We cannot talk about Web 2.0 without addressing the issue of privacy. Many of us have had the experience of talking about a product and then being inundated with ads for that product on our phones. If we are to look for ways to incorporate social media into education, especially on the K-12 level, we need to figure out how to maintain the privacy of our students. I grew up in the era of stranger danger. My parents and I had a safe word in case they needed to send someone to pick me up from school. Houses in the neighborhood had signs in the window that showed kids where to run in case of danger. The internet expands the world, but with that comes the danger of exposing students to people outside of their neighborhood that might not have their best interest at heart. The problem is you can't put all the demons back into Pandora's Box. So how do we tame the demons and make them work for us?
Please excuse my thinly veiled attempt to cover my cursing. I realize that I should use my words better, but to be honest in this case the word is the most appropriate one I could think of this morning. This morning I woke up to this article. https://bookriot.com/florida-teachers-remove-classroom-libraries/ The article discusses how teachers in Brevard Public Schools have been told that they cannot use their classroom libraries this year until they have been vetted by an expert. I thought teachers were the experts! I mean we did go to school for just such an occasion, but I digress. Let's get back to the real issue. I would be remiss if I just read one article, so I went a googling. Here are the other headlines that popped up. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/05/12/florida-schools-stirred-up-over-library-books-textbooks/ https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/15/brevard-schools-discuss-district-wide-library-book-policy-prepare-for-review-pro...
I have this conversation with my teenage children so often, almost to the point they really don't trust social media! Social media can be such a useful tool, but there's always those out there turn useful tools into a means to destroy individuals. It seem to boil down to going back to basics, the "don't talk to strangers" aspect of social media.
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