Some rights reserved by YellowFilter

Collaborative, reflective projects are things I enjoy. They provide the opportunity to look at how and why things are done and then step back to see what would work best for a given situation. COETAIL Course Two gave me the chance to look at our Acceptable Use Policy as well as those for other schools.

Things I noticed while looking at A.U.P.s for both international schools and schools in the States…

• sometimes they are broken down by grade level – ECE, primary, upper grades, MS, and HS
• some appear outdated referencing things like digital bulletin boards
• some are very negative – all “Do Not”
• some pose things in a positive light – “I will…”
• many are very long

I worked with two other teachers (both at the same school), sharing some examples I had found and reading through their draft. My biggest suggestion to them was to rephrase their policy into positive language, which they did. (I am not naming them because they don’t know what is coming next and may not want to have anything to do with what I am about to say.)

After all of this reading and reflecting, collaborating and sharing, something wasn’t sitting right with me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I was on a COETAIL, Big Marker, ‘conference call’ in which Jeff Utecht made a comment about how nice it would be if the A.U.P. just said, "Do No Harm".

Wow!

My brain has been churning on it ever since. That is exactly the kind of A.U.P. I envision. I have sat down several times to finalize my proposed A.U.P. and write this post, but it doesn’t make sense to me.

• Why can’t it be about making good choices?
• Why do we have to spell out what all of the possible choices are?
• Aren’t we trying to encourage thinking?
• Don’t we want students to have to think through their actions before they act?
• What if some new technology appears during the school year that isn’t covered by the A.U.P.?

So, if anyone wants to use it, here is my proposed A.U.P. (I am sending this link to my new principal.)

Make Good Choices.

(Consequences available for poor ones.)

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My personal use of hyperlinks has drastically increased over the past 8 months as I started my writing blog.

I have kept a personal / family blog of photos since we moved overseas.
That blog has been pretty straight forward. (Sorry, you don’t get the link.)
I post pictures.
People look at them.
Period.

 Some rights reserved by Kristi Lonheim

When I was contemplating creating my own blog (other than pictures) I started paying more attention to the blogs I was reading. I began to realize that blogging has its own formatting ‘rules’.  Hyperlinks are a part of this.

I noticed that people were linking to sources whenever they could.
I observed people sharing related conversations to enlarge the discussion.
I appreciated bloggers who took the time to link to Amazon for books.
I found communities that regularly shared with one another.

I spent time lurking. (I’ll admit there are still a couple blogs upon which I only lurk.) Once I made the jump to writing my own blog I took on the responsibility of sharing my sources, joining conversations, and linking ideas with hyperlinks being a primary avenue.

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A few years ago I started sending out our yearly letter only via email. (It is not a Christmas letter, rather an Easter letter. Long story that would be a huge tangent here.) This year I hyperlinked my letter. Why not? I was able to link to photos, blog posts where I further flushed out my thinking, or additional information. Why bog down the letter turning it in to pages, but also why not offer the information for those that were interested?

Through these COETAIL courses I have learned more about embedding items within my blog and am now comfortable messing with simple HTML code. I have added video and Google Docs (including scroll bars). I think about the easiest way for the viewer, the person I am sharing with, to access the information I want to share. This pondering takes into account both layout and the size of files. (Perhaps next year’s letter will be subjected to videos of my daughter.)

What is the point of hyperlinks? I believe it to be two-fold. One is to give attribution. I need to be pointing back to the places I get my information, ideas, images, etc. The other point is connection. Part of the blogging world is about building community. By linking, the conversation and community can grow.

I think I have made the jump to hyper speed hyperlink. Are you with me?

Some rights reserved by George

Note added:
I published this post and headed to bed only to realize the irony of spending the evening contemplating hyperlinks and then forgetting to publish my weekly “Inspired to Link”. This is another way links have become part of my life. There are so many ideas I am compelled by throughout the week, but not necessarily writing about. I started my Sunday, “Inspired to Link” as a way to share some of the things I come across and allow them to inspire you as well.

