Blurts

YouDiligence – check up on your kids.

a service launched late last year that alerts parents and educators to questionable content on Facebook, MySpace and other social networking websites.

The quote above did not come from the YouDiligence site, but from the way this product was described on TechCrunch. I bolded “educators”. Is this service really encouraging schools to identify their students and have a service search student social sites for questionable activity?

I like what Tapscott proposes in “Grown up digital”. If you are concerned with what your children are doing online, have them eat dinner with you a few times and discuss their online activities. Let them explain to you what interests them. Share your concerns and get a feel for how your children think about these situations. Trust them, but also identify boundaries and get their commitment to tell you if they get into situations that worry them.

Bill Gates gives TED talk

I am not certain I regard Bill Gates as an expert in any area other than the business of technology. His philanthropic efforts warrant great respect.

In this talk he does present his views on education (toward the middle) – How do you make a teacher great? Claims there are effective teaches in a narrow set of places (20%). Teacher prep is weak and is getting weaker. Having great teachers is the key and the variability in teacher quality is immense (unclear this is how measured).

Characteristics of these teachers – not necessarily senior teachers (quality increases for only 3 years), MA/MS does not matter. Says we have done little to study the characteristics of effective teachers (don’t agree). Pushes KIPP. Big on test scores.

Use digital video to identify effective strategies (this was a big push in PT3 – hardly a new idea, but PT3 is gone). I wonder if Northern Iowa still offers these resources.

Bill Gates has also taken to writing an annual letter outlining some of his initiatives. Here is the portion of this letter dealing with education.

The OLPC project has struggled. Some now see it as an educational alternative to the Kindle.

Check this – the scam described in this article ended up making national security news. Wow – we have made it to the big time. The article is a little vague about the North Dakota institution that was involved and it may have happended at other institutions, but it was in play at UND.

Now – from the BBC

The email to faculty members

Urgent! Bogus Parking Tickets Found on Campus Refer Recipients to Virus-laden Web site

Do Not Go To This Web Site!!!

A message concerning bogus parking tickets being distributed on campus that was sent out late Monday contained the URL of a Web site that carries a computer virus. We are resending that message below with the problem URL removed:

Here is the message:

UPD received a call on Jan. 31, 2009 pertaining to someone issuing bogus parking tickets in the parking lot directly east of the ramp. The ticket is yellow in color and states the following: “PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations. To view pictures with information about your parking preferences, go to XX.COM” (URL not used for computer safety reasons)

DO NOT GO TO THIS WEBSITE!! IT CONTAINS A VIRUS! If you visit the Web site and click on the link to view pictures of horrible parking, you will download a virus onto your computer.

Fewer than 25 percent of educators feel comfortable teaching students how to protect themselves from online predators, cyberbullies and identity thieves, says a new study from the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Educational Technology, Policy Research and Outreach (ET PRO).

This from K12 Education.

My argument has been that filtering is not relevant, but education might be. I guess I had assumed educators would have some guidance to offer.

Sometimes issues are issues because they become no one’s responsibility. For example, I talk with my students about how they learned to study as they study. Did anyone offer them suggestions on how to take notes, read and review a textbook, etc. The point is after a dozen or so years of formal education many claim that no one has talked to them about potential strategies. We either assume it is someone else’s responsibility, that such skills are irrelevant, or that everyone knows how and what to do. Maybe this situation is similar. Maybe, like sex, we assume this is a parental responsibility. Maybe we don’t know what to say. Hard to believe that with all of the intervention programs teachers feel unprepared to offer advice. Maybe the programs have been targeting students rather than the educators. Beats me.

I can’t take credit for this one. One of my colleagues has a thing for the history of rock. He put together this YouTube viewing list in commemoration of the day the music died. He does call me Markie (on occassion). The last video is good.

For the kiddies, a little walk down memory lane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UWoDl0PBP8

Of course, the only thing they’ll remember,
but then again, no idea what the song was about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DazyCJNdZ8U

it delivers):  www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5gOEAVNwY