Is there going to be any censorship of comments? I could write that "Marc is a dope and we should hit him". Would that be uploaded without any comment?
yes, we'd be looking to mediate comments.
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No, seriously, after this post I'm going outside...
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Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
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"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
Are the parents onboard? Signed waivers? Apart from privacy, there's safety to consider...
I perhaps am a bit sensitive on this point of late, as my wife and I have received threats (kidnapping, extortion) here in Mexico. We've determined that the ridiculous amount of detail they had on our lives came entirely from my *very* public online presence (I was blogging about my PhD experience here - photos, places, names, dates... everything). I'm now very much restricting what I post online, and my facebook privacy is jacked 'waaayyy up.
Are the parents onboard? Signed waivers? Apart from privacy, there's safety to consider...
I perhaps am a bit sensitive on this point of late, as my wife and I have received threats (kidnapping, extortion) here in Mexico. We've determined that the ridiculous amount of detail they had on our lives came entirely from my *very* public online presence (I was blogging about my PhD experience here - photos, places, names, dates... everything). I'm now very much restricting what I post online, and my facebook privacy is jacked 'waaayyy up.
That's amazing, CM. Still, I think that your word of caution is well founded, especially for young children to post online in a public blog.
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Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
My initial reaction to this query was very much "is this really in the children's best interests at this stage of their development?", but I didn't think it would be an appropriate response (the OP had just asked for software, not social comment), so I didn't hit 'enter' at the time.
I'm glad to see the discussion has gone this way, though.
I'm not opposed to children having computers (my own daughter had my MacPlus and was playing Reader Rabbit long before she hit Kindergarten), but I am concerned about the 'social' aspect of this, especially longer term effects of peer pressure. There is a lot of pressure on kids to grow up more quickly, and a lot of societal pressure for 'sharing everything' in a public forum.
I realise that the world has changed, and we are in a digital age, but I think children should progress at their own pace, not the pace their parents, teachers, or peers dictate. Is this a 'parent' initiated venture, or 'child' initiated?
If my daughter were in this class I would have many many concerns about the readiness of the children to participate meaningfully in this forum. Let them be children. Let them learn, and sometimes fail, and be all the things they need to be, without having it all 'public' for their classmates to see, either now, or, more importantly, in the future.
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"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
My initial reaction to this query was very much "is this really in the children's best interests at this stage of their development?", but I didn't think it would be an appropriate response (the OP had just asked for software, not social comment), so I didn't hit 'enter' at the time.
I'm glad to see the discussion has gone this way, though.
I'm not opposed to children having computers (my own daughter had my MacPlus and was playing Reader Rabbit long before she hit Kindergarten), but I am concerned about the 'social' aspect of this, especially longer term effects of peer pressure. There is a lot of pressure on kids to grow up more quickly, and a lot of societal pressure for 'sharing everything' in a public forum.
I realise that the world has changed, and we are in a digital age, but I think children should progress at their own pace, not the pace their parents, teachers, or peers dictate. Is this a 'parent' initiated venture, or 'child' initiated?
If my daughter were in this class I would have many many concerns about the readiness of the children to participate meaningfully in this forum. Let them be children. Let them learn, and sometimes fail, and be all the things they need to be, without having it all 'public' for their classmates to see, either now, or, more importantly, in the future.
MLeh raises some valid concerns and good points.
I suggest to my students that they have interactive journals in a classroom, which are written in by hand by each student. The teacher reads these journal entries and replies with a comment and a question. Nothing is corrected,but any misspelled words are used in the teacher's reply, spelled correctly.
For the use of computers, I suggest the creation of a class newsletter. These are printed out and shared by all in the class/school.
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
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