Last year, I worked with a 6th grade classroom teacher to blend a lesson she had for her class with a project I wanted the kids to perform in my computer class. My project was working with Microsoft Word to create an alphabet book. Each letter had a page and each page had to have a picture along with the text. The classroom teacher was teaching a unit on Canada. What a perfect opportunity for me – the new (to the district) computer teacher! I will teach my lesson and score points with the classroom teacher. Wonderful!
Since these students had not had any ‘formal’ training in any of the computer applications, I got the chance to show them around. They were doing quite well, but had difficulty looking up specific items on the web. They would search for general terms like “Canada” and expect to get results for specific animals, etc. It was a sharp learning curve.
After the second day or so, the teacher came to me before school a bit distraught. A parent had contacted her regarding some images her son had seen on Google while doing this project. After she explained what the images were, I assured her that there was no way those images could bypass Google’s safeguards and the district’s firewalls. Just to assure her, I sat down at a student computer and searched with the same terms the student had used, “Things in Canada”. Well, I will save you the details, but let’s just say I didn’t know you could do that in any country, even Canada! Wow! And me, the new teacher, was responsible for this child seeing these images.
So after I scraped myself off the floor, I sat down to write a note to administration, teachers, and parents. I explained to them that in spite of the best safeguards in place, accidents happen. We can do our best to assure that our children are safe from harm, but they still will occasionally get hurt. With that in mind, we cannot put our children in a bubble in order to assure they are protected. Instead we need to teach them how to navigate the world. And a part of their world is the internet. Are there bad things out there? You bet there are! Will we do all we can to prevent them from entering the school. Yes! But will we always be there to stop the ‘buggy man’ from entering their lives- Absolutely not. That is why we need to give them the tools to handle situations like this.
Sexting, cyberbullying, and the like need to be addressed in the same way. It is easy to say, “Just say no.” (Thank you Nancy Reagan……) but the reality is much more difficult. We serve our students better by teaching them how to deal with it. If we show them the rights and wrongs, actions and consequences, then they can be informed ‘surfers’. These kids are not dumb! If Joe’s non-netbook shows nothing else, it should make people realize that this generation picks up technology with little to no effort. There is no fear. What a wonderful frontier to explore when you aren’t afraid of hitting the wrong button and crashing the system.
Regarding my 6th grade students and Google searching – I took the opportunity to discuss with them the merits and pitfalls of searching. I explained how to do a ‘good’ search and that if you can’t find what you are looking for in the first page or so, you need to rephrase your search. But, I’ll be honest, it was a ‘teaching moment’ I would have gladly passed up!
Canadian Flag: http://images.allrefer.com/reference/world/flag-images/canada-flag.gif
This really hits home for me. I have been warned by other teachers about unwanted items that can pop up when you use Google. However, I really like using it with my students because it's fast and has such a wealth of images. Last year I tried a different site that our school recommended and pictures were so limited and the site was awfully slow. I eventually ended up taking students on Google and gave a lesson similar to yours about how to use it. I also told them that if something inappropriate popped up to close it and move on. They actually did quite well on this and I was glad I gave them the responsibility and opportunity. Don't worry, we had one small mishap just like yours :)
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say that I always enjoy your writing!
ReplyDeleteI also had an experience like yours. The first week that my website was up and running, I posted a H1N1 rap video off YouTube. After the video finished playing, a filmstrip of suggested videos popped up across the bottom. I never clicked on them to check them out but I should have! I got a call from a parent later that night who alerted me that one of the suggested videos (which had something to do with swine – you can image the rest) was inappropriate and I immediately removed the video and wrote a similar letter as you did. It was so embarrassing! However, live and learn, it didn't detour me from adding more videos, it just made me wiser as to what evil lurks with them!
Sabina:
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, when I read this post I felt embarrassed for you as well! However, I could not agree with you more! Students in this generation are not dumb. They have been immersed in technology their whole lives and know their way around internet browsing, or a cell phone, or Office applications. If students are sexting or cyber-bullying, the ones affected by the actions need to discuss their actions with an adult to learn how to deal with their specific situation. Our K-12 district utilized “WebSense” filtering along with Google Search filters to get rid of graphic images, but even then things still came through. Students are going to be exposed to all technology has to offer, be it good or bad, so it is up to us as educators to teach them how to move past the bad! I love reading your posts, and this one especially made me weary of ever searching for “things in Canada”. :)
-Rob Alford
First of all, I do not see why I torture myself by reading your creative blogposts; they put mine to shame. I agree that some things will fall between the cracks, but there must be a constant input to the Information Technology gurus to help them filter sites. I don't know if one exists, but there should be a central repository of bad URL's by which school officials can keep their networks updated. My previous school media center orientation provided over twenty good grade level appropriate sites to minimize the open searching. Should I cancel any vacation plans for Canada? I'm running late - give my blog another shout out. Peace.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience when I was a second year teacher. Well it was a bit different. I noticed a notebook left in the room and like any responsible teacher, I opened it to find its owner. That was a big mistake. I happened to open the notebook to a page that had a very graphic picture of two students in a pose that requires an X rating. Needless to say, I was shocked and definitely did not know what to do. I gave the notebook to my principal and he was surprised by its content as well. They ended up having a very difficult discussion with the two students and their parents. Back then that was where it ended. The notebook was destroyed and the students moved on with their lives; an important lesson learned. If this had occurred today, that picture would have probably been shared with most of the student body before anyone of authority found out. The students would have to endure ridicule and more likely than not, that picture would never be erased completely. Technology has definitely improved the way in which we teach, but we must still be ever vigilant to make sure our students understand the dangers of misusing technology.
ReplyDeleteNeed a holla on coordinating the tech audit; mahfoye@gmail.com
ReplyDelete