The Eschoolnews article on sexting is quite alarming, and raises the dilemma we have as educators and planners. We have to get our kids up to speed on technology so they can expand their world view and through their assessment of needs, spurn new farther reaching cyber tools. As we see in the article on sexting, there has to be some kind of control. All the Acceptable Use Policies I have ever read cover all the bases as far as unethical conduct is concerned, and forbids use of electronic gadgets during class. The school rules however allow students to carry the technology on their person throughout the day; it is going to be used! The main culprit, of course, is the camera/video cell phone. I feel that these are pretty well controlled in most classrooms, but no doubt, most of the sexting or other illegal and damaging items are set in motion outside of school and the classrooms, hallways and web postings are the exhibit and discussion rooms. These blatant threats are occurring while planning groups across the country are trying to remove some of the filters to allow students to access sites that can help provide a constructive educational process (You Tube etc.). The 2009 Michigan Educational Technology Plan is the kind of ambitious, progressive outlook we need to address the students’ dilemma as illustrated in the Joe’s Non-Net Book video. The young man’s reference to the book as a foreign tool speaks to the problem we have when school systems are mired in traditional book-based, non-exploratory teaching methods. This is the reality we must stay focused on, and the planners must stay their course. If the information technology gurus are doing their jobs correctly, students can have a cyber-based, safe, clean interactive learning experience. This will defeat some of the boredom that leads to unsanctioned use of technology. Good supervision, proximity techniques and old-fashioned diligence are also priceless. It is not unusual for a secondary student to multi-task as in the photo above, without information overload. We must capture the energy and redistribute it in new, intellectually stimulating directions. At the same time we must add more character development to our programs to help counter the harassment, low-esteem and blatant misuse of technology that seems to be getting the greatest amount of publicity.
I agree with you, we have to continue to monitor our students while we have them. I think as you do students need access to the technologies we have available. As you pointed out, students are still allowed to carry their phones and they are definitely using them throughout the day. All we can do is educate students on appropriate and inappropriate uses of technology and the dangers they may encounter. Restricting access because we are afraid our students will happen across something they should not see is not the answer. Banning sites such as You Tube denies students access to a wealth of useful and safe information. Our county banned You Tube last year. There were lessons I used to teach using videos from You Tube that my students did not get to see because a few students decided to view inappropriate content on the site. The teacher complained loud enough and the county finally allowed teachers access again (in January of this year). Let’s face it technology is here to stay, we need to embrace the knowledge we can gain from technology and continue to be alert to those whom wish to abuse technology.
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