21apples

The Real Truth About Teens and Online Social Networks

Posted by arvind s grover Thu, 17 May 2007 02:06:32 GMT

For the past few years I have been educating students, teachers, administrators and parents about the “realities” of online social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc). For the past few years, I have been wrong. Well, somewhat wrong, anyway. At the encouragement of law enforcement, the media, and other responsible adults, I have feared for the safety of the young women I educate. I was concerned that the details they were sharing online put them at risk for predation and victimization. My main concern was never really their physical safety, as that was such a minute possibility. I was mainly concerned about their futures, their college admissions, their job opportunities, but mainly, the possible humiliation they faced by the wrong people viewing their profiles. In that way, I was right.

Last week, before Congress, the four foremost experts in the country testified to the reality of online youth victimization. Every law enforcement person I’ve heard, and most educators I’ve heard have been wrong. The truth, according to the experts: 1) teens who post information online are no more likely to be victims of sex crimes than those who don’t 2) of all the statuatory rape in the U.S. last year, 7% of victims met the perpetrators online, the rest offline 3) parent education does not work.

There are many more important facts pointed out, so watch the hour and twenty minute testimony. It is the most important professional development I have had in the last few years. I can’t recommend it any more strongly. Original video here, transcript here, or YouTube video below. A post to follow will be on what type of education we need to do for/with our students. Your suggestions would be much appreciated.

technorati tags:MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Bebo, safety, online, education, students, teachers, parents, danah boyd, David Finkelhor, Michele Ybarra, Amanda Lenhart, Tim Lordan, Congress, victimization, myths

Blogged with Flock

4 comments | 1 trackback

9th Graders Discuss Their Laptop Program

Posted by arvind s grover Sun, 13 May 2007 21:01:22 GMT

After reading Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops in the New York Times on May 4th, I decided to use it as a discussion piece with my technology classes. I teach in a K-12 girls school in New York City with a 1:1 laptop program in grades 8-12. I wanted the students to respond to the article using their own experiences as students in a laptop school. A colleague at another school, Bill Campbell, suggested I record this discussion. The audio below is 1 class of my 9th grade answering a series of questions from me. As you will hear, I did not suggest any particular answers, but asked them to speak freely.

If you wish to use this audio, please let me know. Since it is a broadcast of a school class, I would like to let me school know where it is being used. Contact me at arvind [at] 21apples.org.

technorati tags:laptop, 1:1, New York Times, Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops, article, schools, education, technology, podcast, audio, students

Blogged with Flock

4 comments | no trackbacks

Dropping Laptop Programs

Posted by arvind s grover Thu, 10 May 2007 01:14:13 GMT

The New York Times article Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops has been getting a lot of attention in the EdTech blogosphere. I have been using the article as a discussion starter with students. Both sections of my 9th grade tech class, and the one 8th grade section I teach have had lively discussions on the article.

We started by identifying the main reasons cited for dropping laptop programs: cost, bad behavior using the laptops, technical support difficulties, and no proven educational benefit.

Then students were asked to critique the rationale reported on in the article. Most students argued that there were many holes in the arguments. Mainly they used their own experiences as students in a 1:1 laptop school to counter the reasoning. The one that seemed to frustrate them most was the lack of proven educational benefits. Almost every student said the laptop has helped them in their student lives, and had testimony as backup.

The students could actually barely finish reading the short article because they were so incensed by the writing. They immediately wanted to counter each sentence they came upon. Afterwards, they explained that their urgency was because they were afraid we would listen to The Times and get rid of our laptop program.

I am an ed tech evangelist much of the time, but when I think about it, it is rarely to/for students. It is for teachers, for administrators and for parents. It was quite a breath of fresh air to hear students voicing why they want laptops in their school.

One student: “They make it seem like walls are crashing down in laptop schools. Why don’t they come see our school to see how well it can work? I think we use laptops perfectly.”

In related news, this week we interview Lorrie Jackson from the Laptop Institute on 21st Century Learning. Tune in to EdTechTalk.com to listen to the episode.

technorati tags:education, laptop, laptops, New York, New York Times, 1:1, Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops, K-12, K12, students, future