The Village Green

I’m attending the Learning 2.0 A Colorado Conversation today, and will be posting periodically. It is good to see so many familiar faces, and also to see so many unfamiliar faces.  I’m hopeful this will be a day that challenges me to gain a better understanding of how technology and learning fit together.  The conference has a virtual component if you want to come along.

http://colearning.wikispaces.com/

I recently revamped much of the online class that I teach for Lesley University. The class is comprised of 6 two-week modules. Each module has two parts, usually one longer assignment, and the other a collection of shorter assignments. In reorganizing the assignments, I placed two previously separated assignments together. In one assignment, the class finds blogs to keep track of and review in an effort to better understand what blogs are and how they work. In the other assignment, the class sets up an RSS feed and adds a number of feeds. They report back on the experience, and which feeds they selected.

Okay, in hindsight, this may be obvious, but shouldn’t these be the same assignment? At one time it seemed to make sense to provide multiple activities, but now that the two assignments are together in one place, it sure feels like it might have been more successful if they were combined into just a single assignment.

With so much that could be included in the class, it is sometimes difficult to know what to keep. There are additional assignments for setting up a their own blogs, and visiting each others blogs to leave comments, but I’m interested to know how others ‘teach’ blogs and RSS. If you have any successful strategies, or definite pitfalls to avoid, please leave me a comment on them.

But the Teacher is making great use of CoveritLive to provide a live feed from a podcasting summit. I’m happy to see this both because it shows a good use of the tool, and also because I wasn’t able to attend the summit.  Thanks Bud!

http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2008/02/live-blogging-c.html 

I just wanted to thank the group of excellent teachers that attended a brief presentation on Web 2.0 in the Classroom.  I hope that they will find their own communities to support the transition to new tools.  The wiki for this session is:

http://iltworkshop.pbwiki.com 

I was listening to a Bit by Bit podcast by Bob Sprankle (episode 58) and wanted to share a collection of tools mentioned by Hall Davidson.  In the podcast, Hall Davidson runs through a number of terrific digital storytelling tips, including a reference to Jakesonline, from David Jakes, where you can find video screencasts to use Photo Story 3.  This site also includes tons of other resources, articles, presentations, and tutorials for the 21st Century Classroom.

http://www.jakesonline.org/ 

Bud the teacher has posted more details about the upcoming Learning 2.0, A Colorado Conversation conference.  I hope to attend and see you there!

Invite Others

We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.

http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2007/12/learning-20-a-c.html 

This has been an interesting session discussing many of the implications of ILT work in DPS and how it relates to achievement.

What is one thing you heard from the morning session that you will take back to your school?

http://iltworkshop.pbwiki.com/

 I went to an interesting presentation today on Internet safety and online gaming.  It was sponsored by Qwest Communications.  My notes are below, followed by a short reflection.

The Qwest Incredible Internet
A Colorado Online Safety Coalition Executive Forum
Nick Yee Ph.D. - Business Week, CNN International, WSJ, and the New York Times
Boundaries of Play - Uses, Risks, & Benefits of Online Games
http://www.nickyee.com

The presentation started with a video introduction to World of Warcraft (WOW.)
Screen shot of Tune Town - Disney - safe words - furniture used by kids to circumvent the language restrictions.
Examples of online behavior:

• 4 hour wait in WOW standing in line, no one cut in the line
• wedding plans in WOW
• funeral arrangements in WOW
• Paying people to level up their characters

Online gaming tends to be broken into categories for younger and older audiences, and between social environments and games.

Younger Audiences -
Game Worlds
Club Penguin - minigames, safe chat
Social Worlds
Habbo Hotel - mostly a chat space where kids customize their avatars and rooms - micro transactions for premium features

Older Audiences -
Game Worlds
World of Warcraft - purchased software and monthly subscription - demo followed - kill creatures to get loot to buy upgrades to kill bigger creatures
Social Worlds
Second Life - social world targeted at adults - everything is created by the members of the virtual community - avatar customization is extensive - currency is based on Linden dollars

There are differences between an online gaming experience and that of a social experience:

• Game Worlds - higher costs, game-based interaction - age and gender are hidden, so predation is lower than in places like MySpace where age and gender are part of the experience
• Social Worlds - lower or no cost, no predefined goals

Some games are not safe for younger audiences - SL (Second Life) for example, limits users to audiences above 18, although there is little to no way to check - SL does have a teen specific area.

Audition - online dancing ‘game’ from Asia - uses micro-transactions to upgrade your avatar.

Asian market is not as focused on moderated chat.

Who plays these games?

• Average Age = 26
• Median Age = 25
• Range = 11-69
• 25% are teenagers
• 8-16% female users depending on the game
• 50% work full time
• 36% are married
• 22% have children
• Some online spaces are unique where student, children, adults, retirees, professionals, etc work cooperatively

Benefits of online gaming:

• Diverse social backgrounds
• collaboration with adults
• leadership opportunities
• endless ad-hoc groups in safer spaces

Risks for online gaming:

• Kids being treated as adults

Usage patterns:

• average number of hours per week = 20 hours per week
• compares with TV hours - average TV viewing in US is a little over 20 hours a week - as gaming increases, TV viewing decreases
• 8% of users spend 40 hours or more per week
• 70% of users have spent 10 hours or more continuously in the game
• Age is not correlated with usage

Is online gaming anti-social?