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Danah Boyd’s article, "Bullying" Has Little Resonance with Teenagers, really hit home with me. She points out that students often don’t think of the situations they are experiencing around them as "bullying". The term reminds them of elementary school and the kids who gets picked on just because they are different. It becomes a question of semantics. If kids don’t relate to the word ‘bullying’ then why are we using it?

The CyberSmart! curriculum has many well laid out lessons, but if we are not talking the same language are we really teaching our students anything. Especially in the realm of Digital Citizenship, if it isn’t relevant to their lives students students are not going to engage with the material. Sure, they might complete the tasks we ask for, but it is simply busy work for them. We must find a way to connect with our students and help them deal with the issues they are actually facing.

Our students text. Our students chat. Many of our students (even the under 13s) have FaceBook accounts. What are we doing to help them learn to navigate these parts of their lives successfully?

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Tara Parker-Pope wrote about the struggle in her own family in the article, "When Dad Banned Text Messaging". She points out that, though she wondered about the meaningfulness of her daughter’s 100 texts per day it was the messages her daughter received that stopped her in her tracks.

"That’s when I learned about the mean-girl texts, the ones no one would have the nerve to say to a person’s face but are easy to send from one nonconfrontational phone to another."

So, we don’t call it ‘bullying’. Perhaps we don’t even name it. We explain situations and ask students if they can relate to what we are describing. I guarantee you they have either been directly involved or on the fringe of a conversation that has occurred because someone was mean to someone else via cyberspace.

Once we have shown students that we understand their world they will be more likely to hear what we have to say. Just as we had to teach them, when they were younger, to go directly to the person (taking an adult when needed), to use "I" statements, and to realize that they don’t have to be friends with everyone, but they do have to show respect for everyone, we now have to transfer these lessons to their digital interactions.

Are we taking our role seriously?

How do we teach about copyright when we live in a society that completely disregards copyright altogether? We have a man who comes through our compound on his bicycle every week to sell the copies of the latest pirated DVDs. He comes to your door, rings your doorbell, and sees what he can entice you into buying. This happens throughout the Kingdom.

Some rights reserved by left-hand

Does that make it OK? Since there is no cinema here and no other way to see current films does that make it OK? Illegal copies of DVDs (movies and software) is probably the number one connection my students have to copyright laws.

Oh, and books. Books? Yes, books. If one person has a great resource they often let someone else borrow it in order to make a copy of the entire book. Or you have found something you would like your students to read. Why not make photocopies for the entire class?

These are the practices that drive me crazy as they do not set good examples for our students. If we teach copyright we also need to live it. You have heard that actions speak louder than words and it is true. People will only buy into what you are saying if it is also what you are doing. (This is why we also model reading during silent reading time and write in front of our students. They need to see it done.)

Copying images from the web is not any different here than anywhere else. If people don’t understand the rules they can’t play the game correctly. That is one of our jobs, to teach the rules. There are different sources for images that have Creative Commons License. We probably each have our favorites, but here is something I learned reading Bill Ferriter’s post "Using Google Docs to Create Digital Kits for Student Projects". "When you search for images directly in Docs, Google ONLY returns images that are licensed for reuse and modification." One more great source for images. (The main idea of the article, Digital Kits, is worth considering as well.) Still not sure about it all? A free, no string attached bonus reference regarding copyright and fair use for online images is here.

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Back to our discussion. Why does it matter what the copyright laws are since I am in another country and only the United States seems to care? First of all, other countries do care. Second of all, I teach all kinds of things seen the U.S. filters and you might too. Measurement, history, holiday traditions, among other things are taught primarily as if we were in the States. Why shouldn’t we help students be aware of copyright practices as well?

Wesley Fryer’s article "Copyright questions and answers about iTunes, Podcasts, and Fair Use" attempts to answer the question about playing music for a school assembly. This is something that I have done on different occasions, but I am always sure to purchase a legal copy myself prior to playing it publically. How does this pan out in the land of sand?

