Scenario 2: Blocking all Access
After hearing a presentation at a conference, your principal Mr. Smith has
banned all Web 2.0 tools for students and teachers including Facebook, Skype,
YouTube, wikis, blogs, and Flickr. A number of teachers and many students are
upset with this decision but Mr. Smith cites legal reasons for blocking the
sites.
I think first and foremost you should schedule a meeting with your
principal. Let him know that you would
like to talk to him about the decision to ban all Web 2.0 tools. At the meeting you should hear from him exactly
what legal reasons he is concerned with.
You need to let him know that you are familiar with Web 2.0 and are
aware of the possible things that could go wrong. After hearing more about what he learned from
the conference you should try to see if he is open to you showing him a few
things. This would be a perfect time to
show him this blog and all of the things you can do with Web 2.0 tools. (My
guess is that this decision is based on superficial information from the
conference and NOT his firsthand knowledge of what tools are available to use)
If he is at all open to the idea of allowing some of the Web 2.0
tools, you should volunteer to help him set up guidelines for their use. It may be wise to start on a very
conservative side and as things go well then you could open it up a bit. A suggestion may be to allow only teachers
first and then gradually bring it to be open to students (probably older
students first). You could offer to help
with professional development to ensure that the tools are used in a manner
that is helpful to students and their families.
In my experience, these decisions are made due to lack of
knowledge and personal skills. Many
times principals and teachers have never used these tools and they can be very
powerful, which can be very scary! They
do reach more people and they hold the opportunities for the wrong things to
happen if they are not being used the way they are intended. The more you can know ahead of time, the more
you can plan for the ifs, ands and buts of what Web 2.0 can offer.
Scenario 6: Course Management Overload
Ms. Carlson is excited to use Edmodo, a course management system similar to
Moodle with her students. Although
Edmodo isn’t officially supported by the tech department like Moodle is, she is
excited to use it because she finds it much more intuitive to use and she likes
the interface better than Moodle. Ms.
Carlson is vigilant about the privacy settings, has informed her principal and
parents of her instructional goals and objectives. Her students jump on board
and post to the discussion at record numbers. Ms. Carlson is pleased to see
such motivated dialogue on a novel that had previously felt like pulling
teeth. Two weeks into the unit, she
receives a parent complaint. The complaint is as follows:
Dear Ms. Carlson, Mr. Miller, Mr. Hamilton and
Ms. McIntyre,
Although my
son is a motivated and active participant in all of your classes, I am
concerned that the school does not seem to have a unified course management
system. He is using Moodle in Math, Edmodo in English, Schoology in Science,
and Kidblog in Social Studies. Furthermore, all of these sites require
different logins and passwords. As a parent, I am having a difficult time
keeping this all straight and am requesting that the school discuss this issue
and figure out a more streamlined approach.
Thank you for
your consideration,
A
supportive but confused parent
Parent emails can be scary! Luckily
I think this teacher has gone through all the proper channels and this parent
just needs to better understand what is going on. First, I would schedule a quick meeting with
your principal. It sounds as though the
principal already knows what was happening in the class so it is just to keep
them in the loop of what is going on.
Very smart to have their support before you begin! Next, I would schedule a meeting with the
parent. You can begin by thanking them
for the feedback but that you would like to better explain your decision to use
Edmodo and the results you are seeing.
I am a parent so I
can see the point of view of this parent and also the viewpoint of the
teacher. It can be very challenging to
try and stay up-to-date with your children!
You may have good intentions but when they are all different, as in this
scenario, it is challenging and time consuming!
Luckily, this parent is involved, which is the toughest battle, but that
means that they care and want the best for their child!
Once you have some
time to explain how and why Edmoto is beneficial and the steps you have taken
to ensure it is safe, my guess would be that the parent is right on board with
you. They will be supportive, especially
because you are seeing much more participation and engagement with the
students. You can ask them if they have
suggestions on how to make it easier for them to keep up with all of it. That might be something you can bring up to
your school on how to better streamline (without restricting Web 2.0 tools) all
of the ways you communicate with students and families. Maybe you could get all sites linked to one
main website and that would be easier for parents? You may suggest that the families pick one
user name and one password for all sites.
I know trying to keep track of them can be difficult. You could guide them in picking ideas that
make things easier for them.
In my experience,
they more you can educate the families, the more they will work with you. Usually you all have the same goal, which is
to see their students succeed.
