Genocide Complex Model

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When I started my problem based I wanted to figure out how to eliminate discriminatory practices and racism worldwide. However upon attempting to create a model, be it simple and or complex I drew a blank. I couldn't understand why Craig didn't see what I saw until I tried to produce, I couldn't. I had to continue to brainstorm until the light bulb came on.

My PBL consist of my students having to research the Jewish holocaust and Sudanese Genocide, create narrative, and expository essays, peer edit their stories. In addition to creating a simple model in the form of a flow chart showing how they will eliminate genocide worldwide.

I believe my model works. I believe it works because it shows that genocide has occurred and takes into consideration the beginning and end of the process, in addition to the instructions, actions, and decisions that must be made in order to into to eliminate the problem. I would’ve concentrated on a more specific idea versus the general ideas that I was coming up with. I had to change my way of thinking.

Here is a genocide clock that models the total worldwide genocide as of Current Time, summed & extrapolated for the following Communist-occupied nations: Soviet Union (all 15 republics), Red China, Yugoslavia (all 5 republics), North Korea, Cambodia, Mozambique, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Ethiopia/Eritrea, & Congo

http://www.attacreport.com/ar_diagrams/genocide.php

Students will learn about the Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of an estimated 800,000 people. Over the course of approximately 100 days from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6 through mid-July, at least 800,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate.^[1] Other estimates of the death toll have ranged between 500,000 and 1,000,000 ^[2] (a commonly quoted figure is 800,000) or as much as 20% of the country's total population.

In 1990, a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees called the Rwandan Patriotic FrontUganda. The Rwandan Civil War, fought between the Hutu regime, with support from Francophone nations of Africa and France itself,^[3][4] and the RPF, with support from Uganda, vastly increased the ethnic tensions in the country and led to the rise of Hutu Power. (RPF) invaded northern Rwanda from

Students will also learn about The Jewish Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστοςholókaustos]: hólos, "whole" and kaustós, "burnt"),^[2] also known as the Shoah (Hebrew): השואה,^{[citation needed]} Romanized ha'shoah; Yiddish: חורבן, Romanized churben or hurban^[3]genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany.^[4] Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ethnic Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents.^[5] By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people.^[6]

The persecution and genocide were carried out in stages. Legislation to remove the Jews from civil society was enacted years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were used as slave labor until they died of exhaustion or disease. Where the Third Reich conquered new territory in eastern Europe, specialized units called Einsatzgruppen murdered Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. Jews and Romanians were confined in overcrowded ghettos before being transported by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were systematically killed in gas chambers. Every arm of Nazi Germany's bureaucracy was involved in the logistics of the mass murder, turning the country into what one Holocaust scholar has called "a genocidal state".

Used from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Holocaust

& http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide

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Maureen S. Hiebert makes some very valid point in the article
Genocide Prevention: Moral Imperative or Rational Self-Interest?

http://www.preventinggenocide.net/

Like many genocide scholars I got into the field because I was outraged that genocides like the ones in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur, could still happen fifty and sixty years after the Holocaust. I wanted to know two things: why does genocide happen and how can we prevent it from happening again. My outrage that genocide even occurs in the first place was (and still is) fueled by a complete inability, not from an intellectual but from a humanitarian point of view, to comprehend why political elites would ever decide that the right way to solve their problems is to exterminate whole groups of people simply because these people exist and because of who they are. In short, my moral indignation drove my need, both as a scholar and as a human being, to help find a way to wipe out the “old scourge” with a “new name” once and for all.My own understanding of genocide prevention as a moral imperative mirrors that of other scholars, policy-makers, activists, survivors, and interested ordinary people over the last several decades. The idea is simple enough: genocide is morally wrong and ought not to happen anywhere, to anyone, for any reason.The main attempt at making the moral imperative to prevent genocide real came with the crafting and signing of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNGC). As its name plainly says part of the function of the UNGC is supposed to be prevention. Here there is a clear link between a moral imperative - creating what some scholars call an “anti-genocide norm” - and codifying that norm in international law. Thus the states that sign on to the Convention commit themselves to cooperate to “liberate mankind from such an odious scourge” by agreeing to “undertake” steps to prevent genocide, among other things. But the historical record clearly shows that while the UNGC has enjoyed some success in the punishment department sixty years on, states have taken their legal and moral obligation under the Convention to prevent genocide rather less seriously.This experience gave rise, particularly after Rwanda when the major players in the international system were tripping over themselves not to use the “g-word” to describe what was happening, to the idea that if only we could get states to recognize a genocide when one is about to or is already happening and if we can get states to call a genocide a genocide, they might then actually do their moral and legal duty to stop the killing. No such luck. As the Bush administration’s approach to Darfur a few years ago demonstrated in no uncertain terms, it is entirely possible for the most powerful country in the world (and by extension every other country) to call a genocide “genocide” - repeatedly - and still do nothing to stop it. All this despite the concerted effort of several NGOs, student and other activist groups’ appeals to our moral and legal obligations to end the bloodshed.
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I find it appropriate to end this post with a quote from Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Genocide committed against ANY people is an atrocity and horrendous crime against humanity. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about the treatment of certain cultural groups. I hope my genocide model has helped you to better understand a possible way of eliminating genicide worldwide.

