Conclusions:
Thank you to everyone who participated and added to our weekly cloud activities and discussions. We hope we helped facilitate a deeper understanding about the exciting opportunities and services – as well as the controversial issues – surrounding cloud learning in K-12. The cloud has already been instrumental in cutting costs for businesses and creating more collaborative communication opportunities for its users and we have no doubt that its future uses and delivery will continue to evolve. As well, a summary of the week’s proceedings will be posted later this week so please be on the lookout for it.
The Cloud Team – Avninder, Ranvir, Colin, Jen and Kent – wish to thank you again for your thoughtful and knowledgeable comments and look forward to learning with you in the weeks ahead.
The Cloud Team – Avninder, Ranvir, Colin, Jen and Kent – wish to thank you again for your thoughtful and knowledgeable comments and look forward to learning with you in the weeks ahead.
What is Cloud Learning?
The comments listed by fellow students indicate that they were not truly aware of what cloud computing and specifically cloud learning really is. Through the different polls, surveys and their comments it is apparent that they have learned a great deal.
Poll 1
How Would you rate your knowledge of cloud computing?
Excellent - 11.76% (4 votes)
Good - 23.53% (8 votes)
Average 35.29% (12 votes)
Poor 26.47% (9 votes)
What is Cloud computing? 2.94% (1 vote)
Excellent - 11.76% (4 votes)
Good - 23.53% (8 votes)
Average 35.29% (12 votes)
Poor 26.47% (9 votes)
What is Cloud computing? 2.94% (1 vote)
Quiz Results:
Question 1: Amazon S3 is an example of: IaaS - 71% were correct (15 responses) and 29% were wrong (6 responses)
Question 2: Google Docs/Drive is an example of: SaaS - 82% were correct (18 responses) and 18% were incorrect (4 responses)
Question 3: Developers can create specific applications for the Facebook platform using API;s and can make these apps available to users is an example of?
PaaS: 55% correct and 45% incorrect
Question 4: An example of virtualization is when an operating system is installed on your local computer: False 90% correct 10% incorrect
Question 5: When you run a program in the cloud it uses a lot of your local resources: Incorrect - 100%
Question 2: Google Docs/Drive is an example of: SaaS - 82% were correct (18 responses) and 18% were incorrect (4 responses)
Question 3: Developers can create specific applications for the Facebook platform using API;s and can make these apps available to users is an example of?
PaaS: 55% correct and 45% incorrect
Question 4: An example of virtualization is when an operating system is installed on your local computer: False 90% correct 10% incorrect
Question 5: When you run a program in the cloud it uses a lot of your local resources: Incorrect - 100%
Advantages
Most students were able to relate to the advantages associated with cloud computing. Many examples like dropbox were discussed as well as what cloud computing means for such ideas as BYOD. Some concern was expressed about security issues and where information is being stored.
Limitations
The limitations page addressed one of the biggest concerns which is privacy of student data. BC educators are restricted by FIPPA which places many restrictions on what they can and can't do in regards to cloud computing. This raised a lot of discussion of what is happening in different schools in different areas of the world and how it effects the use of cloud computing.
Poll 2
Have you shared student work or photos on your blog or website?
Yes - 36% (9 votes)
No -- 56% (14 votes)
Unsure - 8% (2 votes)
Yes - 36% (9 votes)
No -- 56% (14 votes)
Unsure - 8% (2 votes)
Poll 3
Is your website/blog hosted in the USA?
Yes - 39.29% (11 votes)
No - 25% (7 votes)
I don't know - 35.71% (10 votes)
Yes - 39.29% (11 votes)
No - 25% (7 votes)
I don't know - 35.71% (10 votes)
Examples:
On the examples page students discussed the pros/cons of different types of cloud learning applications relating it to their own personal experience. Many ideas and information were exchanged and it gave students new possible programs to try in the future.
Which of the following do you use in the classroom?
Moodle - 18.37% (9 votes)
Edmodo - 12.24% (6 votes)
Schoology - 0% (0 votes)
Google Apps - 26.53% (13 votes)
Joomla LMS - 0% (0 votes)
Alfresco - 0% (0 votes)
Twitter - 10.2% (5 votes)
Dropbox - 22.45% (11 votes)
None of these - 4.08% (2 votes)
Other: 6.12% (3 votes)
Which of the following do you use in the classroom?
