teaching children to use the tools wisely and at appropriate times will expand their capabilities. I have a blog for school that will have linked 86 students in the communications academy together. I explained it is not a my space site. We examined all the methods of literacy students engage in daily. Then I pointed out that each has an underelying code of attitude and voice. they know I cannot control their antics on myspace, but they know the ethics of propely blogging – I made them link to the journalist code of ethics and blogging site. They made a complete acknowledgement of our purpose and mission. Man has many tools, some men abuse them while others do not. The tech tools of today should be embraced, harnessed and tapped into to assist our students with the world they face.

By the way, any chance you are speaking at Chautauqua Institution the last week in June? The theme is media and ethics. IF you are, I will arrive a week early to hear you!

You’ve made a convert. Being a district admin, I am initially cautious of new technologies that may tax an already overextended system… but you’ve proven that the cost is far outweighed by the benefits.

I am surprised that there are not more comments on this post. Is it a matter of innovative education providing the legislative bodies of state government with meaningful classroom examples, or is it a matter of us, the educators promoting these tools, learning how to play the political game more effectively? Why are we trying to alter the course of the river, let us learn how to navigate this river and have it work in our favor.

I think back to the days of the Vietnam anti-war movement. Although there existed a minority of the population who spoke out against the war, there efforts were highly organized, highly visible, and their perceptions were highly effective in changing the political culture of our nation. Shouldn’t we as educators promoting these tools, look to become a highly organized and visible force in our political culture, using traditional modes of the media to form the base of an educational movement that marks 2007 as the “year it all changed”?

I recently watched the Dateline special this past Tuesday: To Catch a Predator. I love that series and believe that it serves the parents of our nation well, but doesn’t it possibly construct a false perception about the tools of social networking? Why don’t we attempt to piggy-back on the cultural awareness Dateline has created, and mobilize the talents of those educators who have embraced this technological path in education, and look to create a platform similar the NBC program, with a productive educational spin.