The Dilemma of Internet Safety

In District #1, we have a group of community and school representatives who make up the "Learning Leadership Team". This morning marked the opening meeting for the 2009-2010 school year. At each meeting, our facilitators organize some "new learning" for the group, and today's presenter was the Grundy County State's Attorney, Sheldon Sobol. Mr. Sobol spoke to our group about the importance of Internet safety. His office has provided numerous parental trainings on this issue throughout Grundy County.

He provided many examples of situations involving Internet predators in Grundy and surrounding counties. He also gave some information for parents to discuss with their children when talking about Internet safety. Overall, he did a very good job of opening our eyes to an important issue. In fact, many of the safety precautions he advocated are similar to those found on an FBI website of the same topic.

During his discussion, I couldn't quit thinking about the quandary school districts are in. On the one hand, we have the ultimate responsibility of keeping our kids safe. No matter what the topic, our first consideration is, and must always be, student safety. In today's litigious society, there are moments we may even go overboard in assuring our students are safe, but that is just a sign of the times in which we live. Therefore, we have to make sure our students are provided with all of the safety precautions necessary to assure they do not access web sites deemed inappropriate or become victims of online predators. Our school district takes these responsibilities very seriously, and as Mr. Sobol reinforced, it is vitally important.

However, Mr. Sobol also made another very important statement. He reminded us that completely sheltering our students from the Internet is not the answer either. If we shut our students off from these opportunities, we are withholding from them a necessary "life skill" they will need for success in the global economy of the 21st century. Instead, we have to educate our students, and their parents, on using the vast amount of information on the Internet in appropriate and meaningful ways. The question then becomes, "How does society accomplish this, and what role should schools play in the process?"

I believe that schools will have to become the primary player in this learning process. However, I would advocate for the incorporation of these skills into our existing curriculum as opposed to the development of new classes. Within our existing curriculum, we have to provide meaningful learning opportunities for our students that encourage their use of Web 2.0 tools. We must also take the time to teach them how to use these tools in a responsible manner. For example, where our instruction for a research paper used to focus on "how to find" the necessary information, now we must focus on "how to evaluate" the content of the plethora of information that is available via the web. The entire notion of a "primary resource" has changed. Video-conferencing and social networking have muddied the waters, and we must provide opportunities to teach our students how to evaluate a creditable source from a phony. It is a complex issue and a difficult challenge, but one that we must begin to deal with in our public schools.

How would you go about providing the necessary Web 2.0 opportunities for our students while at the same time protecting the school district from liability?

Seeing Her Eyes Dance

Over the Labor Day weekend, I got the chance to enjoy one of my few diversions from work--golf. Although I am by no means an accomplished linkster, and at times I find the game challenges my patience, I still enjoy the open air and relaxation I feel when on the course. Many weekends, I go out either early in the morning or late in the evening and play alone. Although my wife thinks it sounds like the most boring of all recreational activities, I actually treasure the solitude. It gives me an opportunity to reflect on the day, collect my thoughts, and no matter how high the score, I always come home rejuvenated.

Although I do enjoy the time alone, I have spent the past couple of years trying to persuade my 10 and 8 year old daughters to take up the game. I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to spend some quality time together, and besides, golf is becoming a necessary skill in today's business world.

I have tried on numerous occasions to take the girls with me to play a few holes, and when they couldn't think of anything better to do, they would come along for the ride...literally! I mean, the only thing they were really interested in was driving the cart. Oh, they might swing a couple of times on the first hole, and maybe try a putt or two on the second hole, but by the third hole it was all about which of them would get to sit on dad's lap and drive the cart.

This weekend, I summoned all my parenting skills and decided to divide and conquer. I took my 8 year old on Sunday and my 10 year old on Monday. My youngest and I had a great time, and she did last for about four holes before deciding that trying to give dad whiplash was much more fun than trying to hit a 7 iron out of the rough.

On Labor Day, my oldest and I went out to play. She is competitive and can become frustrated when she can't do something well, which is why she has never had the patience for golf. After a few swings and misses, she is usually ready to battle her sister for that treasured seat on dad's lap to drive. However, today was different.

