Check this video on Slander and Libeling by using the Internet. As you have already discovered this issue borders delicate legal issues realting "Freedom of Speech" and School Authority and Discipline.
Before you leave, watch this instructional video clip about slandering and libeling and their legal implications!!!
All questions and comments are welcome!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Cyberbullying, a New Expression of Hatred
Cyberbullying, a New Expression of Hatred
I guess everyone experienced, at some time in school, victimizing or being the victim of various levels of bullying. In schools, all over the world, we see how some students bully others on the basis of race, gender, physical appearance, and lately, in an increasing number of cases, on sexual orientation and sexual harassment. Kids can be extremely cruel, I said so as a normal human being , and also as a regular classroom teacher ( Stop Cyberbullying.org ). Some strong students ( physically or psycologically) would drive their personal difficulties and frustrations, or family unhappiness, into rampant hate acts against chosen peers. They would target students who look different, think different, "act" different or are considered "weak" or "retarded". Bullies would eventually use snares, jokes, voices, names, and physical assult to intimidate their victims. Bullies enjoy making their victims suffer psychological distress, shame, and if not stopped in time, severe physical pain.
Here is an example of traditional bullying: Violent attacks on helpless victims:
Today, another danger about bullying is that it can be impersonal. Consequently, it can, at times, be hard to counteract it when the bully is "virtual" and it is hard to tell who it is. Frequently, some victims do not even know the source of the bullying attacks. Very often the "who" is bullying is not clearly known. In a recent survey 32% teenagers said they had experienced cyberbullying ( Cyberbullying by Amanda Lenhart, Jun 27, 2007 ) In this new bullying scenario, schoolgirls, specially, are the victims of the spread of vicious, false rumors in social networks ( Pew Research Center, Survey 2010) .Facebook and Myspace are the preferred ones. Cyberbullying is generally intended to destroy the reputation of a victim, and it undermines their good relationships with others. Cyberbullying, additionally, is highly impersonal because the bully, sometimes, can even be a parent of a friend of the victim, and the victim would never ever know! Like in the case of a teenage girl that commited suicide after being attacked online. See the video about this case on the news!
Now, what should be the role of teachers in school cases of cyberbullying? In my opinion, if the attack is planned and executed by using school equipment, I would make sure the bully-student gets referred to counseling and is also punished with 10 days of out of school suspension. I would also talk to his/her parents to make sure they understand the seriousness of their fault. Parents need to get involved in the education of their kids and must help reinforce the proper use of technology at home and anywhere their children are.
In a school where I worked in Bogota, there was a case of cyberbullying. The victim was in sixth grade, he was a normal sixth grader, a normal, good hearted boy, a happy boy. His only problem was that his parents had divorced and he lived with his monther and stepfather. Suddenly, he became the target of cyberbullying ttacks that made fun of his "intellingence". Things escaleted to the point when threats started to scare the boy to death. He did not want to come back to school. Parents told the school authorities about the situation and they also decided to remove their child from the school. The bullies used Facebook, where they created a page intitled "DOE is a Penis". The page contained pictures of the student, and even pictures of his family members.Members of the page, even people the kid did not know, were absolutelly driven to insult and threat the safety of the child and his family. Parents demanded the page creators to remove the page with its incendiary content and degrading intent. They were furious and wanted to take their case to court against the school. They could not do so, because, the students who started the site used their own technology equipment at home. The parents of the child demanded to talk to the parents and the children who created the page in a private conference at the school. This was a most unfortunate experience for the students and the parents of this group.
Now, how about the parents of the cyberbullying victims? How should they react? What should they do? A furious father made it to the National News when defending his child from the abusers who were inflicting denigrating attacks on her.
Though the abuse was being commited on school property: "The school bus", this can be the perfect example of the anxiety and concerns thousands of parents across America experience when their children express they are being victimized by bullies at school. Many people supported his act, others critisized him. Now, how about the parents of victims of cyberbullying? I do believe parents can help protect their children by educating them on principles like respect, tolerance and good manners. Internet safety talks will benefit kids as well. However, some kids lack this sort of family support and education and they act as if there were no consequences for their acts, good or bad. When this is the case, I believe parents need to address other parents and students as well, to discuss this issue and discuss the students' need to be taught at home and at school to know what is wrong and learn how to do always the right thing.
