Response to Lippincott E-Connect

As I read this article I thought back to an experience last year at our High school where students in an English class had created a blog to discuss one of the books for the class. What was interesting was from the perspective of my discipline, mathematics, it appeared to be a creative discussion of the classroom literature. I was somewhat impressed that the students were taking time to talk about the material outside of class and online. Unfortunately the students use of this venue became somewhat abusive. Things were said online, some considered to be inappropriate. All discoveries, the good the bad and the ugly were disclosed with the parties involved. It was hurtful and scary to some of the teachers and administrators involved. I remember feeling the urge to talk about what had happened as a staff. We were prohibited to have an open discussion. This article iterates that students are already so well equipped to communicate on-line. We need to be promoting and demonstrating appropriate use. That is our job. A too quick response in some cases is to eliminate instead of embrace. So what can I do to support appropriate use of on-line materials? I need to be open to the discussion with our staff and administration and library specialist to invent ways to explore these databases in Math class. I need to become knowledgable of the variety of ways to recieve and disseminate material. Students need frequent exposure to try , in some cases fail and then get better at their research and communication. It is difficult for some students since they do not have the easy and ready access to online resources. We as a staff need to have the discussion to create opportunities for the students to use the technology on and off our campus. We will ultimately better prepare our students for their future no matter where that may be.