• 20% play with a family member
• 25% play with romantic partner
• 70% play with a friend
• 80% of players play with someone they know
• Online gamers play online to keep in touch with their friends
• Online gamers see online play as a way to maintain relationships as a shared experience

Parents see shared gaming as an opportunity or window to view and participate in their children’s world - gives them an opportunity to see how their kids interact with others, provides many learning opportunities to discuss social interactions/skills

Online gaming provides:

• unique social spaces
• working with others has potential benefits
• parents can play with children productively

Example guidelines:

• only play with supervision
• only group with parents or fiends
• only group with others when a parent or teacher is able to supervise
• free to group with others but tell parents hot it went

Why do People Play?

• Achievement - Advancement, Competition, Mechanics
• Social - Socializing, Relationships, Teamwork
• Immersion - Discovery (my favorite), Role-Playing, Customization, Escapism

Not all players are playing for the same reason

Gaming motivations:

• Online gaming may be fulfilling psychological needs that some people aren’t getting in the physical world
• Behavioral Conditioning (BF Skinner)
• Gaining prestige and status
• Sense of constant progress

Other examples:

• EVE Online - corporations as organization structure
• WOW - a guide is much like running a small business
• Peace Maker - explores both sides of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict
• Ohio State - replicated campus for recruiting (Second Life?)

Typed Chat and Anonymity:

• less inhibition when people type their information
• Idealization - we tend to see only what people want to present, and so we often see people in an idealized way
• About 50% of online users have shared a secret with an online friend that they’ve never shared elsewhere - females at a higher rate than males
• Seeing people behave in an online game shows some of their character - provides a stressful environment to expose character
• 80% of online gamers have made really good friends with someone they met online first - not as much of a gender difference for this question

Why do some relationships only happen if they start online?

• Shyness on the part of either partner
• Inside-out - superficial qualities (appearance, social circles, age) would have prevented individuals from striking up a relationship

Online relationships are not better or worse, they are just different - while it is easier to idealize someone, we also have opportunities to see character traits not easily seen

Online relationships start with virtual contact that takes time to progress (variety of tools, IM, email, video chat) to an ‘analog’ or physical contact.

Problematic Usage:
Amount of time is problematic.  60% have played for 10 hours or more at a time.  40% lose sleep to play.  17% have had relationships, finances, or jobs suffer due to playing habits.

Predisposition factors:  Depression, loneliness, social anxiety.  There is mixed evidence as to whether Internet use helps or hurts in the long term.

Just removing access may not address underlying issues.  Because people play for different motivations, one treatment may not help all cases.

Be proactive:

• Set clear limits and expectations
• Encourage balanced interests
• Be involved

Summary:

• Many kinds of virtual worlds
• Unique social spaces
• Play can get very complex
• Both easier and harder to know someone
• be proactive in preventing problematic usage
• Start with sound pedagogy - just because it is virtual doesn’t make it better

My thoughts: 

It was terrific to share a discussion with other people who have a stake in keeping kids safe online, especially because the discussion focused on the positive aspects of online gaming instead of just decrying all of the potential problems.  It was interesting to see that at least one person in the room responded to the presentation by saying she didn’t understand how people could spend this much time on gaming.  Someone else pointed out that she was thinking with her ‘adult-parent’ perspective instead of seeing it from the perspective of our students.  This really is an issue of perspective.  All of the pluses amount to very little if you don’t value the gaming experience.

This has been a very interesting day of thought-provoking discussions. People are genuinely concerned with keeping kids safe. I’ve heard more comments about providing tools and fewer about limiting or restricting access. It is refreshing that the general tone of the summit is one of helping our kids, not one of punishing them.

I would also like to thank Bud the Teacher for providing us with a great model of living a transparent life, something to which Will Richardson is currently calling people.

Here is Bud’s post:
http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2007/09/internet-safety.html. He also twittered the event.

Looking back it was remarkable how few laptops were present at the summit. With over 100 attendees, I saw fewer than half a dozen people actually using a laptop other than the presenters. Internet safety is an important issue, but I’m just not sure how prepared we are when we aren’t practitioners ourselves. I don’t think we ‘get it’ yet.

Jennifer Mardosz, Fox Interactive Media and MySpace

How do we keep our kids safe while still benefiting from the wonders of the web? How do we involve our community when that community is an online virtual space?

MySpace safety tools are developed with assistance from local law enforcement agencies. For example, Amber Alerts can be distributed to MySpace users who list specific zip codes in their profiles.

MySpace is working to build safety into the features it offers, and to provide additional safety features. MySpace works with communities in both the physical and virtual worlds to provide a safe environment.

MySpace origins tie into online music. Many independent bands make a name for themselves by setting up a MySpace account to promote their music.