Though the abuse was being commited on school property: "The school bus", this can be the perfect example of the anxiety and concerns thousands of parents across America experience when their children express they are being victimized by bullies at school. Many people supported his act, others critisized him. Now, how about the parents of victims of cyberbullying? I do believe parents can help protect their children by educating them on principles like respect, tolerance and good manners. Internet safety talks will benefit kids as well. However, some kids lack this sort of family support and education and they act as if there were no consequences for their acts, good or bad. When this is the case, I believe parents need to address other parents and students as well, to discuss this issue and discuss the students' need to be taught at home and at school to know what is wrong and learn how to do always the right thing.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Technology Funding in Public Schools in North Carolina
A Technology Plan on the Run
By Ancizar Perdomo, VCU Master of Education and Leadership.
October, 2010
Sanford, NC
In Harnett County, NC, every school follows the same technology plan. The Board of Education, through its technology Department, has established guidelines and objectives to be reached at the county level by the end of the lapse from 2009 through 2013.
The one page plan is divided into five core components:
Goals: “To offer students easily accessible technology, as well as “books and other tools”, to enable the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and local and global information.”
Curriculum/Instruction/Staff Development
“Teachers will teach by using technology in all areas of the curriculum. Every Staff member will earn three technology CEU’s a year ( 30 hours ).”
Hardware/Software/Infrastructure/Connectivity:
“Over 7000 “modern” computers available for students, ratio of 1 computer for every 2.68 students. Every school has at least one instrumental computer lab, every classroom has at least one modern computer, and every school has access to fast internet ( 100 Mbpsl-Fiber Ethernet )
Personnel:
“Certified Media Coordinators, some hold National Board Certification, are in the different schools, with the exception of the Alternative School: “Star Academy”. Eight technicians who, almost all hold one industry-level- technology certification, serve the 26 schools of the county. One Director, one Media Supervisor, two technology Coordinators, one SIMS/NCWise coordinator, one applications development specialist, and one network administrator that works throughout the county.”
Other: “Policies have been developed regarding the Student Accepted Use Policy for Internet, Selection and Reconsideration of Materials Policy, Web Page Guidelines, Technology Gift Guidelines, Network Security Guidelines, Laptop Checkout Guidelines and Disaster Recovery Guidelines; the whole Technology plan is evaluated yearly by the Technology Team.”
The technology plan, as it can be seen, is very basic. Clear and simple objectives have been formulated. The plan is very centered in administrative issues and students are not really the center of such plan. Additionally, due to budgetary issues the number of technology teachers has been reduced. It is normal, for instance, that a Middle School with a population of 1070 students had only one computer science teacher.
Last year the computer labs were in a state of abandonment. Every computer lab in service for teachers and students had a high percentage of damaged units. Computers were usually unclean to the extreme. This shows lack of interest in the care and maintenance of the computer network of the school.
This year there has been a significant improvement and old damaged computers have been removed ( are ready to be sold as junk to apple). Computer labs look cleaner and more organized. Even the janitor is cleaning them. This has also created a positive impact in teachers and students in general.
The technology department in my school is made up by a permanent computer science teacher and a network administrator. The teacher teaches eight periods a day, she has no breaks or anything. The network administrator is usually in charge of training teachers with the management of grades in the State program ( NC Wise) . He also trains teachers in the use of technology tools, at different times, for core and electives teachers. He also helps teachers, at the beginning of the year to set computer systems up, like printing networks, Smart Board equipment, applications and he help solve eventual technology issues.
Good News!
The school has acquired 70 new computers this week. I was joyous with the news given to us by our principal, during our weekly staff meeting on Tuesday afternoon! ( I hope I will get a new computer; mine does not work properly at times, it is very old and slow. Its deck does not work so I cannot play any music discs, any movies or any instructional material in a CD Rom. ( This is most annoying and counterproductive) I guess this has to do with the age of the computer and the fact that the county has not been able to replace it in a timely manner.
I wanted to interview the network administrator at my school. I needed to get more information about how things are the way they are, and I wanted to get the input from a reliable source. Here is the interview:
Local Network Administrator Interview:
Place: Media Center at WHMS
Interviewed: Michael Castle
Interviewer: Ancizar Perdomo
(Money Talks...can't help!)
Q.1. What are the strengths of the technology department in our school?
A: “The strengths are that we are expanding every day trying to develop 21rst Century skills that are student centered and our emphasis is on placing technology in the hands of our students for them to develop and encourage them so they become more involved and more autonomous. They are more in charge of their own learning process due to technology. That is a great aspect about it because the more they realize that they have ownership of their learning process the more they are going to get out of it.”
Q.2. What do you think are some difficulties that the technology plan may have here?
A: “Due to the fact that we are very rural, and that we are very limited in our outside resources, we are dependent upon the tax paces, and the government, and how much money is allocated to us. It makes it very difficult to purchase new equipment and to keep up to date, as technology advances, because technology advances so fast. Software and applications are also very pricy.”
