approve the use of Pinterest if there was a sound educational rationale for its use, again as mentioned previously, will support teachers in their efforts to implement technology in the classroom, and if the parents were fully informed of the risks and storage issues.
One use for Pinterest could be to find and pin items that would correlate with a unit of study. Students could also repin someone else’s pin to their own board. An alternative activity may be to find the pertinent information in magazines or from Google searches and then “pin” them on a poster board.
Another use for Pinterest could be to do a photo journal of an event or trip. An alternative activity for a student of whom may not have permission to use Pinterest might be for them to do a photo journal using actual pictures they have taken or pictures from magazines. They could make a hard copy collage.