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Problem / Rationale:
This statement is written to address misunderstandings about risks when using weblogs (“blogs”) and group‐edited pages (“wikis”) in the classroom with students.
Solution:
In the continuum of social networking resources on the internet, blogs and wikis are common tools available on many websites. Books and articles have been written about the instructional uses of both blogs and wikis, and many teachers in Gwinnett County Public Schools have attempted to create blog and wiki resources for their classrooms.
The current practice within GCPS is that all postings to blogs and / or wikis MUST be reviewed by the
teacher PRIOR to posting.
If these tools are used in the classroom, they must be managed carefully by the teacher to ensure that appropriate comments are posted. Many blogs have a “moderating” feature that allows the teacher to approve a submission prior to posting for the whole class. Wikis, however, rarely have this feature (if at all), and extensive online research has not produced any wikis that can be moderated prior to posting. Both blogs and wikis can notify the teacher after a posting is made, but it appears that only blogs can be moderated prior to the posting. At this time, with wikis, the risks are greater and there are no effective ways to manage those risks. The teacher, along with the student, will be held responsible or accountable if data, identity, or information due to wiki use is harmful to students. As with other applications, student data must also be protected. Many of these web resources are owned by another company with no guidelines on the protection of the data on the blogs or wikis. If you are considering using a blog in your classroom, please work with your school’s technology team to identify an effective way to restrict blog access using non‐identifiable data. Prevent access for nonmembers, and use non‐identifiable profile information for participants if appropriate.
This statement is written to address misunderstandings about risks when using weblogs (“blogs”) and group‐edited pages (“wikis”) in the classroom with students.
Solution:
In the continuum of social networking resources on the internet, blogs and wikis are common tools available on many websites. Books and articles have been written about the instructional uses of both blogs and wikis, and many teachers in Gwinnett County Public Schools have attempted to create blog and wiki resources for their classrooms.
The current practice within GCPS is that all postings to blogs and / or wikis MUST be reviewed by the
teacher PRIOR to posting.
If these tools are used in the classroom, they must be managed carefully by the teacher to ensure that appropriate comments are posted. Many blogs have a “moderating” feature that allows the teacher to approve a submission prior to posting for the whole class. Wikis, however, rarely have this feature (if at all), and extensive online research has not produced any wikis that can be moderated prior to posting. Both blogs and wikis can notify the teacher after a posting is made, but it appears that only blogs can be moderated prior to the posting. At this time, with wikis, the risks are greater and there are no effective ways to manage those risks. The teacher, along with the student, will be held responsible or accountable if data, identity, or information due to wiki use is harmful to students. As with other applications, student data must also be protected. Many of these web resources are owned by another company with no guidelines on the protection of the data on the blogs or wikis. If you are considering using a blog in your classroom, please work with your school’s technology team to identify an effective way to restrict blog access using non‐identifiable data. Prevent access for nonmembers, and use non‐identifiable profile information for participants if appropriate.