Week 9!

Hey guys!


So this week we learned about Voicethread, as well as safe and appropriate technology use.
Lets start with a quick overview of Voicethread, and how it might fit into your PLE! 

Taken From: http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2007/03/06/509870/VoicethreadLogo.jpg

Voice thread is essentially an online slideshow creator. You may be thinking "Hannah, enough with the online slideshows, we JUST learned about Google Presentations in post 7". But! This program goes far beyond your typical online slideshow creator. Voicethread allows you to create and share slideshow presentations, but it also allows you to add in voice recordings, and videos to better assist anyone who is learning from the presentation. It is the ultimate tool for teachers, professors, or anyone trying to teach a subject, when they cannot meet face-to-face.  I have a few online classes, and a few hybrid classes (half online and half in 'real life'), and their power point presentations often fall flat as a result of lack of transferable information that one would receive from person talking. Voicethread bridges that gap, and not only allows the person who created the presentation to add audio, text, or video, but it also allows those following it to do so as well.
For me, this will fit wonderfully into my PLE for school. The use of Voicethread can assist in group projects, and presentations as well. I am hoping that I may be able to use it in the future as a teaching tool for my classes!

Alright, now lets switch gears hear. Part of our assignment was to pick a scenario out of our text book and talk about the appropriate and inappropriate use of technology. So here is the scenario I picked!

'Jamie has persuaded her parents to let her talk to her friends in an online chat room. Many of the people in the chat room are Jamie's friends, but there are some people she does not know. For several days, she has noticed one of these individuals talking to some of her friends. Now, this person is starting to ask Jamie about herself, and what she looks like. Jamie becomes uncomfortable and logs off the chat room. Later that evening she talks to her parents and mentions the person in the chat room and how it made her feel.' (Ribble, 2011) 

This scenario is quite realistic, and often students are faced with similar predicaments. I would like to start out by saying that, while Jamie was not outright using technology in an inappropriate manner, there are things that she and her parents could have done to make it safer for her! 
Jamie's Parents
Descy (2006) suggests that is is vital for parents to talk with their children about their online activities, and this means the parents need to be informed. This scenario seems to elude that by being 'convinced' by their daughter, Jamie's parents sis not know too much about the chat room she was a part of. The second point I'm going to talk about, is not actually a bad one. The scenario said that Jamie went to talk to her parents about how she felt in that situation. This is actually a great example of using technology appropriately! When something goes wrong, its important for children and students to know who to talk to! Descy (2006) suggests that it is important to have regular communication between parents and children regarding online activities, and what has been going on in their digital world! This open communication fosters a safe environment if a negative online experience should ever occur! 
Jamie
Now let's talk about Jamie, and what she did well, and what she could have done better! Logging off when she felt uncomfortable, and talking about it with her parents were great choices! Jamie did not give out any personal information, which is very important (Descy, 2006)! While she did these things well, there are some other things she could have done better. First of all, she was in a chat room with people she did not know. This is generally not a great idea for children. There are many places where you can chat only with friends (ie MSN), by adjusting the settings. This eleminates the potential issues that could arise when talking to people you do not know on the internet. Secondly, while Jamie went to her parents when she felt uncomfortable, it would have been more beneficial if she went to them as soon as people she did not know started talking to her friends. Respect is important in the digital world, and Jamie and her friends should respect one another, and keep each other safe! 
What do you guys think!? What else could Jamie and her parents do differently to insure appropriate use of technology, and safe use of technology? Is there something else they did well? Let me know in by commenting below, and lets get the conversation going! These topics are very important in an ever changing digital world!  

Thanks for learning with me... Digitally! 

~ Hannah



References: 

Descy, D. E. (2006). Keeping Kids Safe Online. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 50(5), 3-4.
Ribble, M. (2011). Digital Citizenship In Schools. Second Edition, International Society for Technology in Education.