A genocide in Africa has not received the same attention that genocide in Europe or genocide in Turkey or genocide in other part of the world. There is still this kind of basic discrimination against the African people and the African problems.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/genocide.html

UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali undertook a number of reforms at the beginning of his term in 1992, including reorganizing the Secretariat. Many of his structural reforms were concessions to Washington and to influential conservative think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation.

Here is my complex model:

512 Concept Map

Upon creating this concept map I had to think of ways to eliminate genocide.

I. Genocide alert & early warning system

A. Rapid Reaction Mechanism- needs to be implemented in order so judge is genocide has been committed and to deal with the situation at hand.

1. Prosecution & Deterrence (International & Domestic)

a. Enforcing International Law

(1) Pressure, Vigilance, & Protection

(a) Genocide Prevention & Elimination

How long should peace keepers remain in the country?  This is important because if the peace keepers leave it gives the perpetrators the opportunity to commit the same crimes over again.

Was justice served according to international law? If it wasn't then international law needs to be adjusted so that future perpetrators wont be able to manipulate the law and kill people.

Has a cultural group been systematically murdered? The first question that should be considered.  You cant have a rapid response if no one knows if genocide has been committed.

How soon can Peace keepers be mobilized?  Genocide can happen very quickly given the form of weapons the enemy has to use against the people they are killing.  The quicker they are able to touchdown on that country's soil the quicker the situation can be diffused.

Have the perpetrators been taken into custody? Without the perpetrators in custody they are free to do what they feel.  Which equates to continued killing.  They must be taken into custody in order to be prosecuted.

Has the situation been diffused?  Again, if the situation hasn't been diffused then the peacekeepers cant leave and the perpetrators need to be rounded up so justice can be served.

Did the accused persons contribute to the deaths of those murdered?  There needs to be proof that shows they committed these acts.

Should international law be amended according to the situation?  If it wasn't then international law needs to be adjusted so that future perpetrators wont be able to manipulate the law and kill people.

All of these questions and situations make me think about adding onto my chart.  I need a lot more and I'm using my resources to find additional factors and variables so that my chart can be much better.

Companies invest in foreign land and often dont have the time or resources to see where there monies they invest are going.  Networks like the genocide intervention have helped me to consider other methods and ways to prevent genocide.

http://www.genocideintervention.net/our_programs/corporate_responsibility

Why the Conflict Risk Network?

When done irresponsibly, foreign investment can fuel instability and conflict, create negative impacts for local communities and generate financial hazards for investors. In short, it creates conflict risk.

In Sudan, for example, foreign oil companies provide the main source of revenue to the Sudanese government, which is reported to funnel 70% of it towards its military. In addition to this revenue stream, certain companies’ operations have been associated more directly with environmental damage and human rights abuses that generate instability and conflict. In addition to having serious negative impacts for local populations, these links between investment and conflict create risk for institutional stakeholders, as companies face negative publicity, shareholder actions, threats to assets on the ground, legislation restricting business options and more.
What does Conflict Risk Network do?

While stakeholder engagement is generally the most effective way to address conflict risk, engagement – and the research necessary to facilitate it – can be extremely expensive and time consuming. In addition, ad hoc attempts at engagement do not capture the power that can be leveraged when stakeholders coordinate to speak with a collective voice. CRN’s work addresses all of these challenges.
Research: CRN informs institutional stakeholders by producing comprehensive research and compiling financial data on companies materially involved in select GI-NET Areas of Concern. This includes the quarterly Sudan Company Report, which contains in-depth profiles on the Sudan-related operations of companies primarily in the oil, mineral extraction, power production and weapons sectors. These quarterly reports are accompanied by spreadsheets that provide corporate structure and security identification information (ISIN, SEDOL, ticker etc), drawn from Bloomberg LP, on the companies profiled in the Sudan Company Report.

?'s and Problems

Essential ?'s

1. If you attempt to fail, and succeed, what have you done?

SEL 1C.3b. Analyze why one achieved or did not achieve a goal

2. What separates humans from animals?

3. What is the truth and how will we know it?

4. Where does the wind come from and why cant we see it?

5. Are humans evolving or devolving?
6. How do we determine what is good and what is evil?
7. Does everything happen for a reason?
8. Is experience really a teacher?
9. Are computers in a state of consciousness?
10. Is there life after death?

