Mr. Jenkins this year began using lessons from Common Sense Media, which cautions students to consider their online behavior before they get into trouble.
Maybe we should look into this for the pilot classrooms. Not sure if it is geared toward high school/middle school or elementary
“We can’t make the awareness of Web issues solely person- and relationship-centered,” said Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Children should learn things like what a cookie or a Web virus is, and how corporations profit from tracking consumers online, he said.
Alan November's book "Engaging Students with Technology" addresses some of these issues. I think all pilot teachers should begin the year teaching students about these things as well as how to validate sites when doing research.
Financed largely by foundation money, Common Sense will offer a free curriculum to schools this fall that teaches students how to behave online. New York City and Omaha have decided to offer it; Denver, the District of Columbia, Florida, Los Angeles, Maine and Virginia are considering it.
Common Sense’s classes, based on research by Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychology and education professor, are grouped into topics he calls “ethical fault lines”: identity (how do you present yourself online?); privacy (the world can see everything you write); ownership (plagiarism, reproducing creative work); credibility (legitimate sources of information); and community (interacting with others).
3rd-grade teacher Rob Stephenson from Okemos is Michigan's Teacher of the Year and one of four in the running for the National Teacher of the Year. Very inspiring!
Great resource! Lots of new ideas on using wikis, including Wikibooks and using a wiki for student portfolios. I have used a wiki very successfully for student-authored test review as well.