Saudi Arabia Copyright Law states in Chapter Four: Lawful Use, Article 15: Exceptions – "The following uses of the copyrighted work, in its original language or in translation, are lawful without obtaining the permission of the copyright owner. These forms of use are: 

#8 Music playing, acting, performing or showing any work, after publication, by government troupes or public corporate entities or school theatre, as long as such playing, performance or acting does not lead to direct or indirect financial gains."

Some rights reserved by emilyamimu

So, at least while I am in Saudi I can continue to let my kids dance to a song during their final elementary assembly or play that perfect tune to accompany their promotion ceremony slide show (I just don’t get to give them the music along with the images when I present them with a digital copy on the last day of school.)

Since we are looking at Saudi law let’s revisit the DVDs and books.

Chapter Six: Provisions of Infringements and Penalties, Article 21: Infringements Covers both. Regarding copied DVDs it states it is illegal to make or import the equipment to create the copies. It is also illegal to import the copies. (#7 and #9) Pretty straight forward. For books, number eight clears it up saying that it is not OK to copy or photograph parts of a book without written consent (unless it is short passages or quotes).

Pretty clear in my book.

Privacy online? I don’t really think it exists. Yes, there are things you can do to try and ensure that your banking information, etc. is kept confidential, but I don’t think the fact that you bank or shop online is kept private. Those who are true computer whizzes can find out most anything, if they really want to. Like I have said before, I think it is up to each individual to put forth a positive online ‘footprint’. Your shadow will still be there for those who go looking.

One more piece to be aware of is the fine print of ‘privacy policies’. If you don’t stop to read the entire document you know what you are really saying ‘yes’ to. And, companies change their privacy policies. The article "Beware: the Internet could own your future", by Hasna Najand, talks about being "vigilant" in keeping up with privacy policies.

Some rights reserved by nitot

To top it all off, you are not the only one who controls your digital footprint. If someone else tags you in a picture or mentions you online there is little you can do. Even if you ask them to remove a bit of content it can still be cached and available.

Privacy offline is another matter. People who want to live truly private lives need to stay off the internet, not donate money, or be active in their community. These are ways in which one can stay truly private. Those choices have to be balanced against the quality of life one would have. I don’t believe it is worth it.

Some rights reserved by Î’ethan

The world is getting smaller. Technology has always helped us to be more connected. Steam powered ships and trains followed by cars and airplanes shrunk travel times just as the internet makes communication more accessible. It also makes it possible for us to have instantaneous conversations that span the globe. Having an online presence is part of this shrinking world we live in.

The biggest question I have pondered regarding one’s internet presence is in regards to having a digital footprint. Should we have one?

That isn’t really the question. You have one. The real question is how much control do you choose to have over it. This is something I spent a good chunk of time wrestling with and wrote about here.

My conclusion? A positive digital footprint is a good thing.

If it is good for us, why not for kids?

In an article out of Educational Leadership titled Positive Digital Footprints William M. Ferriter says,

While schools are teaching students to worry about the consequences of being found online, (Will) Richardson is worried about the consequences for kids who can’t be found online.

He is not saying open the flood gates and encourage students to do anything they want online. Rather it is our responsibility to show them where the pitfalls may be. Then, once students have a firm understanding about the good, the bad, and the ugly, we need to encourage them to start their online presence so they can begin to establish their own positive digital footprint.

Lisa Nielsen’s take can be found in her post Why I Let My Kids Have an Internet Presence. She says,

The way I see it, there is risk in everything we do. We put our kids on school buses every day without seat belts.

So why not a digital presence? She even lets her own children, "first and last name and everything".

Digital Footprint? Yes, heard of it. Digital Shadow? Now that is a new one. (A dark thing? Like in A Wrinkle In Time?) Sarah Perez in Calculate Your "Digital Footprint" with New Tool from EMC says that a digital shadow is all of your digital information generated about you. This information is generally passive, as opposed to your digital footprint that you play a direct role in putting on the web.

Your shadow includes things like images of you on a surveillance camera, your bank records, your retail and airline purchase records, your telephone records, your medical database entries, copies of hospital scans, information about your web searches, general backup data, information about credit card purchases, etc.

