Thank you for posting this. We are doing a parent education workshop on June 13th at our school. This interview has not only helped me focus the message(s) but it also is the single most intelligent discussion of social networking I’ve seen yet. I intend to distribute copies at the session (I will request for permission to do so) and make it required reading.

While there is a lot to comment on, the one thing that strikes me is an analogy between personal PC monitoring/surveillance software and district filtering systems. These are technological “solutions” that don’t actually address the root problems. Let’s face facts: sadly, it’s easier for some people to install a piece of software than it is for them to have a meaningful conversation with their child … just as it’s easier (and perhaps less expensive) for a district to install a filter than it is to develop and implement a comprehensive internet safety curriculum.

I am extremely fortunate to work in a district that “gets it” in a community with parents who are largely now also “getting it.” Our workshop will hopefully keep things moving in the right direction.

The ‘governing philosophy’ near the end of the document (five points) is extremely powerful and in itself quite enough for some adults to digest in one sitting.

I’ll close with this thought. Ronald Regan is widely (mis)quoted as having said “Trust … but verify.” (See: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan). To me, that is the real benefit of monitoring software in the home. You should HAVE the conversations with your kids and EDUCATE them as to the dangers, TRAIN them how to be safe online … and then … TRUST. But also VERIFY!

-kj-

I can’t help but ponder how social networks can be used to better the student-teacher relationship. Dual accounts come to mind, one teacher one personal, but why must we do this? What are the privacy issues under the surface here that keep us from feeling comfortable about participating in social networks with our students?

If one keeps a distance from students in a social network by not befriending them, how does this hurt or help their relationships with adults? How can discouraging an “add me” request, something students place very high value on, encourage or perpetuate an adverserial relationship between students and teachers?

Finally, I think we are an extension of the classroom into a social network space simply by our mere presence. As such, we could be quick to say that our actions online could hinder us in the classroom. But what if we were to look at it as our classroom reflecting upon the social network, that our actions in the classroom bear a positive weight by being encouraged to grow online by simply adding friends?

Thanks to Will Richardson for posting a thoughtful essay on the continuing controversy about MySpace — with a link to a great Q&A with Henry Jenkins (who is one of the reasons I have a fond space in my heart……

Now that I’m getting closer to teaching, and starting to substitute teach, the collision of my personal life (which includes a MySpace site) and my professional life (which includes teaching middle school and high school students, many of whom have MySpace sites themselves) is starting to get interesting. I had a student I was substitute teaching last week ask me if I knew what MySpace was, and I said that I did. He asked if I had one, and without thinking through the consequences fully, I said that I did. He immediately asked me if I would addd him as a friend!

After giving it some thought, I come to the conclusion that there’s no way I put myself in that position, so I won’t add the student as a “friend” in my MySpace list. My thinking is that doing so would imply a relationship quite different from the teacher-student relationship that exists already. My personal site, and that of my record label, exists as publicly accessible information and, since anyone could view them, does not imply any relationship.

Still, it’s tricky ground, and I have a feeling the issues surrounding it won’t get any easier.