Moodle - 18.37% (9 votes)
Edmodo - 12.24% (6 votes)
Schoology - 0% (0 votes)
Google Apps - 26.53% (13 votes)
Joomla LMS - 0% (0 votes)
Alfresco - 0% (0 votes)
Twitter - 10.2% (5 votes)
Dropbox - 22.45% (11 votes)
None of these - 4.08% (2 votes)
Other: 6.12% (3 votes)
Future Potential
In regards to future potential there were many different predictions about what the future would hold for students. A lot of this depends upon government regulations which many agree is a restricting factors in certain parts of the world. The overall common theme is that in fact cloud computing will continue and be an integral part of our future as educators.
Adriana 10/10/2012 7:17pmMoney moves the world, and that includes education policy; school boards and education ministries cannot go on ignoring the full potential of cloud computing not only in terms of the tools it provides, but also the savings and ecology. Hence, I predict theses and other advantages of the cloud will lead those involved to finding solutions to the few disadvantages it has because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Reply Jhodi 10/10/2012 9:19pmThe potential of cloud computing in education is just beginning in my opinion. School boards will be tempted to convert with promises of extreme savings and convenience for students and teachers. Currently, I see the issue of student privacy as being one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. School boards must protect its students and parents can be quite worried about this issue. As such, cloud computing will need to develop secure storage spaces for school boards, but at the same time, parents are currently signing consent release forms that clearly state that their child's work could be published to websites with a host outside of Canada and that release the board of liability.
Reply Nureen 10/11/2012 9:25amI believe overtime school boards will begin to remove internet barriers that have been put up to block the use of these programs and the use of them will increase. School Boards and educators are afraid because of privacy protection but the factor is that students are already using a lot of these programs from home or on their phones so it is just a matter of time before they will be allowed to access them from school. An example of this is Facebook. This program used to be blocked on computers at the school I teach at but students would find ways to log on anyway. The site is no longer restricted and students can log in from any computer in the school.
Reply Colin 10/11/2012 9:04pmI see a slow growth in cloud computing in the K-12 system in the next five years. I think that regulations, security, budgets and other issues will keep most schools behind the times. Only once cloud computing is in the maturity stage of it's life cycle can I see schools starting to implement this concept in a stronger way.
Reply Stuart 10/12/2012 9:01amHere in Ireland there seems to be a desire for a more creative and forward thinking teaching. (http://www.president.ie/remarks-at-the-irish-learning-support-association-ilsa-annual-conference-teaching-and-learning-in-the-creative-classroom-st-patricks-college-dublin-friday-14th-septe/)
There are schools that are becoming known for being creative, innovative and technology aware - these are being sought out by parents.
The issue is that the teachers union is dragging their heels on formally integrating new elements for reasons only known to themselves.
As a result I would think that in the school environment there will be a large divide between the high tech and low tech schools. Socially this will create a divide. Cloud based services will be able to lower the barrier of entry for the late comers which will ease the divide in the long term.
In general then cloud based services could help raise the tide of education for everyone - and if it does it could actually be one of the most important pieces of technology of the last number of years.
Reply Paula 10/12/2012 6:43pm
Before looking at this week’s presentation, I was thinking that Cloud computing will widen the gap of the digital divide. After educating myself I came to realize that actually, it doesn’t. It will help remove the digital divide. Instead of investing heavily in infrastructure and purchasing physical servers, software, data center storages, or network equipments, schools buy these resources as fully outsourced services, as we called it Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). We can outsource all the services to giant companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. The IaaS enables the delivery of computer infrastructures as a service via the Internet.
In most developing countries, investing in infrastructure is a big barrier for them because it costs a lot of money and also the technology advances so quickly that by the time they finish building their infrastructure, the technology changes. So they need to spend again for updates or upgrades. Obviously cloud computing requires good bandwidth and high speed internet. However, I have heard that they require less speed and bandwidth because all storage and media data stay in the cloud computer. So the future potential of cloud computing is to reduce the digital divide at least in the developing countries.
Reply Sophia 10/12/2012 6:47pmSaas, Iaas and Paas offer so many educational affordances and educators are now getting on board; but our students have long clued in to these. Our digital natives are only going to become more savvy and comfortable in these environments. I foresee a greater use of these options in the classrooms over the next 5 years.
