Chapter+6+-+Expanding+the+Boundaries

=__Chapter - Expanding the Boundaries__ =

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Pages 79 - 94

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**1. Have educators lost control of the information that their students can access?** Sure - yes. Even with filters at school, they have access to computers at home and phones with networking availability to communicate and research whatever is on their minds from any number of sites - good and bad. This was one of the points brought out in the chapter. Archie Yes- I agree with Archie, they may not be able to get to that site at school, but at home is a whole other ball game. We can try as hard as we can to protect them from these sites, but we can't follow them home-Rachel

I don't know if we ever really had control. Kids have their cell phones in class and can use those to access anything during the school day. They can go home, and for the most part, access anything there. -- Cerise

Does LSA require a parental consent form for student blogging? Bruce

I believe students can acess so much more than they could 20 years ago while they are in class with the phones they already have in middle and high school. That is out of our control because the parents have that authority.

**2. What responsibilities do school have about teaching students the ethics about blogging?** This is a touchy question from the standpoint of legal responsibility. I believe definitely we have a responsibility to preach ethics, but it is hard to monitor those that step over the line. Cyber bullying is a prime example. Actually, computer classes and instructors should teach this with students signing on that they have been informed of responsibilities to Christian and moral ethics in all communications. Several Biblical lessons could be brought out here. Archie

This is so important. Looking at some of the "graduated" 8th graders' Facebook sites is awful. They spew anything -- and everything thing -- personal to the entire world. I like the concept of teaching them to respect themselves, their school, their family, etc and watch what they put out there. I am worried about the direction our Christian kids are going. I agree with Archie -- this is something that can be taught in Bible classes, but must also be stressed by all of us. --Cerise

I believe this is a problem that will continue to grow. I am looking forward to the in-service on bullying. The damage that is done by Cyber bullying by computers to others is often done and the damage can lead to suicide. This is why we must teach our students to live life in a Christian way and let the students know we are always someone they can count on to help them out of any situation. - Charla

I really like what both of you said. Negative blogging is not really a problem for the kids in my Kindergarten class, but it is awesome to see how we have such a Christ centered faculty that will help mold them when they get to that age. As early childhood teachers we can aspire to set a Christian example and teach them right from wrong as we look at Christ as our example.- Julie

**3. What are your thoughts on the concept that publishing student work for a global audience can lead to more effort and reflective review by the student?** Obviously if the student knows it is being read by a global audience they will be more diligent in preparation. However; students who get in a time crunch will still put stuff out there just to have something turned in and done. I am still wondering the ramifications with how parents would view this. Archie I think that they would be more diligent even if their imput was only availble to their peers at LSA. On the high school level, I would guess most students would be even more interested in a quality product knowing that it would go global. - Norma I think this is great! I had a history project in high school where we had to write a story about the Holocaust and the best stories were going to be published and put into a book. Well it has always been a dream of mine to be published, so I jumped at it and spent more time on this story than any other assignment I have ever had. This even works well with Pre-K. If you tell them that their art is going in the hall so that mommy and daddy can see it, they work much harder than they would if I said it was just going home! No one wants to look bad, so I think having work published is a great idea.-Rachel

**4. Similar to the third grade student in Natalie's New Orleans classroom, what content can your students create that will ad value to the world?** I am thinking with my year long geography notebook project that this could be a digital project that other students could view and respond to with editing permissions. This would have to be thought-out carefully. Archie It would be interesting to have students take turns explaining the day's math lesson in their own words. The goal would be to help students who "got stuck" on the work to have a place to go for help outside of school. I would obviously have to monitor their input to make sure they weren't giving incorrect information, and I would want it protected - available only to our class - to start with. It sounds like I'd have to "jump through some hoops" because my students are under 13. - Norma

Something that would/could be useful, but the teacher would have to monitor it very closely. - Charla

**5. Under what conditions can Wikipedia be a source of information for your students?** Some teachers won't allow Wikipedia as a resource for various reasons like quality control, but I have always found it to be well administered, and valuable for starting research. The Rice AP Institute I attended discussed this and many of the history teachers find Wikipedia a valuable tool for beginning to outline their topic. Like the chapter says Wikipedia is only one small piece of a larger picture. Archie

I think it should be a starting platform for research. I don't allow my students to use it as a source, but they can certainly go there for ideas and links to other sources. I personally LOVE the Wiki Spaces that we are doing now. I can see real value of this for middle schoolers. Archie, I had never considered this a source for beginning an outline -- good one! -- Cerise