A principal's reflection on Web safety for schools

As a public school principal, issues with school safety and security and, now, school online security is something that is a constant stressor. Ultimately, it is very difficult to imagine that enough filters can be put in place that guarantees complete safety from inappropriate sites being accessed or “spammed” in. However, Shrum and Levin (2009) do offer some very sensible ways to begin to manage the technology and make it safe for the students in our schools. Shrum and Levin (2009) remind us, “Part of learning to use 21st-Cetnrury skills, and taking advantage of all that the Internet and Web 2.0 tools have to offer, includes being sure students and teachers use their common sense while also learning how to critically evaluate content for accuracy, trustworthiness, authority, reliability, and currency, is a key concept…” (Shrum & Levin, 2009, p.144). I agree that education is the key but it also important to know the rules and regulations. Regulatory safety nets like the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) forces any public institution that gets reduced internet rates (which most do) have to enforce a policy to “monitor online activities of minors” to ensure that institutions are using these tools responsibly. It is also important for school administrators to adhere to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to ensure student record safety. Finally, administrators need to engage the latest in filtering technology and creating clear acceptable use policies. With these things in place it is difficult to deny what a powerful tool the internet can be for teaching and learning. I see exceptional children excel with a piece of technology (like an “app” on an Ipad) that accelerates the learning at an amazing pace. Some of this is the ability of technology to hold students’ attention for long periods of time, think how long students can play video games for! Richardson (2010), when discussing the social Web as a learning tool, imagines, “You can almost visualize this network of individual nodes of people, connected by ideas and passions, constantly shifting and changing as new connections are made and old ones reconsidered…it also means we’re willing to share our ideas and resources with the network for its betterment, because we get back just as much if not more” (Richardson, 2010, p.85). I do this in every example, but I go back to my wife’s use of Edmodo as a socially based learning network (except the discussions are online) that students (high school) are eager to contribute to. Part of the motivation, I feel, of the 21st Century Skills initiative is to create a workforce with both the technological skills and the collaborative skills to succeed in a highly advanced team environment. Collaborative activities that are online for students allow both a shared problem solving experience and the opportunity to engage technology. We do have to be educated consumers and screeners of what is out there.

Schrum, L. M., & Levin, B. B. (2009). Leading 21st-­‐Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Blogging about blogging for educators and students…

One of the more interesting things I have read in the last month was by Will Richardson in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom.  He discussed the use of blogs as a source of information that teachers and students (especially students) need to learn to navigate.  Of course, my first reaction was to think, “What?!”  For so long we have stressed source reliability and only relying on those sources that we feel are “proven” or “legitimate.”   However, as Richardson notes, even the New York Times can and have gotten their sources wrong.  It seems in this age of the digital child where children are filtering information in an almost constant stream, learning to navigate blogs should not be ignored.  Indeed, it is blogs and other online sources that have resulted in major world movements, particularly in countries like Libya that have seen vast changes as people shared information on the Web through blogs and other sources.  One challenge we must meet is to educate and empower students to decipher from what is a powerful or interesting point on a topic of interest compared to propaganda designed to change or motivate a student in a negative direction.  We do not want students to plagiarize for many reasons, one of them is the need for students’ to develop and defend their thoughts, feelings, conclusions, etc.  It is the art of navigating a difficult conversation, only this time it is a digital conversation.  In addition, the other valuable lesson that is highlighted by Richardson is the assessment of Web content for reliability.  More and more students are getting most if not all of their information from the Web.  Empowering students to navigate things like blogs will build filtering skills, clarify judgments, and develop the critical thinking needed to judge Web content for reliability in general.  Finally, let’s not overlook the potential for exploring blogs in an effort to assess the art of persuasion, particularly because so much of student writing is persuasive in nature.  Blogs offer a vast array of persuasive arguments, some of them very good and some of them very bad.  The better students are at telling one from the other the better they will be as educated consumers and as students…in my opinion. 

teacher leaders and technology

One important point that Schrum and Levine highlight (p. 112 in Leading 21^st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement) is the importance of utilizing teacher leaders.  This can be tricky depending on the school culture as often teachers do not want to “put themselves out” in front of their peers.  This may seem more applicable to new teachers but veteran teachers also share this apprehensiveness particularly in an unhealthy school culture.  However, the use of technology to support teaching and learning is one place that teachers can take a leadership role in a less threatening manner, particularly if it is not mandated by administrators where a teacher risks being seen as carrying at the agenda of administration (more so when the initiative is deemed disconnected from what “really” happens in classrooms).  Because the curiosity about technology in supporting teaching and learning is building rapidly and because teachers are intensifying their increase in using technology, this seems a natural place for teachers to promote their own enthusiasm for this cause.  In my school I have one particular Science teacher who is passionate about the use of technology.  She Skypes with other teachers from around the world and aggressively looks for ways to find technological tools to support the teaching and learning of Science.  I would generally not consider her a vocal informal leader in general but she is a vocal champion for the use of technology.  By developing teacher leaders around technology you can change the culture of the school in two ways.  One, creating a culture where teacher leaders are supported, thus promoting distributive leadership.  And, two, creating a school that also champions the use of technology.  Of course, I always stress patience in technological promotion in teaching and learning.  Rather than “throwing spaghetti at the wall” it is important to find a handful of meaningful technology tools that your teacher leader can promote.  Give him or her the opportunity to support these efforts and structure time for your teacher leader to teach and for others to learn.  It is about building curiosity and supporting the fostering of that curiosity through strong and clear support and modeling.  It is always more comfortable to have something modeled form a colleague rather than an administrator, as you know.  This is why the teacher leader can be, as Shrum and Levin note, a powerful way to build a school’s culture.