No Wi-Fi For You February 10, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Opinion.add a comment
Andy Carvin has posted an interesting article on the PBS Teachers Learning Now site about legislative efforts in Utah to block wireless access for teens. I’m not even sure how that would be possible. Imagine, coffee shops that currently have open wi-fi networks might have to restrict their clientele the same way bars do, or card their customers in order to provide a code to join their network. What about a home network that isn’t restricted? Would you be breaking the law if a teen connected without your knowledge or consent? What about in your own home? How would this impact Internet access on cell phones? I can’t see this working out well.
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2008/02/utah_bill_would_block_wifi_acc.html
Drawing the Line February 10, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, Opinion.add a comment
Students 2.0 continues to provide an interesting perspective from the point of view of the connected student. A new post from Sean ‘The Bass Player’ poses the question of whether or not lines should be drawn between students and teachers in their online interactions. It is an important question, one that potentially brings up a lot of emotionally charged issues. The comments below the post illustrate some of those issues.
I’ve always found it curious when kids are surprised that their small circle of friends are not the only ones they are connecting to when they choose to network online. This isn’t restricted to just online contact, but more importantly or at least more personally, cell phones also play a role in this discussion. Many children would be very angry if their parents were to read their text messages or online chats as seen in this recent PBS episode of Frontline (Growing Up Digital.) Sean clarifies the question this way:
The reason I find this a difficult question to answer is that although in a traditional school environment this type of communication (especially that outside of the school walls) is discouraged (at least on a relatively large scale) we are proposing change to this system, and a big change at that.
For me, the Internet has always been about tearing barriers down, barriers of geography, of time, of language, and of economic status. Maybe that’s why I support network neutrality. Maybe that’s why I continue to blog.
Two final thoughts. First, younger people who are upset at parental types stopping in to visit them in a social network misunderstand the exposure in which they are participating and need support and education to empower their digital lives. Second, change isn’t easy, and the barriers between ages are in place for good reason. We should be intentional about lowering that barrier in a responsible manner that benefits those of us in each generation.
http://students2oh.org/2008/02/10/where-do-we-draw-the-line/
