ED 205 Comment

I left a comment on this blog: http://edtech-mi.blogspot.com/ only thing is the guy has to approve the comments. The post was on the "Michigan Cyber Saftey Initiative" from 2/25/09 It wouldn't give me a link for my comments so here is what I wrote...

Wow Fred, this is a wonderful program that is being put out there by the state of Michigan. Exploring the “world wide web” can be difficult in itself, let alone have people deliberately trying to cause harm to our youth who are really clueless about the internet and the way it works. I really love the fact that this program is not only geared toward students, but it is also aimed at the parents as well. Most students learn how to navigate the net all by themselves, and this would be done, for example, by trail and error. Now, of course while doing the trail and error process a child may stumble on a couple of sites they should have never seen. I have always felt that it’s not only the schools responsibility to educate the children about the internet, but it should be more of a collaboration between the two (parents and schools). In general, most schools are going to be teaching students how to use a specific program or how to use some sort of software. It’s the parents’ duty to teach their child how to respect the internet and use it appropriately when going online during their spare time. With this program including the parents, I think it will really bridge the technology between parents and their children and the parents will be able to do a better job monitoring what’s really going on. If parents only knew what was going on with the internet and what dangers it could potentially pose, then parents would have already be educated. I’m currently in an online course called “Computers in Education” and this topic is one we happen to discuss. We are also discussing social networking and the benefits (if they are any) of using them in the classroom. I personally don’t see a reason for using a myspace or facebook within the class. The only thing I could really see if instructors using facebook to meet others around the world. This of course would have to be something used for a project and closely monitored while in class. What are your thoughts on this? Well I just wanted to check out this and see what was being said. Take care!

Spoons ED 205