BBC NEWS | Education | YouTube tackles bullying online

BBC NEWS | Education | YouTube tackles bullying online

Social responsibility from a social site?

Is it the teachers responsibility?

Internet safety: whose responsibility? A teachers' survey  Annotated

The responses received so far have shown that more than 1 in 4 teachers do not teach internet safety to their class. The same number lack confidence to deal with issues surrounding mobile phones, social networking and online gaming. However, the vast majority of teachers who responded to the survey (over 80%) agreed that children should be taught about internet safety from the age of 7. It is vital that we recognise this and do something about it

Information on E-mail storage for schools

Records Management Society - RM Tool Kit for Schools  Annotated

The first review of the Records Management Toolkit for Schools has now been completed and the revised version is available for download free of charge below. A number of corrections have been received since the review was completed. These corrections have been included in this version.The toolkit is available in WORD and portable document format (.pdf). This review has been undertaken with the help of Safeguarding Children colleagues who have guided the Child Protection element of the retention guidelines. We have sought endorsement from the Information Commissioner's Office and DfES and are awaiting their reply.

School blogging

supportblogging » home  Annotated

SupportBlogging! has been set up to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.



"Educational Blogging" is a very positive, transformational technology that is often confused with the use of "Social Networking" sites like MySpace.com. While there are similarities in the web technologies used for blogging and social networking, they serve different purposes. The current backlash against social networking sites has the potential to overshadow the benefits of educational blogging. Hopefully, this site will provide materials for decision-makers as they determine policies for their schools and districts that would impact the use of educational blogging or might potentially restrict access to sites that provide blogging services.

Faster pussycat .......

Broadband hits halfway mark - Broadband & ISPs - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com  Annotated

Ofcom has published a report on the broadband market that claims take-up has reached 50 per cent of UK households.

According to the industry watchdog, the figure rose from 39 per cent take-up a year ago - and now more than 13 million homes and SME offices are connected to broadband.

It is now the norm even for net newbies to go straight to broadband without trying dial-up first, the report found.

Did you know?

The Fischbowl: Did You Know?  Annotated

My administration asked me if I wanted to speak at one of our beginning of the year faculty meetings. I often provide updates on what's new and different with technology in our building and what teachers need to know to get the year started. But this year I'm really focused on staff development and the "vision" of where we should be headed, so I wanted to do something different. I don't know for sure how it is in your schools, but I imagine they are like mine - a faculty meeting is a horrible place to have the conversations we need to have. In addition, since 49 of my teachers are involved in the staff development described elsewhere on this blog, I felt it would be a waste of time - and possibly counterproductive - to try to discuss anything of substance in the faculty meeting.

Blogs in the classroom

Landmarks Class Blogmeister  Annotated

• An interesting comment on educational use of blogs
  
   - post by ictrambling

Perhaps one of the most fascinating tools that has emerged from the Internet cloud in recent years is the Blog. A shortening of the term Web log, the Blog is an online publishing tool that enables people to easily publish their loves, passions, dislikes, peeves, discoveries, and insights.



Blogging came into its own during the 2004 presidential campaign where all of the major candidates sported their own blogs, and every political pundit daily trashed their opponent candidate with blog articles.



But blogging is also showing up in schools, where teachers have known for a long time that students develop better communication skills when they are authentically communicating. A number of educators are helping their students developing their writing skills by having them publish their work as blogs, and then invite comments from people in the outside.



There are many freely available tools that facilitate blogging, but none seem especially suited for the classroom. That is the reason for BlogMeister. This online blogging tool is explicitly designed with teachers and students in mind, where the teacher can evaluate, comment on, and finally publish students' blog articles in a controlled environment.

I blog ....

ICTRamblings - Home

Well that's what it says in the footer of my e-mail accounts. In reality, work and family life seems to leave all the potential posting locked up in my head at the minute. I have now fou

Legal Compliance in Email Monitoring & Email Filtering

Legal & Regulatory Compliance - Email Monitoring & Email Filtering  Annotated

Maintaining Legal Compliance & Reducing Liability Risk

Legal compliance and regulatory compliance issues are quickly becoming a major focus for businesses. UK workplace monitoring laws have now made company executives personally liable for any failings to provide a safe working environment for employees.

Failing to provide a safe working environment can lead to considerable legal liability risk. This requirement covers a wide range of responsibilities.

Employees should be protected from:

• Inappropriate or offensive content – such as pornography, profanity, and lewd language


• Discrimination – by age, race, nationality, or economic status


• Harassment – whether sexual, religious, or bullying

Employees also have legal obligations towards their employers:

• To not defame the organisation or bring the company into disrepute


• To not use company resources illegally, for instance by sending spam or storing illegal images


• To safeguard company security


• To protect confidential data and intellectual property


• To always treat email messages as if they were written on a corporate letterhead - acting in the best interests of the company and upholding company standards

Emerging technologies for learning

Becta Government and Partners - Research - All publications - Emerging technologies for learning  Annotated

Emerging technologies for learning

 

These publications consider how emerging technologies may impact on education in the medium term.

They are not intended to be a comprehensive review of educational technologies, but offer some highlights across the broad spectrum of developments and trends. They highlight some of the possibilities that are developing and the potential for technology to transform our ways of working, learning and interacting over the next three to five years.

Emerging technologies for learning

Volume 2 (2007)

Download the publication Emerging technologies for learning volume 2 (please note this PDF is 3MB and may take some time to download).

This publication includes:

• Emerging trends in social software for education (PDF 470KB, Lee Bryant, Headshift)


• Learning networks in practice (PDF 508KB, Stephen Downes, NRC)


• The challenge of new digital literacies and the ‘hidden curriculum’ (PDF 385KB, Jo Twist, ippr)


• How to teach with technology: keeping both teachers and students comfortable in an era of exponential change (PDF 311KB, Marc Prensky)


• Games in education (PDF 596KB, Keri Facer, Futurelab; Tim Dumbleton, Becta)


• Ubiquitous computing (PDF 866KB, David Ley, Becta)

Summaries of each article are available.

Children film sex on their mobiles

Children film sex on their mobiles-News-Tech & Web-Personal Tech-TimesOnline Annotated

• This again highlights the need for teaching pupils about acceptable use and the need to preserve their digital identity
  - post by ictrambling

CHILDREN are using mobile phones to film each other having sex and are then sending the images to classmates.

Experts say the trend is growing and draw comparisons to the “happy slapping” craze in which children use mobile phone cameras to film assaults on members of the public.
...

Gill Mullinar, co-ordinator of the Sex Education Forum, part of the National Children’s Bureau, said children were computer literate at a young age, increasing the risk they would see graphic images they did not understand.

“What young people consistently tell us is they get too little sex education too late and it’s only about the biology of sex rather than the nature of relationships,” she said.

More shock at YouTube

I've just come across an interesting article on the BBC web site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6226223.stm

School shock at vandal web video

A head teacher has spoken of his shock at seeing a video clip posted on a public website of a laughing pupil hurling a rock at a classroom window.
The shaky 15-second footage shows a clearly identifiable boy grinning as he strides up to throw the missile

What the article doesn't mention is whether this act was caught on CCTV or witnessed by anyone that would have reported the incident? If the answer to these questions is 'no' then surely there is also the positive side to the story: Vandals identified from Youtube video

The school now knows, and can prove, who commited the act as well as identifying two other students that were involved in the incident.

As ever there are two sides to any story - but which one makes a better headline?