Thursday, April 28, 2011

Journal 8: POINT/COUNTERPOINT: SHOULD SCHOOLS BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR CYBERBULLYING?

NETS-T 4

Bogacz, Gordillo , R., M. . (2011). Point/counterpoint: should schools be held responsible for cyberbullying. Learning and Leading, 38(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Point_Counterpoint_Should_Schools_Be_Held_Responsible_for_Cyberbullying.aspx

This article offers the point of view from two different authors. Renee Bogacz claims that yes, schools should be held responsible for cyberbullying.  On the other hand, Miguel Gómez Gordillo argues that no, schools should not be held responsible for cyberbullying.  To begin with I will discuss the arguement made by Bogacz, that yes schools should be held accountable.

Technology has created many ways for children to threaten and harass each other. Even though this bullying may occur off the school grounds, Bogacz argues that it still affects the school environment. Bogacz claims that there is a community of people that should be responsible for cyberbullying. This includes teachers, administrators, parents and students. Each participate must play their part to succeed in the education and eradication of cyberbullying.  

Teachers must educate themselves about cyberbullying.  They should know the rules and laws against it as well as the resources for the victims. They should address cyberbullying in their classroom and not be afraid to document cases. They should listen to the victims and not dismiss the occurrence as basic child behavior.
School administrators must adhere to the same obligations as the teachers. However, in addition they must establish clear and concise consequences for perpetrators. They must also contact law enforcement when necessary.

Parents must always stay involved in what their children are doing online and on their cellphones. They should friend their children on their online networks and have passwords to their emails, chats, etc. Parents should consistently check their children’s computer history and confront any issues of bullying. Bogacz urges that parents should not be passive because in the past students have taken their own lives because of cyberbullying.

Finally, students themselves are large part of this community. They should stand up for what is right and assist victims when they see cyberbulllying. If they are victims to cyberbullying they should not be expected just to deal with it. They should talk to someone and receive counseling.

Miguel Gomez Gordillo argues that is not responsibility of the school to deal with cyberbullying.  He states that schools cannot be held responsible for issues of behavior that are not within or did not begin in the classroom.  Rather, Gordillo puts the blame on society for not supporting family as an institution. He claims that bullying results because of the weakening of the family.

His response to bullying is love. He claims that children that have received love from the beginning have an automatic vaccine against bullying. Bullying by children is a consequence of the lack of love and support at home. He questions how children can receive love if the parents are gone all day or the kids come from a broken home.

Gordillo insists that the parents are the primary educators of their children. The schools can assist parents by establishing close relationships with them and providing supportive parental resources.  He states that the ways schools can help with cyberbullying by helping parents to recover and establish their roles as the primary educators.

Q1- what would you do as an educator if you found out a student was being cyberbullied by your other students?
First of all, I would make it a point to educate my students from the beginning on cyberbullying. I would create weekly lessons that address this issue and incorporate ways for students to participate in the research and education themselves. 

If the issue came up and cyberbullying was evident then I realize it would be a touchy situation. My first instinct would be to address the situation right away to the entire class, but I would need to speak to the victim. Unfortunately, the victim may feel incredible shame about the situation and bringing it up to the entire class could embarrass them further and make the situation worse.

However, the bullies will be addressed and reprimanded for their actions. I would involve the administrators and parents and punish the students accordingly. I would again in the classroom stress the devastation of cyberbullying and continue to educate my students about it. I would then make sure that the victim received counseling for the bullying.

Q2- Do you believe the argument of Miguel Gómez Gordillo that love from parents is a vaccine against cyberbullying? Why or why not?

While there is a just a fleck of truth to this statement, overall I do not agree with it. It is not a vaccine against cyberbullying.  Whether or not a student is loved it does not keep them from having their feelings hurt and from being the victims of bullying. I believe Gordillo was arguing that love can extinguish the acts of the bully, but again I do not believe this to be necessarily true in all cases. Students can possess many behavioral problems that are beyond the nurturing aspect of their parents.

Also, students may receive plenty of love at home, but they do not feel accepted at school. I am not an expert on bullies, however I feel this is way too broad a statement to make about why bullying exists. I am frankly terrified for my daughter to go to school because I remember how cruel kids can be. I was kicked out of a group of girlfriends many times. One time I couldn’t describe the perfect outfit and another time I wasn’t popular enough! And these were girls that seemed to be very loved at home, but kids can always be cruel. 

