KBH's Page

While I am one of the greatest proponents of Web 2.0 tools and their benefit in the classroom, I do have to be ever so mindful of the pitfalls that come along with it. It is great to be able to communicate almost instantaneously with someone from another part of the world, especially when doing research or trying to get an opinion about something, but there are hazards involved when used improperly. The case in point is the increase in cyberbullying. Many young people see the Internet as the way to get their instant fame. They can easily post photos or video of themselves doing all kinds of things. The Internet "conversations" usually lead to some physical altercation either in school or in the neighborhood. Many of these kids don't even realize that they are implicating themselves in crimes when they post videos of an assault. They only think it is a "cool" thing to do and they believe it will garner themselves a certain amount of respect. As educators we also need to be aware that many of the videos that are posted have school settings (classrooms, bathrooms, etc) at the backdrop. Then there are the privacy matters to deal with. If a parent is trying to legally keep another family member away from their child and now that child is plastered over the Internet with identifying information, what kind of liability does that open the school up to? We need to be extremely careful. The new technology is great and allows us to do some wonderful things, but we also cannot turn a blind eye to the potential hazards.