Activitiy 9, Fitness Assessment

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.