Do students feel safe blogging?

When I was recently asked to write an article on safety, one of the questions was whether students felt safe using the web2.0 tools. So, I asked Grade 6 students a question on whether they felt safe blogging. (Students have had a class blog for 8 months and individual blogs for 2 months)

Here are some of their replies:-

• I am very careful, and I make sure I never write anything too personal about me. And instead of using pictures of our selves we use vokis, weemees, and avatars.I feel safe because we are always reminded to not use our last names and we can talk to all our friends and our teachers. Also because our teachers regularly check all of our blogs and leave comments.
• Because we don’t use photos and teachers remind you not to do some stuff.
• Noone has said anything bad about my blog.
• We don’t put our personal details and photos
• Nobody really annoys us and if they do we can delete them.
• I do because we dont write anything to personal about our selfs and we dont use pictures we use vokis weemees and avatars.
• I feel safe as I have not given out heaps of information about where I live.
• I feel safe because I haven’t used any of my information, last name or pictures .
• Because i haven’t given heaps of info about where i live. I use Avatars instead of photos

Keeping students cybersafe!

As we are pioneers in cyberspace, cybersafety is a concern that is being refined and evaluated all the time - trying to balance transparency with privacy, allowing students some freedom, yet protecting them and ensuring their safety at all times.

Students complete posts in classtime but many find it so enjoyable, they post at home keeping a running journal, adding multimedia and producing online digital portfolios.

Here is what we have done in our classrooms this year, in relation to cybersafety:-

• Watched videos on cybersafety, consulted various online sites (see suggestions) and hold ongoing classroom discussions.
•  Constantly reinforce the need for safety during class eg no surnames, no addresses/phone numbers and other personal details to be placed online.
•  Students create their own avatar using MS Paint or use other avatar creating websites  This becomes their personal “photographic ID” for blogging purposes, voicethreads and other online sites. (See the image of a global voicethread below for some of the grade 3/4 avatars.)

• Parents sign permission forms agreeing to publish student work online , online photographs, on the condition that no names are attached and group photos to be used where possible.
• A folder and checked lists are kept to enable us to ensure these conditions are adhered to.
• A partnership with parents is essential, so an information evening with grades 4-6 parents was held early on in the year, outlining the pedagogy for the use of blogs and other web2.0 tools and outlining cybersafety issues. A “techno corner” article appears weekly in our school and community newsletter.
• Parents are encouraged to ‘adopt’ a student who may not have the internet at home. This ensures all students may get comments even those whose parents do not have internet access. Again, there are many watchful ‘eyes’ (both parents, staff and community) on our students, to alert us to any impending problems or issues.
• We have a great staff and many of them voluntarily read student posts and comment on them, including our principal. So students are aware that they are constantly being monitored.
• I have joint administration rights with my students on their blogs, so comments and posts can be edited if need be and comments and incoming links moderated.
• Jess McCulloch, our LOTE teacher, a techno savvy person and I are currently applying RSS feeds for each student’s blog to our google readers, so that we are alerted to any new posts that students put up.

Here are some further activities we will do:

Further parent info evenings or invite parents to  classes so they can see what their children are doing.
Add links on our blog sites outlining cybersafety protocol.
Produce a form for Students to sign in the presence of their parents alerting both parites to correct internet protocol.

Further interesting reading and links:-

10 digital rules

Additional postscript: It is only when you hear of Al Upton and the possible consequences that online work can bring, that it makes you even more aware of trying to keep our  students as safe as possible, and that wonderful tool of blogging intact and ongoing. However, we can never guarantee they will remain 100% safe, but  we can give them the skills, and education in the classroom to assist in coping with the dangers and surprises that may lurk out there

Do you have any suggestions or comments to add here?

Postscript: I found this wonderful comment by John Pearce in my spam (would you believe) but would like to add to the body of this post for some further great advice.

Hi Anne,

Nice list and ideas. Another suggestion we have used is to include a page with a set of rules to all of the student based blogs we set up eg http://leaemibps.globalstudent.org.au/ There is a copy of the rules in Word format at http://johnp.wordpress.com/tutorials/

“On a slightly related tack we also asked our students to consider the issue of copyright by directing them to http://mrpbps.globalstudent.org.au/copyright-4-kids/ and then write a page on their blogs in response. Despite most students composing some reasonable responses to the task, many still were fast and loose with images. .”

The fear factor cyberballs!!

It was with great dismay that I read another disappointing comment on my “Oz teachers mailing list” in Australia. A request had been made re the use of blogs in primary school education, and one of the replies is as follows:-

 I teach Early Childhood ( are there any other ECEs out there?)  and have
just been advised that my blog will need to cease, as schools are being
advised to withdraw photographic content from online communication. I have
photo permission from all families. I found this quite sad.  It was a very
valuable, interactive ‘document’ for many. Shirley

Only educators who have tried and are using blogging with students and have experienced first hand the wonderful benefits and outcomes that blogging brings can even start to understand the absolute devastation that these Al and Shirley must feel.

This comes almost  just over a week after Al Upton was asked to cease his blogging with the Mini Legends. An interesting article on online predators can be found at http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2008/02/questioning_the_notion_of_onli.html would not support the overreaction to blogging, especially to the danger that strangers may represent. (I have already written posts on the wonderful, positive reasons for allowing students to blog.)

However, I wonder, will we continue to ’see the world through the eyes of predators and other minority unsavoury characters’ and force our students to learn independently the traps that may be out there waiting for them, or will we stand up and fight for our children and students, and teach them how to live in a rich and rewarding global world giving, them the knowlegde and ‘know-how’  for avoiding, protection from and dealing with such ill-characters, should the need arise. Many of our students are already using these web2.0 tools at home and we must prepare and instruct them for this world that they live in and for future digital citizenship that they will all experience in the future.

I would urge the ‘powers that be’the various departments of education, to discuss with those of us who have trialled and are using blogging to ensure that drastic requests for closure are not made, but rather procedures put in place, to protect this wonderful educational tool that we are experiencing. Collaboration is part of our technology now.

“Let’s embrace this as an opportunity to promote the value of blogs and online learning generally. …… there is enormous value and potential in celebrating our voices.” Al Upton

Australia is the lucky country, and I am still lucky to be in Victoria as so far, our department continues to be interested and supportive of the new emerging technologies.