Creative ICT News

Educational Blog Policy

This article caught my eye today:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20411-1799946,00.html

In summary, it cites examples of people who have been suspended or lost their jobs as a result of postings they made on blogsites. It has never been easier for disgruntled employees to vent their spleen online via a blog. I began to consider the implications for schools when, spookily, I came across this article in the TES this week:

http://www.tes.co.uk/2154025

In truth, there is very little you can do about this, other than to be aware of it and its implications. Individuals are protected by libel law, but is there a case for including a clause in your school's Acceptable Use Policy to prohibit the posting of personal and defamatory remarks against an individual or the school? At least that way, awareness of the issue might be raised.

Interestingly, the DfES' opinion on weblogging in schools is that its use is no more risky than any other form of web publishing.

http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/document.php3?D=d77

Conversation with Earl Mardle

I have just had a long conversation with Earl Mardle.

Earl who?

Earl Mardle is an Aussie technology guru who has carved out a name for himself in developing global collaborative projects using ICT. So successful has he been that he is on the jury of the international Stockholm Challenge.

http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/

I have been talking for sometime to Awasu, also based in Australia, trying to get around some of the issues relating to children using blogs in an educational setting. In particular, I was concerned about children posting inappropriate language and that this could be cut off at source by employing a banned wordlist, or by teachers previewing blogs before posting.

Earl's comments were interesting:

1. Using banned wordlists and the like do not stop the posting of inappropriate comment: there are so many abbreviations and acronyms for abusive language - many of which come from txtspeak, that it is virtually impossible to generate a sensible list.
2. If you make the teacher responsible for vetting all postings, who is responsible for anything that was missed?
3. Most of the really inappropriate stuff in blogs is reached via weblinks - which banned wordlists don't check.

Earl's answer is to tackle the problem of inappropriate content in the classroom by peer critique: put up the offending blog; discuss its content; consider who might be affected/offended. In short, help the children understand that their actions on the internet carry consequences.

Earl Mardle's own blog can be found here:

http://www.kn.com.au/

These issues and many more will be tackled at the Creative ICT seminar on blogging to be held on 1st December 2005 in Stockport. Visit the Creative ICT website for details.