MySpace offers school groups. These are mostly used by alumni. MySpace has a school hotline to help with resolving concerns.

Disclaimer: I’m not a MySpace user, although I do have a Facebook account.

The Innocent Images National Initiative
SSA Joseph C. Schwecke
SA Stephen Roberts
Denver Division
DOJ - FBI

Federal investigations of online sexual exploitation of children began with kidnapping of George Burdynski, Jr in May of 1993. Child pornography has been a part of the Internet from the earliest days. Since that time, 17,691 cases were opened, resulting in 5,840 convictions. 37% of all cyber investigations in 2006 involved Innocent Images (child exploitation.)

Two kinds of cyber crime:
1. emerging threats to national security - terrorist groups, state actors
2. traditional crime migrating to the Internet - child exploitation, hackers, intellectual property, fraud, identity theft

Why is the Internet a source for this problem? The Internet offers an environment of a safe haven. It offers anonymity, control over the environment (control how and who you contact,) access to ‘like minded’ individuals, and efficiency. The Internet also provides easy access to children.

Members of undercover task forces are themselves evaluated every 6 months.

A case study was presented.

Lynn Erseck, Kelsey Kreager, and Laurie Urich - FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)

Presentation started with a short video produced by Boulder Valley School District. “To use the Internet is to accept a level of risk.” Copyright development was described as well as music piracy. Terms such as ‘worms’ were defined. Pornography is prevalent for teens and younger adults. Child predators provided a sobering finish.

This presentation is presented by members of the Colorado iCrew, young adults working to keep other young adults safe. FBLA in high school provided the forum for the development of the Internet Safety Project.

Colorado iCrew - high school and college students presenting safety podcasts. The first episode was played for us. They also have gmail and myspace accounts for the iCrew.

Internet Safety Foundation - unique to Colorado. Coalition of various community, state, and federal members working to keep students safe on the Internet.

Peer-to-peer education is an essential component. Kids probably know more about it, and students are more likely to listen to each other.

There are many levels of involvement for parents as well as students. A flow chart was distributed that details the steps of presenting safety information to the community, along with supporting resources such as the NetSmartz411: Internet Helpdesk - http://netsmartz411.org/.

They have presented to groups as young as Kindergarten.

Colorado iCrew link: http://www.coloradoicrew.libsyn.com/

I’m attending an Internet safety summit and was pleased to meet Bud Hunt, also known as Bud the Teacher. Nice to meet someone whose work I’ve followed online.

Our first speakers were US Attorney for the District of Colorado Troy Eid and Deputy Attorney General for the State of Colorado, Tom Raynes. http://www.ago.state.co.us/InternetSafety/SafeSurfing.cfm was provided as a page with safety resources. Mr. Raynes describes the Internet as the playground of today, and calls for that playground to be a safe (and fun) environment.

In Colorado, first offenders for child pornography are sentenced to an average of 6 years in prison.

Phil Bremmer (sp?) reminded us that unless we keep up with technology use patterns by our children we won’t be effective in the effort of Internet safety.

Troy Eid described tracking a single child pornographic image as it is traded online just in the boundaries of Colorado. Turns out it was housed on 50,000 servers. An expert group had only predicted around 5,000.

The students responsible for the Colorado iCrew podcast on iTunes were presented with video iPods. Nice to see their work rewarded.

The Savvy Technologist, one of the earliest educational podcasters I ever found, is promoting an educational podcast directory called Conference Connections. You can find podcasts from FETC, NECC, and TCEA conferences. If you can’t get to these conferences, you can still benefit from some very important conversations and presentations.

http://technosavvy.org/2007/06/20/spread-the-word-on-conference-connections/

Session 4110 – Web Based Applications for the Classroom – Jon Pierce – 6/22/07
Jon is a technology specialist for Challenge School in Cherry Creek.

Started with 37 signals and Basecamp – used for project management.  Campfire is used for private chatting and file transfer.  There is a free section.  Opens up in a dashboard that provides an overview of activity in the project, messages, to-do lists, milestones, writeboards, and chat.  Highrise is new.  Backcamp is like Basecamp.

Moved on to Googledocs and spreadsheets and Goolge Pack.  Used it for script writing for school news.  Google Pack collects some of their featured applications like Picasa and Google Earth.  I need to follow-up with Page Creator.

Hot Potatoes.  Six applications.  Makes quizzes and tests with multiple choice, short answer, crossword, match and order, and more.  Tests are available for printing, hosting on a web server, or hosted.

CutePDF is a free Windows pdf creator.  PDF Viewer 2 was released out of beta and is open source.

Portaportal is a web-based bookmarking. http://guest.portaportal.com/tieco is the site set up for the class.  Layout is similar to other starter pages, but Jon makes great use of organizing the links he’s collected into categories.  Portaportal also has a dashboard if you log in with a free account.  Portaportal also lets you switch between accounts.  Avoid ABC order because it is very difficult to undo. http://guest.portaportal.com/challengeschool is the Portaportal for his school.

Awardspace.com, http://www.awardspace.com/ is a free host without ads.  Very nice.