“Another factor against us is the lack of a business community, and when you don’t have their donations, and those moneys it is very difficult to keep the network updated.”
“Being a rural community makes us limited, compared to metropolitan districts where there is a business community; we lack enough funds to get to a higher level of technology implementation. We are still very computer oriented and we are not quite yet using technology like television, radio or video.”
Q.3. What are the basic projections of the technology team so far?
A: “That we will have a new computer lab in place, that we have software that is current and is helping to implement instruction that is at 21rst Century Standards, that we are being able to use our Internet sources to help expand the classrooms beyond the four walls, so that the kids can access that information that is being taught by the teacher in the classroom, they can access it also from their home, so when they do leave the classroom they can go back into that classroom and get that information.”
By interviewing the network administrator at my school I got to know the reason why our computer network has the issues I face day by day when trying to do a more efficient job. It is a matter of funding and the lack of a strong business community to help us empower our kids for a tomorrow that is already here! Definitely I feel in peace with myself because I keep on using technology in my class, no matter how limited the resources may be, I do what is possible with what I have so far.
Education and Technology Implementation in Education face a permanent dilemma, just as great popular philosophers ABBA put it once: "Money, money, money...la,la,la,la!"
By Ancizar Perdomo, VCU Master of Education and Leadership.
October, 2010
Sanford, NC
In Harnett County, NC, every school follows the same technology plan. The Board of Education, through its technology Department, has established guidelines and objectives to be reached at the county level by the end of the lapse from 2009 through 2013.
The one page plan is divided into five core components:
Goals: “To offer students easily accessible technology, as well as “books and other tools”, to enable the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and local and global information.”
Curriculum/Instruction/Staff Development
“Teachers will teach by using technology in all areas of the curriculum. Every Staff member will earn three technology CEU’s a year ( 30 hours ).”
Hardware/Software/Infrastructure/Connectivity:
“Over 7000 “modern” computers available for students, ratio of 1 computer for every 2.68 students. Every school has at least one instrumental computer lab, every classroom has at least one modern computer, and every school has access to fast internet ( 100 Mbpsl-Fiber Ethernet )
Personnel:
“Certified Media Coordinators, some hold National Board Certification, are in the different schools, with the exception of the Alternative School: “Star Academy”. Eight technicians who, almost all hold one industry-level- technology certification, serve the 26 schools of the county. One Director, one Media Supervisor, two technology Coordinators, one SIMS/NCWise coordinator, one applications development specialist, and one network administrator that works throughout the county.”
Other: “Policies have been developed regarding the Student Accepted Use Policy for Internet, Selection and Reconsideration of Materials Policy, Web Page Guidelines, Technology Gift Guidelines, Network Security Guidelines, Laptop Checkout Guidelines and Disaster Recovery Guidelines; the whole Technology plan is evaluated yearly by the Technology Team.”
The technology plan, as it can be seen, is very basic. Clear and simple objectives have been formulated. The plan is very centered in administrative issues and students are not really the center of such plan. Additionally, due to budgetary issues the number of technology teachers has been reduced. It is normal, for instance, that a Middle School with a population of 1070 students had only one computer science teacher.
Last year the computer labs were in a state of abandonment. Every computer lab in service for teachers and students had a high percentage of damaged units. Computers were usually unclean to the extreme. This shows lack of interest in the care and maintenance of the computer network of the school.
This year there has been a significant improvement and old damaged computers have been removed ( are ready to be sold as junk to apple). Computer labs look cleaner and more organized. Even the janitor is cleaning them. This has also created a positive impact in teachers and students in general.
The technology department in my school is made up by a permanent computer science teacher and a network administrator. The teacher teaches eight periods a day, she has no breaks or anything. The network administrator is usually in charge of training teachers with the management of grades in the State program ( NC Wise) . He also trains teachers in the use of technology tools, at different times, for core and electives teachers. He also helps teachers, at the beginning of the year to set computer systems up, like printing networks, Smart Board equipment, applications and he help solve eventual technology issues.
Good News!
The school has acquired 70 new computers this week. I was joyous with the news given to us by our principal, during our weekly staff meeting on Tuesday afternoon! ( I hope I will get a new computer; mine does not work properly at times, it is very old and slow. Its deck does not work so I cannot play any music discs, any movies or any instructional material in a CD Rom. ( This is most annoying and counterproductive) I guess this has to do with the age of the computer and the fact that the county has not been able to replace it in a timely manner.
