Got you didn't I. We are notorious as people for being gossips - especially when the material has a slightly 'naughty' feel to it. It begs the question as to how in a digital community that reaches potentially everyone on the planet you not necessarily control but at least manage the flow of sensitive information. How can I as a facilitator of knowledge ensure that all my 'charges' are safe? Am I better to facilitate all my learning opportunities in a closed environment via apps like Blackboard or Moodle? But aren't I missing out on the opportunities for 'experts' to contribute valuable insight and information if our learning is done in an open environment?
In a secondary school environment I think this has some serious ramifications on student safety and well-being (see Internet Safety Group website) online. The last thing I would want to see is someone harmed because of my (in)actions...
Now I appreciate that an element of trust is always needed in any form of interaction - and it is one of the obvious necessities of a community to put yourself 'out there' to allow others to get a sense of who you are (or at least a sense of your digital identity anyway) so that you (can?) share a common purpose or philosophy that has brought you together in the first place. After all students do it all the time with their facebook, bebo and myspace profiles don't they...?
Monday, October 15, 2007
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2 comments:
This is a really interesting question, Mark, and a very valid one. But how is keeping your students safe in an online environment different from the 'real world'?
The other thing I have been thinking about recently is keeping oneself safe. I have been reading a lot of posts about promoting one's online identity and I have posted my name everywhere as 'sarah stewart' so theoretically I am very easy to find. With that comes the risk of things like identity theft. So how do we safe guard ourselves.
There a lots of school teachers around the world, primary and secondary, locating their courses outside on the open Internet who have had to address these concerns. I suggest that you take the time to watch the K12 online presentations and start networking with some of them. They are a great source of knowledge on these issues.
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