As parents of 21st-century learners, we have a vital duty to understand and assist our children with navigating our increasingly digital world. During TAISM’s recent Middle and High School Parent Coffees, Eleanor Haynes, Paige Spilles, and I hosted a presentation on TAISM teachers’ expectations of Internet use, and how to help our students stay safe while online. Some of the key points that we hope the parents took home with them included:
Students in MS and HS grade levels should only require approximately one hour of Internet use per night for homework purposes.
Higher grade levels have a more variable Internet time requirement depending on current coursework and projects.
When students are asked to use the Internet for research, they are given sites to assist with finding information, or they are given assistance with how to find quality information on the Internet – very seldom are they asked to just “Google it”.
TAISM has a number of online databases available for students to use from home and school; information about these resources can be obtained from the library.
TAISM Library is now available online; the link can be found on the library page of www.taism.com.
Most teachers have (or are developing) a class website.
Students and parents can use TAISMail for communication and collaboration via email, online documents, and websites (all powered by Google Apps).
Parents need to communicate often with their children about what they are doing online.
It is a good idea to have your children help you set up or secure your social networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, as it will initiate a discussion on being safe while using such sites. (Tools can be found in presentations on the websites listed below*.)
Parents need to ensure that computers are in the open, not hidden away in bedrooms.
Everyone should understand that there are “bad things” on the Internet and it is impossible to protect (or filter) against everything; it is better to teach children what to do when they encounter those “bad things”.
Parents need to know what their children do online, who they communicate with online, and the sites they visit online; this is best done as a discussion with you as opposed to “checking-up” after the fact.
Teachers and parents need to teach children how to protect themselves online by using secure passwords, keeping private information private (also understanding what is private), and by not clicking on unsolicited emailed links.
Teachers and parents need to help children understand the different means of communication and how they can be used effectively (or not), including “netiquette”.
Everyone felt that this was a good topic to continue with in the future, and we will look to offer more targeted evening sessions and other open discussions. If you missed these MS and HS presentations, we invite you to join us as we present with a focus on elementary school students at the ES Parent Coffee on January 18th, at 8:45 a.m.
There are some great resources out there for learning about Facebook. Every parent needs to understand social networking and set some rules for their children.
The first step is to start the discussion. You can have your children describe what Facebook is and how they are using it. Jeff Utech stated it well:
The best advice I ever give to parents is one of conversation. On more than one occasion parents have asked me where should they start. My answer is always the same. Start with your own children. Grab a pen and piece of paper and really care about these spaces. Have them walk you through their Facebook account. Try and learn and understand what they do there. If they won’t let you see their account, then you have an issue. Facebook is not a private space. If they are willing to share that information with their friends, they should be willing to share it with you. Have a conversation about what you see. See a picture that upsets you? Talk about it in an adult fashion. Ask the questions:
What do you think this pictures says about you?
Do you know all (number of friends) of your ‘friends?
Can you trust everyone on your ‘friends’ list not to download that picture?
What does that update say about you as a person?
Is that who you want to be known as?
These are just a couple questions that parents can use when starting those conversations with their children…again be open and listen to their responses. Even better advice….have your child help you set up your own Facebook account. This has been the most powerful moment for many parents I have talked to.
Once you have decided to get involved in the exciting and growing community, you will want to review the Five Steps for Parents on Facebook by BJ Fogg. You may also sign-up for a free newsletter or take a free class on Facebook from his site.
Once you are signed up and discussing issues with your children, make sure you set your security settings at a level that you can be comfortable with. Here is a great link for setting your security (also great for showing just where your information can show up).
The title sounds very self-reflective, but this is really a short introduction of myself to TAISM.
I have been teaching internationally for the past 13 years, 10 of which have been spent as an IT Coordinator. I started out teaching Science and Mathematics in Canada for a few years, moved to Cairo with my wife Theresa and continued teaching Maths and Science. After three years at AIS in Cairo, I decided that I would like to pursue my Masters of IT. After a year in Canada, complete with worst ice storm in history, we returned to international teaching. At HIS in Zimbabwe, I led the Technology Dept., building the IT infrastructure and curriculum from scratch. After 8 years in Zimbabwe, we moved to Malaysia where I took on the challenge of assisting the ISKL high school teachers with integration / embedding technology within their curriculum. Theresa and I (as well as our two daughters, Cassandra and Hanna) are now looking forward to moving to Oman and facing new challenges at TAISM.
I believe that technology must be accessible to all students and faculty, it must be working and teachers need support / training with integrating / embedding skills within curriculum. Technology must be used where appropriate and training provided just-in-time. Technology should not be forced where and when it may not be required. Thus, I do not believe in sitting down students or faculty and training them to use a skill they do not need at that time. I do believe in exposing students and faculty to new ideas and methodologies that they may not otherwise come across.
You can expect me to:
be available for team teaching
be available for small group mini lessons
ask the community to use tools they may not have used in the past and train them on their use, of course, just-in-time
guide the goal setting for technology use across the divisions
support the use of technology in the classroom through curriculum and assessment development
lead groups of faculty and student technology innovators
make technology available to students and faculty
plus all the behind the scenes stuff
I will expect you to:
be open to new ideas
communicate and share
Please feel free to comment below or send me an email using my TAISM email account.
This will be an area where the TAISM Tech Team (T3) will post idea’s for integrating technology, great resources and highlight TAISM student projects involving technology. I will start with some introductory material over the next few months, so please come back.
To start you off, here is one of my favorite technology video’s.
