Journal 3 -Keeping the Peace-NETS IV & V

Levinson, M. (2010, February). Learning and leading with technology. Keeping the Peace, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201002#pg1

    From this article I was able to see the pros and cons of the problem presented with the laptops at Nueva School after laptops were given out to students.
Students started using IM that came with the laptops all the time, in and out of school. They also used ichat, which was video chatting. Parents became alarmed with what their children were doing in their laptops and felt that the schools did not let parents give an opinion about these laptops being given out to the students.  Teachers also were becoming frustrated because students were chatting during class. All of these frustrated people turned this into a big debate about what to do about this problem. A decision was made by the school and they decided to ban ichat on the school laptops. Many students were unhappy with this decision so they started doing student council speeches and petitions. Some parents were glad because they still did not know how to handle this technology and how to teach their children about appropriate use of these programs. Some parents were angry at this decision because they saw ichat as an opportunity for kids to socialize and one believed it broke the “clique” boundary. The school’s problem with the ichat programs in the laptops was that the academic purpose of the laptops was lost and that it had sadly turned into a social networking tool for students and that was not what they had wanted at all. After this while debate the school now has various workshops and trainings for students, teachers, and parents so they can all learn how to use these technologies appropriately and what they are all about.

What would I have done differently than the school? I believe I would have banned ichat and IM during school hours so that the students can focus on their academic work. After school is a whole different story so I think students should be able to use them, but it is the responsibility of the school and parents to talk to these students about appropriate use of these programs.

If I were a parent what would I do to prevent my children from using programs inappropriately? If I were a parent I would set limitations to the usage of the laptop and IM programs. I would talk to my children about the problems they could encounter when using these types of programs. I would have them do their homework first and then set a time for them to be able to IM with their friends. I would try to monitor what happens in their IM conversations and whom they talk to. I think every parent should take responsibility to talk to their children about the do’s and don’t’s of these programs. If some parents don’t know much about technology maybe they can research and learn about it so that they can know how to approach these problems.