For kids who stopped kissing you goodbye in public sometime between Kindergarten and Year 1, having mum openly bawling at the bus stop as they’re heading off on a high school excursion does not go down well. But by adapting our kids’ favourite ‘blogging’ technology, some schools are helping parents see and hear much of what happens while their kids are away.
Last year, students from Tumut High School, on the south coast of NSW, went on an amazing, 19-day excursion that took them from the ancient ruins of Pompeii, to the top of the London Eye—stopping along the way to experience a cooking school in Tuscany and to drop by many of the historical sites and museums in Rome, Paris, Florence, Pisa, Milan, Venice and London.
And although the intrepid travellers’ parents would still have struggled to put on a brave face at the airport, they had the wonderful consolation of knowing they’d be ‘chatting’ with their children and looking at their photos within a matter of hours.
If you leave me, can I come too?
The school group set up a ‘blog’ (short for weblog), which is a webpage that lets you make diary-type entries, adding photos, links and video for others to view through the Internet. So virtually from the moment student Erin Buckingham and the rest of the group stepped off the plane, they could communicate regularly with their families, friends and schoolmates, posting their thoughts, their photos and their videos.
Erin’s mother Narelle Buckingham says she checked the blog every night her daughter was away. “It was great being able to see Erin, that she was safe, and what she was doing,” she says.
“We’d have a look at the photos of where she was. We could even see where she went for dinner that night. It was exciting; it makes you feel part of it because after all, you’ve paid for it! And it made you feel like they were making the most of the trip,” Narelle says.
The families back in Tumut also contributed to the blog, thrilled they could ‘touch base’ with their child whenever they wanted, even if it was 3:00am on the other side of the world.
And with just one entry, the students could update parents, grandparents, teachers and friends scattered all around the globe.
Needless to say, the blog ended up being way more interesting than the traditional ‘What I did on my holidays’ essays most of us scratched out at school.
The benefits of blogging
For many kids, sharing thoughts, drawings, photos and videos online is not only commonplace, it’s their social lifeline. They come home, hit the computer and spend as long as you’ll let them jumping between virtual conversations with multiple friends. They seamlessly change sites, subjects and discussion threads, using any break in the digital traffic to update their personal pages on social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook or Bebo.
Some experts estimate that as a student’s typing speed increases, they may type more text in just one online session than they handwrite during a whole school day.
A 2007 report by the Australian Government found 80% of girls aged 14 to 17 and 65% of boys in the same age group had created their own material online. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Anything that increases literacy and communication skills in teenagers can be a parent’s friend.
In fact, ‘educational blogging’ is increasingly used as a learning tool by teachers and academics around the world—as well as a way for students to discuss their studies, their philosophies, books they’ve read, their hobbies, their travels, their art, and on it goes.
When students create a blog to share with or educate others about an issue or a point of view, they’re also practising important literacy skills and often presenting a wide range of digital materials to their audience.
It’s also a two-way communication, developing the types of communication and technical skills that will be entry level for most careers. The bonus for our children is that they’re not just comfortable with digital communications, they’re excited to join in.
Knowing how strongly many students prefer digital communications, some teachers publish their own class blogs, complete with discussion boards and educational links.
South-western Sydney English teacher, Laela Delprat uses her ‘English Resources’ blog to post homework assignments, supply links to curriculum-related resources and to showcase some of her students’ achievements.
She poses and answers the question “Why do you need a school blog?” on her site. “Because there aren't enough hours in the school day. Because sometimes it's hard to get to technology resources. Because some students work better at home, by themselves, or from sources other than me. Because I want my students to be able to say ’But I am studying, Mum!’ when they are told to get off the computer.”
The whole world’s a stage
Many people have learned the hard way that once something is ‘out there’ on the World Wide Web, you can’t reel it back. And you can’t control where it goes—that would be where the ‘Word Wide’ bit comes in.
Some photos or comments that seem like a good idea when you post them at 17 might not impress prospective employers doing a routine background check through Google, five years later. Kids don’t necessarily think things through (I’m not telling you anything here, am I?) and you need to always check what they’re putting on the web, and who can access it.
As parents, we can’t afford to be fearful or ignorant of these technologies, because they’re as much a part of our kids’ daily lives as the microwave is a part of your kitchen. Better to jump online and become familiar with the sites they’re visiting and the technologies they’re connecting to, so we can stay connected, too.
Rules of engagement for your kids
Safety rules for anyone setting up a blog (or communicating online) include:
- Never use your real name. Choose a nickname instead.
- Never divulge personal information—yours or any one else’s. No surnames, addresses, school names—even the name of your son’s Saturday sports team could be of interest to the wrong people. (Law agencies say it is amazing how predators can exploit even the most seemingly innocent detail.)
- Carefully vet any photos you post.
- Defamation laws apply. Be careful what you write about others—and photos can be deemed defamatory too.
- Consider limiting other people’s access to your blog. You can choose who to allow to view your site, as well as controlling who has authority to add comments, and reviewing all comments before they go ‘live’ (become visible to other users).
- You can keep your site ‘hidden’ from search engines such as Google. People need to know the URL or web address to find you.
- If you are posting images from a public event (say your school concert) for other parents to see, you need to get permission from the parents of the featured children. (Families can have all sorts of good legal and personal reasons for not wanting their children viewed publicly.)
- Most blogs have a ‘policy of use’, which you need to check before you start posting. If you are starting your own blog you should check others’ policies, to get an idea of the rules you want your blogging community to follow. These generally include standards on appropriate language, copyright, defamation, advertising, adding links and general ‘netiquette’.
Educational blogs
DIY blog
Creating your own blog is surprisingly simple—if you’ve mastered sending an email, you can pretty much create a blog. Here are just some of the websites offering easy to use ‘publishing platforms’—which just means they can have you set up with your own personal page in a matter of minutes. No previous experience required and often everything you’ll need to get started is available free. (Extra features can be purchased.)
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Translated Documents • Site Map • Help • Accessibility • Privacy • Terms & Conditions • Copyright
Posted by Lili
It's a shame that blogs and blogging sites are blocked by the DET filter for students K -10.