Qik – a new software application which can be downloaded onto your phone – allows for real-time web streaming of whatever you’d like to capture. This means that anyone else can see exactly what you see as it is happening. The software is being ported for different platforms and will soon be available for the…
An article was published in the Washington Post over the weekend describing one teacher’s harrowing introduction to sexting. As they are known to do, parents and prosecutors evidently jumped to some conclusions and misinterpreted the actions this teacher was taking in investigating and dealing with a case of sexting about a year ago. As a…
As you know, today is the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. It was a horribly tragic but markedly defining event in the history of American public schooling. You can research it on your own, but evidence pointed to school administrators condoning bullying and harassment among students rather than dealing with it strictly…
We have been discussing the issue of cell phones in classrooms a lot lately. Most schools have a clear policy prohibiting the use of cell phones in classrooms and standard practice seems to be “if I see it, you lose it.” Some policies specify that the phones will be confiscated for the day, others say…
You’ve probably heard about the proposed law in New Jersey that would require social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to police their users. This is so frustrating for me to hear, as well-intentioned but oft-misguided legislators propose solutions to overblown online fears. Social networking sites are not responsible for actively surveilling and censoring the…
You’ve probably heard about the proposed law in New Jersey that would require social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to police their users. This is so frustrating for me to hear, as well-intentioned but oft-misguided legislators propose solutions to overblown online fears. Social networking sites are not responsible for actively surveilling and censoring the…
This article from British Columbia refers to a high school principal who bought a cell phone signal jammer from an online dealer in China in order to thwart students from using their phones at school in violation of district policy. First off, hats off to the resourcefulness of the principal in this situation – even though…
Here’s a recent query I received from an educator who I have worked with in the past. I thought her question and my response would be of interest to others so I am posting both here. Does your school district have a policy regarding cyberbullying or Facebook? How about cyberbullying on Facebook? Question: “The reason…
Recently, we’ve received calls and inquiries about “sexting” and the Jesse Logan case, and so I thought we’d discuss the matter here. For those looking for an official definition, we characterize “sexting” as “the sending or receiving of sexually-suggestive or explicit text or pictures via one’s cell phone.” Anecdotally, it seems that the phenomenon is…
A teenager from New York has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, four high-school classmates who used the site to harass her, and their parents. Specifically, two boys and two girls created a Facebook group called password-protected “90 Cents Short Of A Dollar,” in order to “hold [her] up to public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Content…
A teenager from New York has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, four high-school classmates who used the site to harass her, and their parents. Specifically, two boys and two girls created a Facebook group called password-protected “90 Cents Short Of A Dollar,” in order to “hold [her] up to public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Content…
More and more school districts are passing policies that forbid teachers from interacting with their students via social networking web sites. We have written about this before, but the movement seems to be gaining traction. This is a slippery slope and a challenging issue for all involved. A policy recently adopted by the Elmbrook School…
