Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Digital Ethics

Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet. I have come across posts from my students on blogs as far away as Sweden! That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar -- a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you.

Here are a few videos that illustrate some of what I want you to think about:




Four suggestions:

  1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.
  2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.
  3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.
  4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.


Look over the guidelines and add the ones you like in the comments section below this post. We'll be using the one's I highlighted above as a basis for how we will use our blog.

Cheers,
Mr. K.

3 comments:

Benofschool said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kristina said...

I liked this one:

"# Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t."

.:. J + ME .:. said...

This comment is a little late, but I finally have the time to write something. At least five seconds.

I agree with an emphasis on 2 and 3. It may seem like common sense, but common sense is not so common sometimes. At times we let personal information slip out like an egg on a non-stick frying pan. Love that analogy? I have more. You'll learn my ways throughout the year.

Anyhow, three is reminding [such a key word in math, REMINDING, or remembering instead of memorizing.] people that blogging space is a public place and sometimes public places aren't so safe. People need to be cautious, think before they post. type. or whatever floats their luxury yacht. It's not exactly Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood out there. and those videos scared the bejeepneys out of me. haha. bejeepneys.