When she was warming up on the first hole, I saw something in her swing. We spent the next five minutes taking practice swings and concentrating on fixing that flaw. We then pulled out a couple of practice whiffle balls and she took a few swings. She was so excited that I didn't even get to tee off before we headed to the women's tee. She then teed it up; took a couple of practice swings; then proceeded to drive it about 125 yards right down the middle.

I will never forget the look in her eyes as she turned to me with her mouth agape. I swear that her eyes literally danced. Although she didn't hit every shot that well, she played all nine holes with a newfound energy and confidence. Upon completion of the round, her first question was when we could play again.

After we got home, and the kids went to bed, I realized that I was probably as excited and fulfilled as she was. Not because I think she is going to be golf prodigy...I know better. Rather, I was excited because I knew I had played a part in "making her eyes dance". I played a part in her having an "a-ha moment". I played a part in her learning something new.

By this time, you are probably wondering how this relates to education?

At the beginning of the school year, I talked to the faculty and staff about the immense power and influence teachers have on the lives of their students. Teachers have the ability to "make their eyes dance" each and every day. As an administrator, that is the part of education I desperately miss. I miss seeing the looks on my students' faces when they finally get it. I miss working with struggling students after school to help them have their "a-ha" moments. I miss watching their self-confidence grow each and every day they are in class. In short, I miss "seeing their eyes dance."

Our challenge as educators is to create as many opportunities as possible to "see their eyes dance", and to never grow tired of watching it happen. I can't think of any other profession as vital and fulfilling as that of our teachers.

Spotlight on Tech in District #1

Unit District #1 has had a tremendous start to the 09-10 school year. At our beginning of the year inservice, I gave a presentation to staff on various Web 2.0 tools that have potential for classroom use. I have been amazed at the response from our teachers, and would like to take a moment to highlight some of the incredible things our teachers are doing with these tools in the classroom. I know there are many more teachers using these tools, but these are the ones that have been communicated to me thus far. If you are using Web 2.0 tools in your classroom, I would enjoy hearing about your experience.

A site that can be used to easily build classroom webpages is www.weebly.com. It is very intuitive to use and has tremendous potential as a communication tool for classroom use. Mr. Sinkular, high school social science teacher, has built a page at http://sink.weebly.com/index.html He is placing many resources on the site which can either be linked to or downloaded. I know his students are really starting to utilize it as the "homebase" for his class.

We have other teachers who are experimenting with Ning, which is a tool to create social networks for their classrooms. I know that Ms. Sikkema (HS English), Mr. Baer (HS Social Science), and Ms. Martinez (HS Foreign Language) have developed social networks for their classes.

We have many teachers who are utilizing our own website to build their pages. An excellent example is what Mr. Leman (HS Math) has done with his site. He has turned his website into a tremendous resource for students and their parents. Ms. Morris (MS Band) has also done an excellent job of using our website to build a very informative page for her students.

We also have teachers beginning to experiment with classroom blogs. Mr. Dooley (HS Band) has created a blog which he uses to communicate a variety of important information to his students and their parents. He is using Blogger as his platform, which is the same tool I used to create this blog. It is very user-friendly and allows one to create a blog in a matter of minutes.

I have also entered District #1 into the world of "tweeting". You can follow us at www.twitter.com/unitdistrict1. This platform provides a quick and easy way to stay up to date on the latest District news. We are slowly building a following, but I expect it to catch on quickly once the word spreads. Next to Facebook, Twitter is the fastest growing social networking site on the web.

I know there are other teachers using Web 2.0 tools in innovative ways, but these are a few examples that have been brought to my attention since the start of the school year. As I stated earlier, I would enjoy learning about other exemplary uses of these valuable technology tools in the classroom.

Like it or not, the way we communicate in the global economy of the 21st century is changing, and Web 2.0 tools are at the forefront of this change. Our District website receives between 13,000 and 17,000 hits per month! It has become the preferred method of communication by many of our stakeholders. It is imperative that we embrace this paradigm shift and recognize its potential power for enhancing how we communicate with those we serve.