Problem Scenario's

1. You are a BP oil leak specialist, how will you stop the oil leak and clean up the mess in the Gulf of Mexico?

ISTE 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity B. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

2. You work for the UN as a food specialist, you assignment is to solve world hunger how can you feed everyone in the world?

3. Your son was murdered by a neighborhood gang. What can you do to eliminate gangs from your neighborhood?

4. As the principal of a school on probation, how would you go about getting the test scores at or above the national average?
5. Your mother is $300,000 in debt but has a career and makes decent money.  How can she better manage her money in order to free herself from the chains of debt?
6. The price of gas has reached $9.00 per gallon.  How can you ween off gasoline/oil and utilize alternative energy sources in your home and car while saving considerable money?
7. The school you work at has the lowest test score in the district, but receives the least amount of funding.  Your principal wants you to develop and way raise the test scores of the school, what methods will you use to do so?
8. You are obese and want to change your state of health.  You don't have access to healthy foods in your neighborhood.  How can you lose weight with the type of foods you have access to?
9. Islamic extremist's are waging a Jihad against your country, claiming your cultural group are infidels.  How can you eliminate the extremist's from your country in a non-violent way?
10. Jerry Reinsdorf just hired you are the General Manager of the Chicago Bulls.  He told you upon hiring you that you have bring LeBron James to the Bulls or else you will lose your job and have to pay back any portion of your salary and you agreed. How will you get LeBron to sign with the Chicago Bulls?

12. 
    

ISTE:

1.c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

4. a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

http://www.isbe.net/ils/default.htm

http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS

vid on essintial ?'s  http://youtube.com/watch?v=_p1xImA_wHk&feature=related

Essential ?'s resources   http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/strategies/essential-questions

Considering essential questions is very hard to do since many of the questions that I've pondered often have easy upfront answers.  Reading, studying, and considering various essential questions and problem based scenarios made me dig deeper.  The questions that can't be answered are the one's that need the most attention.  I had to consider the content and how I would assess these questions of how they relate to technology in education, education, and life in general.  Admitting that I don't know much is assisting me in stepping outside of the box when considering these ?'s and problem's.   I need to concentrate on the CONTENT, CONTEXT, and PARTICIPANTS of my ?'s and problem's in order to have the align with the standards.

My starting 5 players.

I am the fifth and sixty grade boys basketball team coach at my school.  This is my second year coaching.  I really enjoy helping my players become the the best that they can be while maximizing their talent.  The previous year my team made it to the area championship.  We played Thorp school and lost by nine points.  I lost four of my five starters because they went to seventh grade.  In order to get my players better in both offense and defense, I had to adjust  my starting line up numerous times.  The problem was that I didn't have a power forward.  I felt that every other position was covered.  The players had adequate talent.   The youth who I used originally for the starting power forward was very green.  He was tall, stocky, and slow moving.  He had a horrible jump shot and lacked high vertical jumping ability.  The job of the power forward is to get offensive and defensive rebounds, block shots, and utilize their post moves if they have any.  I had nothing.  I ended up using a smaller player instead of the "green" player and had to adjust my defensive plays.  Here are some examples:

Shell Defense Basketball Practice Drill --- a) 4 on 4 around-the-horn, b) 4 on 4 penetrate and dish, c) 4 on 4 with low-post, d) 4 on 4 with two offensive players in the corner. *Ultimate drill for teaching all of our man defensive rules. #Listed above are the situations we use to constantly reinforce to our players our man defense tactics. Each group of four players must play winning defense before we change player groups on the court.

Team Offense Basketball Drills --- a) Motion offense, b) Even font zone offense, c) Odd front zone offense, d) Match up zone offense, e) Flex offense, f) 1-4 High offense, g) Delay game offense, h) Full court zone press offense, i) Full court match up press offense, and j) Half court press offense.

Basketball Offensive Plays Drills --- a) Man offense basketball plays, b) Zone offense plays, c) Baseline inbounds plays, d) Sideline inbounds plays, e) Last second plays.

Team Defense Breakdown --- a) Zone defense slides, b) 1 2 1 1 Press slides, c) 2 2 1 Press slides, d) 1 3 1 Half-court press slides, e) Under out-of-bounds defense, f) Triangle and Two, g) Box-and-1.

http://www.angelfire.com/nc/ezyduzits12steptools/bball_playbook.html
I use the 1-3-1 similar to this sometimes against a team not that great on dribbling or passing.
I let the point guard be the point player or chaser here.I also let the opposing team get 1 pass in and then we attack right away.  Be careful and watch for ball reversal.