I wanted to interview the network administrator at my school. I needed to get more information about how things are the way they are, and I wanted to get the input from a reliable source. Here is the interview:
Local Network Administrator Interview:
Place: Media Center at WHMS
Interviewed: Michael Castle
Interviewer: Ancizar Perdomo
(Money Talks...can't help!)
Q.1. What are the strengths of the technology department in our school?
A: “The strengths are that we are expanding every day trying to develop 21rst Century skills that are student centered and our emphasis is on placing technology in the hands of our students for them to develop and encourage them so they become more involved and more autonomous. They are more in charge of their own learning process due to technology. That is a great aspect about it because the more they realize that they have ownership of their learning process the more they are going to get out of it.”
Q.2. What do you think are some difficulties that the technology plan may have here?
A: “Due to the fact that we are very rural, and that we are very limited in our outside resources, we are dependent upon the tax paces, and the government, and how much money is allocated to us. It makes it very difficult to purchase new equipment and to keep up to date, as technology advances, because technology advances so fast. Software and applications are also very pricy.”
“Another factor against us is the lack of a business community, and when you don’t have their donations, and those moneys it is very difficult to keep the network updated.”
“Being a rural community makes us limited, compared to metropolitan districts where there is a business community; we lack enough funds to get to a higher level of technology implementation. We are still very computer oriented and we are not quite yet using technology like television, radio or video.”
Q.3. What are the basic projections of the technology team so far?
A: “That we will have a new computer lab in place, that we have software that is current and is helping to implement instruction that is at 21rst Century Standards, that we are being able to use our Internet sources to help expand the classrooms beyond the four walls, so that the kids can access that information that is being taught by the teacher in the classroom, they can access it also from their home, so when they do leave the classroom they can go back into that classroom and get that information.”
By interviewing the network administrator at my school I got to know the reason why our computer network has the issues I face day by day when trying to do a more efficient job. It is a matter of funding and the lack of a strong business community to help us empower our kids for a tomorrow that is already here! Definitely I feel in peace with myself because I keep on using technology in my class, no matter how limited the resources may be, I do what is possible with what I have so far.
Education and Technology Implementation in Education face a permanent dilemma, just as great popular philosophers ABBA put it once: "Money, money, money...la,la,la,la!"
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
A Non-Stop Trip
These days that I have been blogging, doing research about new technology applications in the classroom, watching the tutorials and blogs of my fellow teacher-classmates, I cannot help feeling satisfaction. I feel I have embarqued in a non-stop trip into the future of education. It is definitely a whole new cyber world to navigate through. A world with endless educational posibilities and great human developmental potential.
My classes have embarqued with me, computer based activities, like powerpoints and logs have enriched our interactions. I have improved the quality and appeal of my teaching periods with more technology assisted activities. At the beginning, it was a little bit overwhelming, even my students saw it, at the beginning, as a challenge but that changed later,into joy and enthusiasm, they got to know new tools or computer based elements to enrich their learining process. Now they use more technology in my classes, and I can see that thet use it and enjoy it.
Now when I have my students read, and then write entries in their wikispaces, I see they are really getting to be literate. Computersa are fascinatin tools that allow students, as one of the classe's video presented: Hypertext can be edited, changed, created, recreated, manipulated, exploited and redirected! I see my students already doing this!
My next step down the road is to keep on getting to explore more tools,in depth and share with my at-site fellow teachers. Cooperative work, or team work enhances a whole school performance. My objective now will be to help other teachers lose their fear of technology and share with them knowledge and experiences. I mean to help my fellow teachers wherever I go, whatever I teach and with whoever I am! Thanks!
Enjoy some high-tech-non-stop music by Kraftwerk!
My classes have embarqued with me, computer based activities, like powerpoints and logs have enriched our interactions. I have improved the quality and appeal of my teaching periods with more technology assisted activities. At the beginning, it was a little bit overwhelming, even my students saw it, at the beginning, as a challenge but that changed later,into joy and enthusiasm, they got to know new tools or computer based elements to enrich their learining process. Now they use more technology in my classes, and I can see that thet use it and enjoy it.
Now when I have my students read, and then write entries in their wikispaces, I see they are really getting to be literate. Computersa are fascinatin tools that allow students, as one of the classe's video presented: Hypertext can be edited, changed, created, recreated, manipulated, exploited and redirected! I see my students already doing this!
My next step down the road is to keep on getting to explore more tools,in depth and share with my at-site fellow teachers. Cooperative work, or team work enhances a whole school performance. My objective now will be to help other teachers lose their fear of technology and share with them knowledge and experiences. I mean to help my fellow teachers wherever I go, whatever I teach and with whoever I am! Thanks!
Enjoy some high-tech-non-stop music by Kraftwerk!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)