Reply manny 10/12/2012 7:00pmAfter reading through the many comments throughout the different pages, I cannot ignore the privacy issue that keeps coming up. Cloud technology has so many pro's and the only the main holdback seems to be privacy issues. Is it me, or does there seem to be a correlation between those educators who do not use technology in their classrooms and the concerns about privacy. On one end, you have the districts giving a green light for technology and the encouragement of BYOD. You can't possibly implement BYOD without taking advantage of cloud technology. Secondly, we have millions of people (including students) sharing every aspect of their life on social media platforms from what they ate for breakfast to where they are geographically. If privacy is a big concern, we need to educate students about their use of the Internet as it pertains to their personal lives. The issue of privacy is an important one and of course it would be nice to have our data encrypted on a local server. Until this happens, I am not going to restrict innovative lessons in my classroom because I am worried about what someone will do with my students science project that is located on a server in California. I am pretty passionate about this topic and it seems as though the nay sayers are usually those that are resisting change and simply come up with any excuse to slow it down.
Reply Kent 10/12/2012 7:59pmThe cloud will build momentum, although many issues still exist. I think as people become more aware of the cloud's potential for cutting costs and collaborative learning the good will inevitably outweigh the bad. It was very interesting learning about the restrictions and legalities behind some of the issues dealing with cloud learning, as I work in a private school and we have been using cloud based services for some time, and without too much hesitation from the administration or parent community.
I recently spoke to our Director of Technology about privacy and security concerns and he simply stated..."if the States wants information regarding a student or any citizen for that matter...they'll get it one way or another."
Having been thoroughly immersed in the cloud for some time now I truly believe in its future potential. What business or school doesn't want to cut costs? What teacher doesn't want to give their students more opportunities to collaborate? What parent doesn't want to be connected to their child's learning more? The cloud is here to stay.
Reply Jennifer Barker 10/13/2012 9:37amI believe that Cloud Computing is here to stay and will likely expand and grow exponentially in the next few years. I see a day when all of the programs we use are accessed via the cloud. This alone has great potential for humanity as it allows people to access to knowledge and technology without needing to have expensive devices; people could share devices to access individual accounts.
The ability to collaborate, save costs, and provide accessibility anytime and anywhere are the key advantages that override any limitations such as security and privacy. I believe security and privacy issues still need to be addressed but I am less concerned as from what I have read these past few weeks there have already been many improvements made in this area. Frankly I find FIPPA to be hindering and holding back educators from being able to use outstanding programs. FIPPA is definitely not inline with the 21st Century. It does not reflect the global economy we are living in. It is my hope that our government will realize the potential of cloud computing and will revise archaic restrictions.
Reply Ken 10/13/2012 10:21amI think that the adoption of cloud based services are inevitable. As mentioned in this OER they reduce the cost for schools, IT departments, and users. The concern that many people will continue to have is in the protection and privacy of the individual users and the intellectual property created and stored. Once people become more comfortable with their information and ideas floating around out there cloud services will become more common place. Others may not be willing to adopt these strategies, but as a business Education will have to see that cloud computing saves them money, creates better opportunities for communication, improves collaboration, and communities of learners are more engaged.
Reply avninder 10/13/2012 9:07pmI also believe that the benefits of the cloud are too great to be ignored by academic institutions. Although there are drawbacks to using the cloud for learning in the K-12 system, there are ways to work around them including pseudonyms, firewalls and surveillance. I do not foresee use of the cloud in five years from now to be entirely seamless but I predict that many issues that are currently viewed as obstacles will be either eliminated or accepted.
Adriana 10/10/2012 7:17pmMoney moves the world, and that includes education policy; school boards and education ministries cannot go on ignoring the full potential of cloud computing not only in terms of the tools it provides, but also the savings and ecology. Hence, I predict theses and other advantages of the cloud will lead those involved to finding solutions to the few disadvantages it has because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Reply Jhodi 10/10/2012 9:19pmThe potential of cloud computing in education is just beginning in my opinion. School boards will be tempted to convert with promises of extreme savings and convenience for students and teachers. Currently, I see the issue of student privacy as being one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. School boards must protect its students and parents can be quite worried about this issue. As such, cloud computing will need to develop secure storage spaces for school boards, but at the same time, parents are currently signing consent release forms that clearly state that their child's work could be published to websites with a host outside of Canada and that release the board of liability.
