Edubeacon

By now the news of the closure of Al Upton’s MiniLegends student blogging site at the request of DECS South Australia has circulated widely.   As educators, it’s a discussion in which we must all be involved if we are to assist our own school administrators in establishing a position in relation to the use of these public web tools.  It seems that Al Upton followed correct procedure in setting up his blogging project is which involves Grade 3 students being mentored by educational bloggers from around the world in an online writing project.  It was a ‘real world’ project that had the potential to encourage the authentic writing skills. 

Responses to the closure can be read at the Mobile Technology in TAFE wiki which also contains a summary of Tweeter responses and links to associated Internet security documentation. 

I strongly believe that we have a responsibility to educate students in the correct use of these technologies.  A quick pass around the classroom will soon alert you to the fact that, while students are spending a lot of recreational time online, they’re very open to ideas that will extend their use to useful tools with something more fruitful. 

 Al Upton published his students’ photographs and their christian names on the blog, with parental approval.  Kerry J raises the point that every day the printed media and television issues this information without restraint yet the Internet is viewed as onerous.  He perhaps displayed more caution than some other enthusiastic educators who will no doubt be taking heed of this action. 

Hopefully something good will come out of this for all as the policy to date has been quite broad.  School are the ideal environment for students to be guided in the use of these tools but educational administrators must also have a full understanding of the matter so we don’t become bogged down in red tape.  A sample of a school administrator’s reaction.  You never know, this news may even put blogging onto the radar of educators who have no idea about it!