Group items tagged

This is a source for one of my previous blog posts that I haven't yet bookmarked on Diigo. It outlines the Digital Education Revolution that will be implemented by the Department of Education as a response to the policy imperative of decreasing the digital divide in the younger generation of Australians.

When it comes to keeping kids and teens safe online is it up to parents and schools to educate them about online safety or is censorship the answer?

"One of the big challenges in the debate so far has been combating the myth that the filter is - or ever was - a cyber-safety tool designed to keep kids safe online. It's not. It's designed to "harmonise" censorship laws, not protect children from inappropriate content. It's censorship for its own sake." This is interesting as EFF Australia are running a campaign to educate people not normally involved in debates around the internet - indeed, the campaign targets people who may be inclined to suport the idea of a filter: mums and dads.

Israeli soldier posts the details of an operation on Facebook, and the operation is called off. Ironic: the Internet, originally a military tool, causes trouble in the military. Like with potential victims for kidnapping in Mexico posting personal details online: should basic media literacy education be provided for the use of social media among groups with potential risks?

High school  teachers in Queensland are questioned because of their profile pictures on Facebook. The fact that they may be really outstanding educators is now overlooked due to the mistake of posting "inappropriate" photos on a very public social networking site. Another example of how Facebook can actually ruin lives. 

The use of technology as a form of communication has brought about social and ethical issues around bullying and harassment. In the US many states are starting to instigate laws to deal with cases of bullying (eg Megans Law)  There needs to be more education around the etiquette of digital communication and the repercussions when abuse is transmitted.

What are consumers really agreeing to when they purchase something online and have to agree to pages and pages of small print? How do we control the power of the retailer and educate consumers, so they are not suckered into agreements that negatively effect them? Can this retailer really own souls? Will their be legal action as a result of these agreements?

This article discusses the difficulties of ensuring that cyberbullying is prevented, or monitored. It also discusses how the technology appears to supersede the school's governance of the appropriate use of technology with respect to the Internet. The article mentions an analogy to the Lord of the Flies, as children become savages when unsupervised, which contradicts the article "Cyberbullying is focus of conference," which states that children are unaware of their actions. This is a bit ironic, as the book was an actual microcosm of world war 2, and therefore the story is symbolic of war very much induced by adults.

This article discusses the topics of educators improving their skills on detecting the various forms of cyberbullying, follow-up prevention, and plans that address cyberbullies. It also notes that perhaps, some cyberbullying is not fully realised by the bullies themselves, as children may be unaware of how impactful their messages are. There is also the discussion of a digital divide between children and their parents with respect to how one conducts themselves online. Though, it is doubtful to claim that children are completely ignorant of their own actions on the Internet.

This is about the academic who spoke at Sydney Ideas at the Seymour Centre on Tuesday. See also: m.acu.edu opencircl.org

thanks for posting....i have no idea what the point of this is though: "Class reaction to an issue can be polled during lectures"

This article discusses two studies that were released March regarding bullying and how they correlate to cyberbullying. The majority of cyberbullying made commentary on appearence and body shape. The first study concluded that bullying was on the decline, while the other study illustrated how discussing such matters with an adult or friend would most likely improve the situation. Though these studies may seem common sense, one of the startling issues that appears to have been noted during this study was that some of the answers from educators and friends alike were, "told me to stop tattling," "ignored what was going on," "told me to solve the problem myself," "blamed me," "ignored it," "made fun of me." It seems that those in position to help, may often try to ignore or deny help to those who have outwardly asked for it, which may also be an issue regarding cyberbullying; awareness and how to appropriate deal with reports on cyberbullying.

The conversation first looked at internet censorship from an international perspective covering issues of internet governance from and internet freedom. Unfortunately one or two members of the panel were prone to regurgitating policy rather than engaging in an actual debate. Towards the end inevitably the discussion was drawn to the proposed filtering laws within Australia. The general consensus from the panel members was that education had to be an essential part of policy when addressing online safety. Interestingly the government representative, the Minister for Home Affairs, was a keen supporter of this policy stance.

According to this article "word of mouth has become word of web." People are using digital technology to communicate important information such as social gatherings and recommendations about things such as new recipes - things that used to be transferred through offline word of mouth. The implication is that people without an online presence miss out, and the response of the Canadian (as well as the Australian) government is to inject millions of dollars into decreasing the 'digital divide' to encourage social participation through increased digital literacy.

After the class last night, I kept having a thoght that maybe our whole society structure is changing bcuase of the internet, the accessibility to the Internet. Money, education, perhaps are the main critaria to structure the society anymore.

In the aftermath of the recent death of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff, following a "Facebook meeting" comes an outcry from parent and teacher groups to prevent teens from accessing Facebook at school. According to Laurel Papworth, banning access is not the answer. Education is.

This article discusses how banning Facebook is not the answer for prevention of tragedies of deaths like Sydney teen who had met a "friend" on Facebook. Though it may seem commonly obvious, I do not believe simply warning and educating children/teenagers about the potential dangers of social networking and strangers is enough; but perhaps going a step further and accepting that meeting "friends" through social networks has become a social norm. Therefore conversations amongst children/teenagers/friends/parents alike must be initiated so that there is some sort of support system to ensure safety. As the online social networks expand the definition of "friends", one must consider the social construction of how people now view the world based on these norms.

Rather than suggesting that social networking sites should be "banned" to protect the safety of children, people should ensure they understand how to be safe online.  This also includes understanding the changes to a sites privacy policies and the impacts these changes can have to your privacy settings.

During a speech at the Media Institute in Washington [February 24, 2010], Larry Strickling, President Obama's top official at the Department of Commerce and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), suggested that there should be policy discussions between government agencies, foreign governments and key Internet constituencies on issues such as privacy, child protection, cybersecurity, copyright protection and Internet governance. "It's now time to respond to all the social changes being driven by the growth of the Internet," Strickling said. "We need Internet Policy 3.0. We enter this new decade recognizing that we rely on the Internet for essential social purposes: health, energy efficiency, and education. It's also a general engine for economic and social innovation. We must take rules more seriously if we want full participation, but we must keep the need for flexibility in mind."

Victorian school charges levy for take-home computers; a charity steps in to pay when parents can't afford to. School possibly in breach of DER program.

Joanna Goode is emphasizing the effects of the Digital Students among college students. She acknowledge that unprepared students, not familiar with technology will struggle to succeed in Uniersity and later in their careers

Statistics now show that 15% of teachers have experienced cyber bullying themselves, and half know another teacher who has. Cyber bullying of teachers has included Facebook hate groups, Videos of the teachers in the classroom being posted to Youtube, or hate sites. Shows that this isn't just an issue between peers.

Teachers are very much aware and very much worried on how social networking sites, particularly Facebook, are being used by students to "bully" and spread false allegations about them. Not only professional reputations are at stake in acts like these, but hate sites will surely affect the personal lives of teachers as well.  

There have been a number of research programs that have investigated students' thinking and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing, including definitions of knowledge, how knowledge is constructed, and how knowledge is evaluated. However, these different research programs have pursued varying definitions and conceptual frameworks and used quite different methodologies to examine students' epistemological beliefs and thinking. In the first section of this article, we provide a critical and comprehensive review of these different research programs. In the second part of this article, we identify nine crucial theoretical and methodological issues that need to be resolved in future research on epistemological theories. As these issues are addressed in future research, there will be more consensus regarding the nature of epistemological theories, and their relation to cognition, motivation, and learning will be made more explicit.