Reply Nureen 10/11/2012 9:25amI believe overtime school boards will begin to remove internet barriers that have been put up to block the use of these programs and the use of them will increase. School Boards and educators are afraid because of privacy protection but the factor is that students are already using a lot of these programs from home or on their phones so it is just a matter of time before they will be allowed to access them from school. An example of this is Facebook. This program used to be blocked on computers at the school I teach at but students would find ways to log on anyway. The site is no longer restricted and students can log in from any computer in the school.
Reply Colin 10/11/2012 9:04pmI see a slow growth in cloud computing in the K-12 system in the next five years. I think that regulations, security, budgets and other issues will keep most schools behind the times. Only once cloud computing is in the maturity stage of it's life cycle can I see schools starting to implement this concept in a stronger way.
Reply Stuart 10/12/2012 9:01amHere in Ireland there seems to be a desire for a more creative and forward thinking teaching. (http://www.president.ie/remarks-at-the-irish-learning-support-association-ilsa-annual-conference-teaching-and-learning-in-the-creative-classroom-st-patricks-college-dublin-friday-14th-septe/)
There are schools that are becoming known for being creative, innovative and technology aware - these are being sought out by parents.
The issue is that the teachers union is dragging their heels on formally integrating new elements for reasons only known to themselves.
As a result I would think that in the school environment there will be a large divide between the high tech and low tech schools. Socially this will create a divide. Cloud based services will be able to lower the barrier of entry for the late comers which will ease the divide in the long term.
In general then cloud based services could help raise the tide of education for everyone - and if it does it could actually be one of the most important pieces of technology of the last number of years.
Reply Paula 10/12/2012 6:43pm
Before looking at this week’s presentation, I was thinking that Cloud computing will widen the gap of the digital divide. After educating myself I came to realize that actually, it doesn’t. It will help remove the digital divide. Instead of investing heavily in infrastructure and purchasing physical servers, software, data center storages, or network equipments, schools buy these resources as fully outsourced services, as we called it Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). We can outsource all the services to giant companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. The IaaS enables the delivery of computer infrastructures as a service via the Internet.
In most developing countries, investing in infrastructure is a big barrier for them because it costs a lot of money and also the technology advances so quickly that by the time they finish building their infrastructure, the technology changes. So they need to spend again for updates or upgrades. Obviously cloud computing requires good bandwidth and high speed internet. However, I have heard that they require less speed and bandwidth because all storage and media data stay in the cloud computer. So the future potential of cloud computing is to reduce the digital divide at least in the developing countries.
Reply Sophia 10/12/2012 6:47pmSaas, Iaas and Paas offer so many educational affordances and educators are now getting on board; but our students have long clued in to these. Our digital natives are only going to become more savvy and comfortable in these environments. I foresee a greater use of these options in the classrooms over the next 5 years.
Reply manny 10/12/2012 7:00pmAfter reading through the many comments throughout the different pages, I cannot ignore the privacy issue that keeps coming up. Cloud technology has so many pro's and the only the main holdback seems to be privacy issues. Is it me, or does there seem to be a correlation between those educators who do not use technology in their classrooms and the concerns about privacy. On one end, you have the districts giving a green light for technology and the encouragement of BYOD. You can't possibly implement BYOD without taking advantage of cloud technology. Secondly, we have millions of people (including students) sharing every aspect of their life on social media platforms from what they ate for breakfast to where they are geographically. If privacy is a big concern, we need to educate students about their use of the Internet as it pertains to their personal lives. The issue of privacy is an important one and of course it would be nice to have our data encrypted on a local server. Until this happens, I am not going to restrict innovative lessons in my classroom because I am worried about what someone will do with my students science project that is located on a server in California. I am pretty passionate about this topic and it seems as though the nay sayers are usually those that are resisting change and simply come up with any excuse to slow it down.
Reply Kent 10/12/2012 7:59pmThe cloud will build momentum, although many issues still exist. I think as people become more aware of the cloud's potential for cutting costs and collaborative learning the good will inevitably outweigh the bad. It was very interesting learning about the restrictions and legalities behind some of the issues dealing with cloud learning, as I work in a private school and we have been using cloud based services for some time, and without too much hesitation from the administration or parent community.
