Comments on: Is a picture always worth a thousand words?

By: Sue Waters

Sue Waters — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:53:45 +0000

@poulingail, Wondering when some one would spot that Yes, he’s one of mine. You will notice online when I talk about my kids I don’t mention them by name.

By: poulingail

poulingail — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:37:01 +0000

The obvious over identifying of the student is a problem of course. My real problem though is ….isn’t that an school or family picture of Sue Waters or at least a sibling?!

By: dgkerwood

dgkerwood — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:23:22 +0000

The students are from 12 to 15 years old. They are middle school students.

By: Sue Waters

Sue Waters — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:45:14 +0000

I think Ruth your “Why look for trouble?” definitely sums it all up. Instead of making it harder for yourself make it easier.

By: Ruth Rose

Ruth Rose — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:17:19 +0000

Too much information for safety! When blogging re: elementary school children, full names and other identifying information like location and name of school should NOT be used!

Also . . . have parents or guardians given permission for use of the child’s image?

Why look for trouble?

By: Sue Waters

Sue Waters — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:17:50 +0000

Hi Kevin, I actually don’t like moderating any comment but unfortunately this blog is being hit by spam blogs that are doing pingbacks at specific posts. Probably about 5-10 pingbacks per day on posts with high comments which would be really annoying for anyone who has comment notification turned on. My solution for now is to include specific words in banned words to send the pingbacks into comment moderation.

The downside is that some of the words are also words that commenters may include in their comments which is why some comments are being moderated. When I have more time (I’m traveling at the moment) I will look at the terms again to see if I can adjust which ones I’m using.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:37:35 +0000

Sue,

I see that you moderate all you comments. I chose not to do that. Any inappropriate comments can be moderated within WordPress afterward. Is there a reason why you do this?

By: clorenz65

clorenz65 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:28:42 +0000

Sue:

The photograph itself is alright, but the accompanying identifying information with the student name, school, etc. could be unsafe and is unnecessary.

Our school district (Colorado, USA) has chosen to implement an “opt out” policy in which parents must explicitly sign a form if they do not want their child published on the internet or in other media. We usually only have about 8-10 students whose parents choose to option out.

Our lawyer for our school district has explained that if a parent does not fill out an opt. out form, we can legally publish what he called “directory information”. This includes things like the student name, photo, grade, etc. Just because we can do some of these things does not necessarily mean we should.

I have also read some information recently that there are very few instances of child abductions, etc. due to information on the internet, in comparison to the amount of media attention this issue has gotten. I haven’t checked any facts on this yet though.

I think that publishing photos of students doing creative and engaging activities is a good way to keep them and their parents connected to the school. However, I always make sure I do not add additional identifying information, and that I check to make sure their parents have not chosen to restrict their pictures from being published.

By: Sue Waters

Sue Waters — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:15:37 +0000

I wonder if in 10 years will time reduce the number of people with limited understanding? Would love to have a crystal ball. It is amazing how communication has changed so much in our life times and how this has meant we’ve need to gain new skills.

By: teach37311

teach37311 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:02:32 +0000

It’s not easy being on the cusp of radical alterations in communication. Sometimes I wonder if the apprehension I feel is similar to the anxiety of the ancient orator who feared the shifting emphasis from memorization to print.

Teaching obligates me to learn about the benefits and dangers of communication methods my students will use with far less hesitation than I have felt. Just as I depended upon the teacher and librarian to help me learn how to manage printed texts, our students have a right to expect their teachers to help them learn how to safely manage the various forms of communication they are expected to use.

I suppose time and experience will reduce the number of faculty who have no real understanding of either the benefits or risks of social networking, global publishing, and interaction with the unknown and sometimes unknowable. In the meantime, the examples of how y’all are managing this shifting terrain are very helpful. Thank you.