Journal 6: Grow Your Personal Network

NETS-T 4, 5

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow your personal learning network. Learning and Leading, 36(6), Retrieved from http://istelearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Grow-Your-PLN.pdf

David Warlick’s article on growing your personal network begins by explaining to the reader that this idea of a personal network is not a new one. Rather, we have always called on sources to grow our network. This includes the people in our lives (family, friends, and co-workers) as well as the texts and periodicals we use to learn. However, with the rise in technology he explains that our network is a growing and more information is accessible and delivered by many more people.  Through ICT, Information and communication technologies, those voices that did not have access to deliver information now have a voice.  

It is important in an ever changing world, and especially in technology, to be a good educator we must always be open to learn as well. We need to stay up to date on all of the innovative forms of technology and ways to retrieve valuable information. Warlick describes that there are three main types of our PLN:

1. Personally Maintained Synchronous Connections
This type of PLN is the traditional network that consists of the people and places that we consult to find information.  This is where we turn to answer questions and problem solves. Examples of these connections are Skype and Twitter.

2.  Personally and Socially Maintained Semi synchronous Connections
This is perhaps the best part of information sharing in technology because we are not limited to proximity or time constraints. This type of sharing is not in real time and we can participate based on our schedules and we can multi-task while doing so. For example, we can read and respond to blogs on our own time as well as Facebook.

3. Dynamically Maintained Asynchronous Connections
This PLN refers to our ability to stay connected through sources. For example, if we subscribe to a blog on a particular subject we can subscribe to the RSS feed with our aggregator and the software does the work for us. It will retrieve relevant post and information and relay that to us. In class we learned about Social Bookmarking sites such as Diggo. When searching for information the results contain more manageable and reputable lists of sites to visit.

As educators we are learning ourselves and we need these tools and opportunities to gain and develop skills to remain up to date with society and especially our students. Warlick offers a piece of cautionary advice when he states that it is important to understand the responsibility of our PLN. We are retrieving and then re-issuing this information to our network therefore it affects people other than just ourselves.

He also explains that it is human nature to find sources and people that agree with our view of the world, but he challenges us to find networks that test our ideals. As teachers we will realize that our students are facing an uncertain world filled with the ups and downs of life. We must teach our students to trust in themselves.

Finally, Warlick offers a list of tips to get our PLN started and how to keep it simple. Again, he mentions to be smart about what we subscribe to because it all affects our PLN. He suggests that we remain organized including ways to organize our folders and blogs by subjects and usage.   Many of us do not want to commit to creating our PLNs because we are already so busy and time is limited. Warlick suggests just 15 minutes a day is all it takes to learn something new.

Q1. What are the responsibilities that go along with your PLN?

The article reminds the reader that our PLN does not just affect one person. This is a way to gain information and then pass this information onto others. Especially when developing your PLN for professional reasons, it is important to understand the quality of information that you re-issue. You are developing a reputation for yourself and you cannot issue information that is not based on facts and quality. You should be selective in your choices.

Q2. Why is it important to visit networks that challenge our point of views as educators?

The world is changing. The world always changes and our world views may need to shift as well. As educators, we will have students from all different walks of life and they may have very different backgrounds then our own. We need to realize that everything will not be viewed from our rose colored perspective and we need to educate ourselves to be empathetic.
I am going to follow a twitter chat that is based in Europe because I would like to see the issues faced as well as hear the many ideas these educators have. I believe if we look into a diverse network then we will learn so much about the world. 
Sometimes, our ideas are based on biases and sometimes even generalizations that we didn’t even know we possessed. It is always a good idea to see the other side. Visiting sites that challenge our point of views will show us that other side and perhaps help us to realize and squash the ideals that are holding us back as educators. 

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Presentation Assessment

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NETS-S Presentation Assignment

NETS-S 1, 3

I created an exciting, fresh and unique presentation using the online software called Prezi. The presentation includes valuable information regarding lesson plans to include technology for students K-2. This presentation is a great resource for students, educators and parents.