I recently spoke to our Director of Technology about privacy and security concerns and he simply stated..."if the States wants information regarding a student or any citizen for that matter...they'll get it one way or another."
Having been thoroughly immersed in the cloud for some time now I truly believe in its future potential. What business or school doesn't want to cut costs? What teacher doesn't want to give their students more opportunities to collaborate? What parent doesn't want to be connected to their child's learning more? The cloud is here to stay.
Reply Jennifer Barker 10/13/2012 9:37amI believe that Cloud Computing is here to stay and will likely expand and grow exponentially in the next few years. I see a day when all of the programs we use are accessed via the cloud. This alone has great potential for humanity as it allows people to access to knowledge and technology without needing to have expensive devices; people could share devices to access individual accounts.
The ability to collaborate, save costs, and provide accessibility anytime and anywhere are the key advantages that override any limitations such as security and privacy. I believe security and privacy issues still need to be addressed but I am less concerned as from what I have read these past few weeks there have already been many improvements made in this area. Frankly I find FIPPA to be hindering and holding back educators from being able to use outstanding programs. FIPPA is definitely not inline with the 21st Century. It does not reflect the global economy we are living in. It is my hope that our government will realize the potential of cloud computing and will revise archaic restrictions.
Reply Ken 10/13/2012 10:21amI think that the adoption of cloud based services are inevitable. As mentioned in this OER they reduce the cost for schools, IT departments, and users. The concern that many people will continue to have is in the protection and privacy of the individual users and the intellectual property created and stored. Once people become more comfortable with their information and ideas floating around out there cloud services will become more common place. Others may not be willing to adopt these strategies, but as a business Education will have to see that cloud computing saves them money, creates better opportunities for communication, improves collaboration, and communities of learners are more engaged.
Reply avninder 10/13/2012 9:07pmI also believe that the benefits of the cloud are too great to be ignored by academic institutions. Although there are drawbacks to using the cloud for learning in the K-12 system, there are ways to work around them including pseudonyms, firewalls and surveillance. I do not foresee use of the cloud in five years from now to be entirely seamless but I predict that many issues that are currently viewed as obstacles will be either eliminated or accepted.
Additional Information not posted on this site:
Week 6: Cloud Learning – Advantages
More great stuff on your Advantages page! I’m curious about your decision to include so much about iPads. No doubt as to their benefits, and the video highlighting autistic and other special needs children was very powerful. But many of the apps highlighted are actually resident on the iPad once downloaded & installed I suspect, rather than living in the cloud? I know I can still play Angry Birds when I don’t have WiFi access.
More great stuff on your Advantages page! I’m curious about your decision to include so much about iPads. No doubt as to their benefits, and the video highlighting autistic and other special needs children was very powerful. But many of the apps highlighted are actually resident on the iPad once downloaded & installed I suspect, rather than living in the cloud? I know I can still play Angry Birds when I don’t have WiFi access.
- Colin 6:25 pm on October 8, 2012 Permalink | ReplyHi Peggy, I agree that many of the apps that we install these days can be run locally without an internet connection. Though I do believe that cloud computing in general will be a necessity for mobile learning. Many software developers want to move to a system where you log in to their server to use an application. Students can pick up an iPad at school or log on to their computer at home an their information will be downloaded. The video didn’t do a good job of relating this aspect of Mobile learning.
- jenbarker 7:33 am on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyHi Peggy,
Thanks for your comments and getting the ball rolling this week. Next month my class is going to receive a set of iPads for two months. Although my students will be working on many apps that reside on the iPad itself, once their projects are complete we will be using the share button to access the cloud and transfer their digital media to blogs (which I am calling their EPortfolios). So in this respect, cloud computing becomes necessary with the iPads to save student work. I think this is going to become more common as schools tend to be sharing iPads among several students. Therein lays another privacy problem where students have access to each other’s work. - Ranvir 9:16 pm on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyThis is an excellent discussion on use of iPads for project work and then transferring, sharing it on the cloud! Students would be able to progressively develop an ePortfolio as they move on to higher classes.
Jen – Would you mind sharing how the “share” button might work?- jenbarker 7:50 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyHi Ranvir,
The share button is located right on many apps. It allows you share the digital media that you have created to either your facebook account, twitter or email it to yourself. I plan to have my students email it to themselves and then they can move their projects onto their personal blogs.
