MySpace Means No Space for Studen-Teacher

A federal court rejected Stacy Snyder's argument that her MySpace page is considered free speech and should not be used to dismiss her from a college teacher-training program. A high school Snyder was student-teaching out had complaints about professionalism and content knowledge but asked she be dismissed after seeing a MySpace page which had pictures of her drinking and posts critizing her supervisor. Because Snyder was dismissed from the student-teaching program, she could not complete the requirements for an education degree. Because the judge considered Snyder's position with the high school more an aprenticeship rather than an educational pursuit, the school was within its right to dismiss Snyder over the MySpace page. Also, it probably did not help that Snyder told her student about the page too.

I always tell students two things about the Internet:

1. Don't post anything you would not want you mama to see.
2. What goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet.

ARS Technica article

Too Much Information or Not Enough

An ARS Technica article tells about a Ohio Education Association (OEA) memo recommending teachers to not participate in social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook. The reason given is to keep any possible inappropriate postings from being used against teachers by administration or parents which could jeopardize careers. Another reason given by the OEA is to make sure there is no question if students post fake sites in an attempt to embarrass teachers. A third reason is students using these sites to contact teachers could be considered inappropriate contact even if the site is considered professional.

While it is commendable for the OEA to take these steps to protect is members which is one of the purposes of the organization, this position is too drastic. What the OEA should do is sponsor workshops and in services to educate teachers about social networking and how they work. These workshops could include information on appropriate use, how to spot fake sites and what to do when one is found, and how they can be used for professional development and networking. Social networking sites are being used by professionals to network and share information with other professionals more and more. For teachers to not make use of these professional opportunities is short sighted.

Digital Voice? Who Should Be Listening?

Deneen Frazier Bowen led a preconference session at the South Carolina EdTech Conference entitled Engaging & Involving the Digital Mindset - Student Voices which was another talk about how today's students think differently than most teachers because of the impact of technology on personal lives. Ms. Bowen further talked about a generational disconnect greater than any in history and how students view the world around them through the use of technology and Web 2.0 applications. Most everyone here at the conference will agree with what Ms. Bowen said and then take the message back to their schools. I did this last year when I saw David Warlick give basically the same talk. Some teachers back home will even buy into this notion. However, this will really make little difference because the one group of people that needs to hear this message is parents.

The other day a couple parents called my school complaining their children accessed MySpace at school. I really don't know if the kids did or did not get into the social networking site. Yet, I am almost certain these kids are sneaking into MySpace because their parents have forbidden its use at home. School administrators are likely to defer to defer to the parents partially because they don't totally understand the technology themselves and, in administrators' minds, more important battles to fight. Deneen Frazier Bowen did tell us if parents forbid technology in their minds is a waste of time or dangerous then children (who view technology as necessary for daily life) will begin to hide their activities. This is when it hit me that someone needs to start explaining to parents about the technology their children are using to foster better understanding which will, hopefully, lead to more responsible use.