My impressions
My impressions after viewing the Russell Street School blogs
As a parent, I would have loved to have had access to this living documentation of my child’s educational experience. What a great way to stay connected to the happening of the school environment! I could imagine sharing it with family members who are not geographically close. Working parents who may not have the opportunity to participate in school activities could feel a part of the school community with such blogs.
I wondered about student safety. Posting photos, names, and the location makes me nervous. As internet safety is a huge part of my curriculum, I was surprised by the blogs lack of security. On one post I saw a child’s name and number. Anyone can access it. I was hopeful to see the school was moving towards School Stream possibly a more secure communication system. I briefly browsed the new system and was able to read notifications however I did not see the vast amount of photos or student work shared on the Russell Street blogs. In our district, we have a policy regarding photos and videos taken in the classroom and shared. It is a parent’s choice as to whether or not their child may be photographed or in a video. We have had many parents choose not to have their child photographed or in videos usually due to custody issues. I am curious to see if Russell Street School has a similar policy.
Another thought after viewing many of the grade level blog entries was when does the teacher have time to work on their classroom blog. Taking photos and videos of class activities can be time consuming. The writing on the blogs was minimal but I wondered if the teacher read every post on the entries. I wondered if the classroom teacher controlled what students posted. I also noticed the blogs were not regularly updated. This infrequent posting could be to the time maintaining such blogs requires.
I hadn't thought of the safety issue. It does seem odd that I can spy on children from across the world. I noticed the lack of frequency in some classrooms as well and agree that the amount of effort that it takes to continue this activity may have been more work than some thought it might have been worth. I wonder if any classes have opted out or if they all maintain a blog.
ReplyDeleteI think if it were a choice many teachers would spend their time with the 1000's of other things they juggle in a day!
DeleteI agree with your comments! The pictures and information do seem to be a privacy and safety issue, and I also noticed that the blogs did not appear to be regularly updated. I wonder if there is a way that someone at the school could have release time, or if each teacher could have releases time, to keep the blogs updated?
ReplyDeleteThinking about my own school and our schedule-I know there isn't any time we could designate for updating blogs.
DeleteThe safety issue is definitely something I thought about too. In my district the parents have to sign several documents involving internet safety and the Acceptable Use Policy. They can refuse to have their child's picture taken or used. In my last two years at the school I have not had any refuse, but it is always in the back of my mind. I did not see the student's name and number, but that is definitely something to think about changing. One thing that Google does though is you can set it to only allow for people who have your school's gmail address to access the page. This would help with safety. It would not make it as easily accessible for the parents, but they can be individually accepted and/or just have their child log in and show them. Since Google Sites was one of the platforms this school uses, they could utilize this safety aspect.
ReplyDeleteThe safety issue is a concern, I do wonder if there are sites/software that would allow students to create private blogs that are only shared to people who they want to share with or that would limit exposure to only those with a code for access.
ReplyDeleteThat would be great if the blog sites had that option. Some of my hesitation in blogging is the amount of people that could potentially see it. The names is definitely a concern.
DeleteI loved the overall concept the school is striving for. I saw on their main school blog that they were moving to a more secure communication tool, so I wonder if student privacy was a concern for them doing it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw they were moving to School Stream...I wondered if the safety and digital citizenship played a part in that transition. Hopefully they will find a safer way to continue!
DeletePhilomena :)
Geri,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing when you commented that you wish you had this type of communication regarding your children growing up. I feel the same way. WOW! It would have been nice to see my kids, their friends, and how the teacher is progressing through some of the materials. That would be a great communication tool!
Great post!
Philomena :)
I would have loved to have this blog at my children's school growing up. I think that It's great to see the work and current projects that the classes are doing. The security is an issue and I think that there needs to be password protected content. I hope that the teacher is given appropriate amount of time to curate the class blogs. I wonder if they are given professional development time whee they can work on moderating and providing feedback to the students.
ReplyDelete