- jenbarker 7:50 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyHi Ranvir,
- adelpaso 4:11 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI haven’t yet looked at the ‘limitations’ section; however, though I know security is an issue, there are clearly lots of advantages for using cloud computing. In developing countries the cost benefit factor is key, including the savings on energy bills, and making fewer trips thank to online collaboration. I can see how these factors could be of great benefit for school districts or educational boards short on resources and money. This idea of ‘pay as you go’, is also better than spending thousands of dollars on software and applications that soon become obsolete. I think more money should be spent on finding solutions for the security issue; it’s well worth it given the many benefits of cloud computing. (Ben in this group’s blog makes some useful suggestions of how to avoid having problems with security.
- tomwhyte1 7:58 pm on October 11, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI understand the value of the pay-as-you go model, but are educational institutions and classrooms ready for that? As individuals we see the benefit, but a district has significant issues that may impede or hamper this or any adoption.
For example, I have been pushing Google Docs in our district for nearly 3 years, we are now just starting to explore what it might look like, and it is free. Secondly, sometimes tech budget dollars are tied to the purchasing of specific software only, which does not allow other, and maybe more beneficial software from being purchased.
Thoughts?
- tomwhyte1 7:58 pm on October 11, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI understand the value of the pay-as-you go model, but are educational institutions and classrooms ready for that? As individuals we see the benefit, but a district has significant issues that may impede or hamper this or any adoption.
Week 6: Cloud Computing – LimitationsExcellent case study, and very relevant to what I do. Several years ago I wrote our division media release form – it needs revision and it’s great to have the samples you posted. I’ve also recently become my division’s LAFOIP go-to person (LAFOIP = SK version of FIPPA). Hasn’t been high on my list of tasks but will need some attention.
This leads into a recent question from our School Community Councils and Superintendants – what about a FB group page for each School Community Council?? I use FB, but really am not a huge fan. With groups – it’s pretty easy to find pictures & wall postings of group members (or friends of group members) that are not “school appropriate”. Even side-stepping the hosting-in-the-USA issue, which is relevant I believe (as in your Case Study) – how does FB, with its ever-changing security issues – fit into a Candadian school setting? Is there ever an acceptable way to incorporate it?
Peggy
This leads into a recent question from our School Community Councils and Superintendants – what about a FB group page for each School Community Council?? I use FB, but really am not a huge fan. With groups – it’s pretty easy to find pictures & wall postings of group members (or friends of group members) that are not “school appropriate”. Even side-stepping the hosting-in-the-USA issue, which is relevant I believe (as in your Case Study) – how does FB, with its ever-changing security issues – fit into a Candadian school setting? Is there ever an acceptable way to incorporate it?
Peggy
- jenbarker 7:26 am on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyThat is a tough question. If the FB page was under the school’s umbrella, it would need a ton of monitoring as anyone could post something on the page. That said, I like the potential FB offers for the sharing of information. If it were me, I might assign a couple of teachers to the page and have them remove any inappropriate postings. I only use FB personally but I am wondering if there is a security setting that requires all wall postings to get approval first by the page’s owner. That would certainly make it more manageable.
- Peggy Lawson 6:31 pm on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI’m not so worried about new posts to the groups – but it’s easy to a link to anyone who has posted on the group board to that person’s FB page. If they don’t set up security tightly – and with FB rules often changing that’s easy to miss – it’s easy to read that person’s wall perhaps, or see their pictures, and picture comments. You can then follow those links to yet someone else. I can see that it might be pretty easy to catch photos and comments of people who intended no direct connection to a particular group.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for using the Cloud, but interested in several points you wisely raised on your limitations page. Just wondering how others might feel about this specific FB issue. Try it sometime – see what you can find stalking people from groups you belong to.- C. Ranson 6:34 am on October 13, 2012 Permalink | ReplyPeggy, you have raised a chronic issue with FB, or in particular it’s user who do not understand the security aspect, therefore, do not access the securiy option selecting various settings to limit access to others. For those that do, also have to be diligent with ensuring they update their settings as Facebook is continuouly upgrading. I only use FB on a personal level and limit who I accept as my friends, but often wonder about inactivating because so much concern is generated around privacy and what is appropriate. However, then you are not in the loop or current when you don’t engage in all this social media. Just trying to keep up with it is a challenge. I don’t have time to be curious about other people’s lives but fully aware that others certainly do.
