Week 3 Technology Reflections

Now that there are endless opportunities for students to publish their work online, there are some important considerations to consider. How do we as teachers manage the flow? Are we merely the gatekeepers of posting students' work, allowing everything our students produce to float out for public inspection? Is that even the point? I think that teachers need to manage online publishing in much the same manner as conventional writing. In other words, teachers still need to teach students what to say, how to say it and when to say it, and how to respond to feedback about what they produce (November, 2010, p.44). The important difference is the audience is much more vast, and in many cases, anonymous. So teachers need to model for their students appropriate, safe and respectful ways to communicate on the Web. By establishing their own Web sites, wikis and blogs, (November, p. 44) teachers provide themselves great opportunities to show students effective ways of getting their ideas across and encourage their students to do the same. I also think that starting cautiously, especially for younger grades is important. For instance, creating a class wiki with some password controls (November, will keep initial student work within the bounds of the classroom until they, and the teacher are prepared to send the work out to a greater audience. Perhaps, gradually branching out to include parents and family members, then other classes in the same school, etc.