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4. Seek out Web-based professional development. I am finding that Web-based training is very appealing to classroom teachers simply because there is no time in a school day to learn how to use/integrate technology. In many districts today, planning time has been significantly reduced. This leaves teachers with either early morning, after school, weekend, or Web-based training as the only options for technolgoy professional development. Web-based training, if designed effectively and utilized rich multimedia, gives teachers convenient anytime, anwhere training. In fact, I created a Blackboard course about Blackbord that utilizes interactive streaming flash video. If a teacher wants to learn how to create and and suggestions for integrating a wiki in a Blackboard course, they simply watch a streaming video on how to accomplish this. This, then, allows teachers to apply skills and have complete control over their own learning/training pace. I think more teachers need to inquire/push for Web-based technology professional development to their I.T. departments and administrators; not just be provided with hyperlinks to online tutorials that merely show you how to use educational software.

But the point here is not cutting kids off from something; it's teaching them how to use it responsibly and safely and how to express themselves appropriately.

I think to raise a child in the 21st century without the skills of how to walk through an online social networking site is irresponsible for a parent. But that doesn't mean that at age 13 your child should be on there, no holds barred, completely unregulated. My argument is that around the age of 16, I think teens are ready to be on there, with limited amounts of time, with a lot of guidance from their parents, and a lot of guidance that started maybe four years prior to that.

I think we all need to be thinking more about ethics, about citizenship, and in fact the term "online safety" is probably becoming obsolete or should be.