Catherine
- C. Ranson 6:34 am on October 13, 2012 Permalink | ReplyPeggy, you have raised a chronic issue with FB, or in particular it’s user who do not understand the security aspect, therefore, do not access the securiy option selecting various settings to limit access to others. For those that do, also have to be diligent with ensuring they update their settings as Facebook is continuouly upgrading. I only use FB on a personal level and limit who I accept as my friends, but often wonder about inactivating because so much concern is generated around privacy and what is appropriate. However, then you are not in the loop or current when you don’t engage in all this social media. Just trying to keep up with it is a challenge. I don’t have time to be curious about other people’s lives but fully aware that others certainly do.
- Peggy Lawson 6:31 pm on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI’m not so worried about new posts to the groups – but it’s easy to a link to anyone who has posted on the group board to that person’s FB page. If they don’t set up security tightly – and with FB rules often changing that’s easy to miss – it’s easy to read that person’s wall perhaps, or see their pictures, and picture comments. You can then follow those links to yet someone else. I can see that it might be pretty easy to catch photos and comments of people who intended no direct connection to a particular group.
- Colin 9:31 pm on October 9, 2012 Permalink | ReplyI don’t think a school district would adopt FB as they wouldn’t have the same types of controls to monitor for inappropriate comments or cyber bullying. Also it is so easy with existing software to just set up your own private social network. I have a private social network set up in my class and I am able to monitor all comments and can easily find anything that I would find inappropriate. I clearly state to students that I would treat any comment on the site as if they said it in class. Research also shows that students don’t want a school social networking site linked to their FB account. They prefer to have it completely separate and in fact they prefer it if teachers aren’t directly involved with the site. It is found for academic sites that peer mentors have a greater impact on an academic social networking site. I think the goal of a district wide site would be for educational purposes which I don’t believe can be realized with FB.
- Kent Jamieson 12:05 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyIt’s an interesting debate, whether or not to allow FB in schools, as our Kindergarten class used FB last year for it’s mode of communication out to parents. Most parents loved it, as they were familiar with the platform and didn’t need to learn anything new. We’re a private school though, and proper channels were explored before the K’s ventured into their decision to go with FB. Now, this year, the parents aren’t as comfortable and only one K class went with FB…the others created a WordPress site/blog.
I think there is real value in FB in schools, as the social networking and collaborative potential is limitless. A lot of LMS’s now are incorporating this FB-like feel to their services. Edmodo and Schoology are two great examples of companies tapping into that potential. - tomwhyte1 8:03 pm on October 11, 2012 Permalink | ReplyIn Alberta, many schools and school districts are currently utilizing Facebook as a means to communicate easily with the parents, My own district, has just started limited experiments to see how it might work best here.
For in the end, yes there is a tonne of other options out there which might be safer than facebook… But is it easier for the mountain (all the people who use facebook) to come to me (my blog), or myself to come to the mountain…
Lastly, if we do not explore, and learn how to properly utilize these and similar tools. We are not meeting our students, or even society where they are at, but forcing them to fit with what makes ourselves comfortable.
As for potential legal issues, if thought is put before practice, and modelling of expectations occur, few issues will arise, and those that do can usually be handled well…
Thoughts?
- Kent Jamieson 12:05 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyIt’s an interesting debate, whether or not to allow FB in schools, as our Kindergarten class used FB last year for it’s mode of communication out to parents. Most parents loved it, as they were familiar with the platform and didn’t need to learn anything new. We’re a private school though, and proper channels were explored before the K’s ventured into their decision to go with FB. Now, this year, the parents aren’t as comfortable and only one K class went with FB…the others created a WordPress site/blog.
- adelpaso 5:54 pm on October 10, 2012 Permalink | ReplyThere are indeed risks of using FB, however it also has many uses. This page mentions but a few, along with some suggestions on how to protect students. (http://mashable.com/2011/04/26/facebook-for-schools/). I feel schools and other educational institutions should inform teachers and students on a regular basis as to how to use the web and social media safely; there are too many useful collaborative tools out there that it is a shame not to use in class.