a view from the back row » ICT

Reflecting on Creativity in Schools Today

Carter — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:01:54 +0000

Sir Ken Robinson is interviewed by Radiowaves, at the Liverpool ICT Conference.
Sir Ken Robinson discusses transforming education through creativity and innovation. It is a thought provoking interview, definately worth the time to watch.

http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story.aspx?lngStoryID=14527

My questions after watching this interview are …

Are students engaged and challenged in schools today? Can we meet the needs of the students in our education system and try to engage them in relevant learning for the “new world?” Are students and parents willing to make this shift in thinking about education?

What are your thoughts?

cyber safety

Carter — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:17:10 +0000

Looks like the project is put on hold guys….time for plan B.

Project Safety

Carter — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:18:05 +0000

Our new project is all about being safe when using the internet. What can early years, middle years, senior years, and adults do to insure their safety when using the internet? We will be working in our groups to determine what kind of information we can find, if it is useful and how we can better communicate these messages to our various target groups.

every key stroke has a consequence

Carter — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:47:51 +0000

This morning on Canada AM, there was a segment on Cyber Safety. The website they were discussing is www.cybertip.ca. What do you know about being safe on the internet? Research cyber safety during class today and post informative sites here. When you post a link, make sure that you have copied the URL address correctly! Add a little information about the site, such as the title and what you thought was good about it.
We will making a list of sites and critiquing the information found there.

Teens and the Internet

Carter — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:52:29 +0000

This blog post is from David Warlick at 2 cents worth.

Pew Internet: Parent and Teen Internet Use:

Parents today are less likely to say that the internet has been a good thing for their children than they were in 2004. However, this does not mean there was a corresponding increase in the amount of parents who think the internet has been harmful to their children. Instead, the biggest increase has been in the amount of parents who do not think the internet has had an effect on their children one way or the other. Fully, 87% of parents of teenagers are online — at least 17% more than average adults.

The study indicates that parents are paying a lot of attention to their children’s media consumption.

Parents check up on and regulate their teens’ media use, not just in terms of the internet, but with television and video games as well. However, those rules lean slightly more towards the content of the media rather than the time spent with the media device.

Alexandra Rankin Macgill, the author of the report, suggests that “The fact that the biggest increase has been in the number of parents who think the internet has no effect on their children suggests that parents are beginning to have a more nuanced view of the internet.“ She continues, “It is a grey technology that can be helpful or harmful depending on how you use it.“ This is from the PEW Press Release for the study.

I wonder, though, — and this is just me wondering — if maybe the opposite might be true. That in 2004, we felt that we understood the Internet as a rich source of content. Some was good and some was bad, but it was a place to go to find answers. Today, however, our children seem to be spending more time interacting in their social networks, and, in my opinion, discovering and even inventing new ways to learn through those interactions. But we don’t understand this.

What do you think?
How do you use technology ? Is it safe ?
How much time do you spend using technology in a given day/week? Is it too much ?
Does the internet have an effect on you ? How ?
Do your parents know how to use technology ? Are they aware of what you are doing on the computer, cell phone, email, my space, facebook, etc. ?
What are the parent’s roles ?
Are schools using technology effectively ?