Web 2.0 Interview

Background Information:
I chose to interview Dr. Kate Hough. She is an English Literature teacher at my high school and is well liked by her students. Katie is highly regarded for incorporating new technologies into her classroom. She is a firm believer that all teachers need to be lifelong learners to keep up with changes in education and preparing students for future success.

Question #1: Deciding which Web 2.0 tools to use with students
I attend as many summer/technology sessions that the district offers as possible. I usually learn about new Web 2.0 tools through the summer workshops. I found out about Powtoon through a summer workshop and loved it. It focuses on making boring presentations more interactive and interesting for the students. I found out about Prezi through a graduate course I took at Immaculata College. Each student had to do a presentation about a new form on technology and at the time, Prezi was brand new. Kids really seem to like the graphics better than PowerPoint, which seems very old and outdated now. Google Docs was introduced through the school as well and the librarians really emphasized the usefulness of this program. I have found it to be incredibly helpful for my course content. I was introduced to each of the programs I use; I did not "find them" on my own.

Question #2. Obstacles to overcome gaining permission
The students are able to create and use many of these programs through the school's licenses for the programs. They are able to publish their work on class wikis because of the district Responsible Use Policy. I do not publish student work on a site that is not protected so passwords are necessary to see any and all work. In terms of permission via copyrighted material, the students are taught through various library lessons how to obtain pictures and information through copyright free sites. If they choose to use copyrighted material, all of that information must be documented and cited (we teach them how to do this as well). Because of the Fair Use in Education laws, we are able to use a certain amount of copyrighted material provided it receives proper documentation.

Question #3: Advice to teachers attempting to incorporate Web 2.0 tools
For many of my projects, I have gone through a trial and error process. I create step-by-step instructions for the students so I offer this information to interested teachers as well. I show examples of my projects to see if teachers would like to do something like this with their students. I always direct interested teachers to people who can help (the librarians, IT, etc.). I also explain what I tried that didn't work and how I changed it so the teacher can learn from my mistakes.

Final Thoughts:
It is obvious from my interview that Katie is a dedicated educator. She tirelessly prepares to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into her courses. I found it very interesting that all of the tools Katie uses were introduced to her by others. This is an important component to consider with so many Web 2.0 tools to choose from. I believe it is an efficient method as well when selecting appropriate technologies. It also seems important to have a “network of resources” in order to be successful with incorporating Web 2.0 tools. Librarians and Information Technology staff are valuable colleagues to help with the process. Finally, I believe it is important for educators to take risks and not be afraid of making edits to their lessons. A successful teacher will always reflect on what aspects of their lesson went well and what aspects need to be fine-tuned for future implementations of the same lesson.

JAMES_u01a2.doc

     In simple terms, the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law that requires school districts to provide guidelines to prevent school age children from gaining access to offensive material.  The law was enacted in 2001 as a direct result of the popularity of internet use in education. 

     Technology and internet usage has increased exponentially in my school district over the course of my career.  It is now used, to some degree, in every K-12 classroom.  Hempfield School District adopted their first Responsible Use Policy in December 2006.  The Director of Technology revised the policy in 2009 to reflect several changes associated with social media sites and addressed the issue of cyber-bullying.  The document is rather large (eight pages) and covers a broad range of technology related items.  It covers some areas in detail but is vague in other areas.  For example, “Exemplary behavior is expected on “virtual” field trips, collaborative videoconferences,        and when visiting locations on the Internet”.  I feel that the term “exemplary” should be discussed in more detail.  Overall, the policy is thorough and I believe does a good job covering CIPA laws.

     Staff in my school district cannot override the internet content filter on their own.  This change has occurred in the past two years in the district.  If a staff member wants to use a site that has been black listed, they must complete and online “Tech Ticket”.  This involves creating an online ticket that lists the web site along with a justification as to why it should be white listed.  After submission, the Information Technology staff review the ticket and either white list or deny the web site request. This process can take anywhere from one to three business days.  Many staff members view the procedure for overriding a filter as cumbersome and very time consuming. I tend to agree.  Educators have enough responsibilities during a typical workday.  As a professional, I feel that I should be given some degree of latitude in determining appropriate and educational web sites to use in my classroom.  This is especially true of many Web 2.0 sites now available to educators and students.  This train of thought parallels the CIPA language and seems to be an appropriate alternative.  CIPA states that authorized personnel may have the ability to white list web sites for educational purposes.  This change in our policy would ease a lot of staff frustration in this matter.

Creative Commons License

My rationale for choosing  a "share alike" and "non-commercial" license was to allow others to use my work for educational purposes but not for monetary gains.  I think it's important to allow others to share my work for the good of all but do not feel that someone should gain financially from my work.