Mod 2: Safe Blog Use in the Classroom

On page 53 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, by Will Richardson, there is a list of what he considers "Good Educator's Blogs." I didn't go through the whole list, but I did begin looking at those blogs to see what these people had to say about blog safety in their own classroom. Blogger, Clay Burrell, who is a history teacher, had an interesting post from February 16 2007 called "Bloglines Blows It For Teachers" about after setting up a classroom blog with their site, he discovered that there was an option to receive 'adult material' through the blog feed as long as a person states they are at least 18 and won't hold Bloglines accountable. Suddenly, he found himself in a dilemma needing to change the blog site for the class, without the students finding out why. I think his candid account of the experience goes to show that even those experienced with the technology can make mistakes that potentially harm the safety of students.

I feel safe in generalizing that we all know, that because the internet is forum for everyone and everyone's interests, not everything is safe for students to be looking at--even if it is highly accessible. And, computer filters are not fail-proof. I remember once when I was in high school a friend and I were in the library and tried to go to a teenager magazine website to take those quizzes. Anyway, we typed the url wrong and ended up on a very closely titled pornographic page. Never having been exposed to that sort of thing we both screamed and clicked off the page. And we preferred to be kicked out of the library (and were asked to leave) for loud behavior than to admit why it was that we screamed! So, it's important to discuss internet safety with students, including what to do if they come across something that makes them uncomfortable.

SafetyWeb.com is a website that provides articles about how to keep the internet safe for kids and is geared to be a resource for parents. However,  some of the tenets from these articles ring true for a classroom discussion, such as discussing with students that whatever we put on the internet stays there and can be accessed by anyone. So, leading a discussion on the sorts of things are fine to talk about on a blog (ie: social issues like movies, music) and other things that are very personal and could be dangerous if read by the wrong person (ie: our full name, our address, our routines). And make sure students know exactly what information they are and are not allowed to post.

On page 13 of the text, Richardson also states the need for teachers "to be ready to discuss what should and should not be published online." And I think "published" is a good word to describe posts on blogs and facebook, etc. A teacher needs to ensure that students understand that what is published online becomes public.

On page 14 Richardson states that one of the biggest issues with personal journal sites is that students disclose too much information in both text and pictures.  Additionally, he urges that educators have a discussion with students on what they should do if someone posts a comment on their blog that makes them uncomfortable or if a blog feed shows inappropriate content (as with the story of the history teacher above.)

One way that Richardson states will help keep the school, students, and parents on the same page as far as internet expectations and internet safety is to send a letter home to the parents outlining the blogging project: what it blogging? why we're doing it? how we will protect students? what is acceptable for students to post? etc. The sample letter Richardson shows in page 15 was published with permission from Susan Sedro from the blog: tinyurl.com/636vhs. I can't seem to get that blog to load and connect here..maybe you can find it!

Another thing the teacher can discuss with students are the safety settings that the class will use (ie: limiting who can view or post) as well as make sure the students understand how the teacher can not only view the content of the class blogs, but also edit if necessary. And establish that breaking safety rules can result in loss of internet privileges. Blog behavior must match acceptable class behavior.
Additionally, have a plan in place and discuss with students what will happen to these blogs after the class is over.

By first researching and setting up a blog ahead of time a teacher can make sure s/he anticipates safety issues with a blog; secondly making sure the teacher has administrative controls over potential student accounts, and then thirdly, following up with a discussion of blog/internet safety with the school, the students, and the parents and obtaining permission before the students start their online work will help safeguard students from dangerous internet content and situations.