#9 Fitness Assessment

I could see many of these scenarios being possible.  As excited as we all are to jump into the school year using this new technology we need to remember to take precautions against these.  Also, it should be a discussion at a school level.  Thanks counselors for sharing hazards, privacy settings and precautions along the way. 

Scenario 3: Anonymous Blogging

While the convenience of an anonymous blog looked good at the beginning, Ms Gifford should have had the fore site to see what was coming.  An anonymous blog gives students the freedom to say what they want without anyone knowing.  Even easier to pick on other students or try to get back at one for something said to them.  She should have chosen a blog where she can screen comments before they are posted.  She should have also clearly stated the objectives and how to use the blog to her students and their parents.  As easy as it is to get excited about trying something new, as teachers, we need to make sure to think things through. 

Scenario 4: Age Restrictions

This is a bummer.  It sounds like a good tool and a fun project.  The web site is probably trying to protect themselves and teachers from kids putting inappropriate things on the web.  You can't ask students to lie or set one up in your name and let them use it independently because obviously the web site thinks that the students need some supervision or the wouldn't have the 13 year rule in the first place.  One thing that Ms Applegate could do it to have the students research information on a country and then working with them, she could create the poster for them or with them using the information that they gathered.  Or have the students research information until she can find a different mode in which they can display it.