Scenario+A

Scenario A: Elementary Language Arts Blog
Your fourth grade class has been blogging for about two months now. They have shared several writing projects on their class blogs, including revisions of some short stories with illustrations. To protect your students’ identities, all students use only their first name and first letter of their last names (e.g., Kayla F., Joseph R.)

Your students have commented on each others blogs, and a few parents and other teachers have added comments as well. Your students have become accustomed to this feedback from your internal audience. Today, one of your students, Aaron, asked you about a comment on his blog. Someone complimented him on his story but Aaron doesn’t recognize the name. You review the comment and the link provided, and it appears to be someone from Canada doing educational research. Aaron asks what he should do next.

He was absolutely correct in recognizing that the "compliment" was different than those he has received during the last two months from the school's internal audience.
 * 1) I praise Aaron for showing responsibility for his online safety.**


 * Perhaps we should also ask Aaron to show us the comment. We go to a computer and evaluate the response together. Perhaps we even ask the class to view it together, maybe post it on the overhead. It is important for students to recognize the "dangers." What made Aaron feel it was an unfamiliar comment?**

//Maybe we should also contact his parents. First, we could pass on praise for Aaron's awareness and for his courage to come forth about the post. Second, we could inform them of the parameters we have set up on the blog but that despite that security measures put in place sometimes things like this happen. It would be easier to take these proactive steps rather than dealing with any negative response that might arise from the parents in regards to the matter.//

Since most of my students will turn 10 during this school year, I must be thoughtful about how I set up such social networking sites for educational purposes, given the young age of my students. I have to check: did I give out the name of my school or its location, so online predators would easily be able to find out about Kayla, Aaron, or Joseph? The researcher may be legitimately studying elementary blogging sites, but how do I know that for sure? I made an error when I set up the blog without a comment moderation feature. I will rectify this situation over Thankgiving break, by creating a new class blog for which I am the moderator, approving all comments before their publication. One such blog host is [|Class Blogmeister]
 * 2) As a teacher, I realize I have set up the blog incorrectly.**

//This is where reflection and networking is key. I should discuss with other educators, in person and online, about blogging. In doing so I could find out what I'm doing right but also learn of other possibilities to improve the overall experience. Obviously in this situation I would really want to focus on security. Maybe there's another forum or format that I could look into that would provide my students with the same experiences and give me the assessments I'm looking for in a safer more secure environment.//

Should we try to figure out who this "Canadian educator" is before Aaron responds? What kind of research could we do? Given our [|NetSmartzKids] training at the start of the year, who could this person possibly be? What do we know about the Internet and the ways people use it to communicate? How do the fourth graders feel about this unexpected development in their blog? Should we stop blogging for now, until we can find a way to do it in a more protected manner? Or should we do some research into the identity of this person, and if the information checks out, respond and see what happens next?
 * 3) As a class, we brainstorm our next step in Aaron's shoes.**


 * Students should not be afraid to go online after this incident. We know that just like in the human world, dangers lurk in cyber world as well. We have to teach students that recognizing and reporting dangerous strangers is an essential skill. In fact, it may even be a good idea to ask a few parents to pose as "strangers" simply to see if the students would recognize and more importantly report that information in future situations.**

//We could also take a little time to teach the students what to do in the case they run into a dangerous stanger. How much interaction should they have with this person? Who do they tell? What consequences could a dangerous stanger face? What consequences could a student face with interaction with a dangerous stranger? This could be a discussion with a police officer or whoever is in charge of technology use at the school. We may even want to include parents in on the discussion.//

If I have not done so, this event provides a teachable moment for all of us. While I sent them a note at the beginning of the school year, explaining that I had never done this before, I think it is important for me to contact them again, to explain how I will be improving the blog over Thanksgiving to enhance security. I want to introduce my students to blogging in a safe online environment.
 * 4) As a teacher, I hope I have prepared my parents in advance for possibilities such as this.**

//Also, did I inform the students' parents about their child's participation in the blog? In doing so I could have informed of the security measures I had taken to protect the students (training, not using their full names, not mentioning the school, etc.) and let them know what type of tasks they would be completing. I should have requested their permission to participate and tried to resolve any concerns of any parents that were otherwise opposed, and then provide those students a different way of completing the assignments.//