Not the kind of information you want broadcast to the world. So now that I have come to embrace my digital footprint it is time to wrestle with my digital shadow. How do you feel about your shadow?

Thumbs up photo: photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47749773@N04/6617077543/">briannaknt</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Shadow photo: photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameliatwu/4073991160/">CameliaTWU</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

Will Richardson in his article World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others talks about online collaboration. At one point he says,

"Likewise, we must make sure others can locate and vet us. The process of collaboration begins with our willingness to share our work and our passions publicly."

This brings up the notion of privacy online. Once I finally decided I was willing to part with my money in order to participate in COETAIL I was eager to get started. As soon as the video posted, showing us how to get ‘in’ to the COETAIL community, I was revving to go. And then I stalled out as we had to choose our username and blog URL and won’t be able to change them.

How public or private did I want to be? I pondered and stewed and then sent Jeff Utecht an email.

Hi Jeff,

Here is the discussion I want to have: How much privacy should one keep with their digital footprint? The place I would love to have it would be within the cohort, but I can’t get there until I choose a username and then I have made a decision one way or another. I read the first few chapters of Reach to see if you shared any insights, but since you didn’t you are getting an email.

Until now we have taken the stance that private is always better. I have Googled myself and I know you can find out all kinds of things, including who my husband is. If you then Google him you can figure out what school I am at. (He is an administrator and you can’t really keep that off the web.) I never use his or my daughter’s names when I blog. I am also careful to never put up security risk type information.

I am ready to ponder a more open username for public use. I started looking at the blogs I follow to see if they use their full names and most do. I understand the benefit of future employers being able to find my thoughts, etc.

Has there been a shift from ‘keep everything as private as possible’ to ‘sharing ideas under your true identity is a good thing, just don’t give them your S.S.#’?

That is the gist of my ponderings. Any thoughts?

Kristi

Thankfully he wrote right back…

Great Question Kristi!

We’ll continue to talk about this throughout the program.

Has there been a shift? Absolutely…as sad as it might seem…there is no longer such thing as privacy. There hasn’t been for awhile….we just pretend there is.

He then pointed me toward a blog that quotes an article called "Nine things that will disappear in our lifetime". Jeff prefaced my read by saying,

Privacy is one of them…and I would argue it’s already gone.

The article has privacy as number nine on the list.

"If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That’s gone! There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits."

If people want to know where we are at any given point ‘they’ have the ability to find out. (And actually have for more than 20 years.) Even the ‘average’ person can discover quite a bit with refined online search skills. Perhaps the shift for us ‘normal’ people is taking this idea by the virtual horns and owning it rather than pretending it isn’t so.

So if privacy is gone or is going away then we need to learn to live in public. Which means you take control of your profile on the Internet by putting your stuff out there full name and all and as sad as it sounds almost "promoting yourself" but not in the "I’m cool" kind of way. More of the "I’m here", kind of way. (Note: This idea is further flushed out in Reach, Chapter Two under Growing Your Professional Network.)

Now as a teacher…you’ve been public for a long time anyway. You are a public person…not in Hollywood public but in the sense that you interact with a lot of people. Kids, parents, community and because of that I feel teachers are at a bigger risk then many others about being "slammed" on the Internet. The last thing you want is the community controlling your profile.

So….jump in with both feet! Get your name out there, build your profile. After all if you’re not in Google do you even really exist?

Jeff

That last bit really got me thinking. (No, not the do you really exist part, before that.)

"I feel teachers are at a bigger risk then many others about being "slammed" on the Internet. The last thing you want is the community controlling your profile. "

Below is a great infographic from kbsd. The bottom of the graphic addresses strategies to keep your ‘e-reputation’ under control. The first point is to take charge and set it yourself.

So it is no longer simply about a great defense, but the game has been changed to require full coverage offense as well. I think that is the winning argument for me. It is still going to take time for me to completely come out from behind my usernames and pseudonyms, but I have been convinced it will be for the best.