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/2-3zone.html This zone is similar to the 2-3 zone that Jim Boeheim uses at Syracuse. This is can be a very effective zone defense, because it still covers the 3-point arc as well as the inside game.

http://www.guidetocoachingbasketball.com/man_defense.htm#Tight_man-to-man_basketball_defense

This defense calls for one man to guard an opponent without ever leaving your assigned player or switching. Coach Branch McCracken used it against teams who didn’t use a lot of screens and was quite successful. There are coaches who insist they use only tight man-to-man defense; however, they are soon to admit that “teammates help one another out.”

Coach McCutchan didn’t believe that a man-to-man could get results without switching once in awhile. If a defender tries to force his way through all screens, he surely will pick up a lot of fouls.

This defense can be used as a full-court, three-quarter-court, or half-court pressure defense. Such a defense is most effective when sprung as a surprise and used for only short periods of time. Use more passive defenses in-between. You will find this defense to be most effective against inexperienced teams or a team who has poor ball-handlers.

The tight man-to-man is a great defense for a quick, small team. Use it to move the opponent’s point of attack farther out than they normally like. This defense is an excellent defense to use when trailing, late in the game.

Defensive players play closer than normal to their assigned opponent. They must go after him, or her, in an aggressive manner whenever they have the ball. When playing the dribbler force him, or her, to their weak hand, not attempting to steal the ball. Stay in his, or her, bubble faking and jabbing to stop the dribble.

As soon as the dribbler stops, the defender moves up quickly getting as close to the opponent as possible, without fouling, waving arms to block vision, and shouting, "Dead! Dead! Dead!" The teammates, hearing this, get into the passing lane to the person they are guarding to prevent them from receiving an easy pass.

If the dribbler does pass off, his defender must drop off immediately toward the basket in the direction the pass was made.

Of course I feel like I the IDEAL theory/model was the method that I used as an aid to help me with this problem.

I-I identified the problem which was my team was giving up too many offensive rebounds to the other teams.

D-I defined the problem in that I lacked a power forward who could do what was expected of him.

E- I explored interventions by reading up on various types of defenses that I could possibly use to have the other teams to turn the ball over on offense.

A- I acted and implemented these new defenses in practice and we tried them in the games.

L-  I looked at the results and I was satisfied with what I got in return.  Our efforts turned into causing the offensive team to commit turnovers and thus helped us to win games.

http://www.coachlikeapro.com/basketball-practice-drills.html

Preschool Reading Problem

A problem that I'm facing right now is how can I get 80% of the students in my class to become readers? My preschool students are who is involved. Relevant data is the number is testing that I use to see what percentage they are reading at and can recognize sight words. My goals for this problem is to have the students know all the sounds that they letters give and how to put them together and sound them out. Some possible strategies to reach a solution are listed in the articles below. However I believe and see that young children learn through repetition. This problem hasn't been solved yet because my class is mixed up with three through five year old students. Therefore, everyone's learning abilities and style are different, now yet known, and are a work in progress.


http://schoolreadiness.suite101.com/article.cfm/teaching_preschoolers_to_read

According to Denise Oliveri we should keep learning fun.

She stated that the first important thing to remember is that in order to make learning a success you need to make learning fun. Preschoolers learn better when you make it fun. There will be times that you think they are not paying you any attention but they are learning. Any lesson can be learned by turning it into a song, drawing, arts and crafts and more.

Start your reading session by dressing up as one of the characters in the book and offering a costume for your child to wear as well. It may just be a hat, a mask or a jacket but try to fit the part. You will grab your preschooler’s attention and she will enjoy reading with you. Because it is fun to learn for the children, your teaching and reading time will consist of smiling, laughing, running and playing.

http://www.helium.com/items/696107-how-to-teach-preschoolers-to-read-and-write

According to Theresa Willbye there are many ways to teach letters, you need to find which method allows your child to develop whilst also remaining enjoyable. Children have stages in their life (2 and a half and 4 years) at which they automatically absorb phonetics. This method of teaching letter sounds is great as it allows children to read instantly any word that is phonetic once they know all the letter sounds in the alphabet (there are a lot of phonetic words). If you use this approach create materials for your child to read like flash cards word strips phonetic books, allow them to read to you this gives them a great sense of achievement.

Phonetics is not a suitable approach for all children though I worked with a boy once who was diagnosed with autism. I spent a long time trying to tech him phonetics but to no avail. Through trial and error and a little help from Thomas the tank engine we came to realize the boy had a strong ability to sight read. The boy could read every engine name ever to have been on Thomas the tank engine and so we built on that foundation and used his passion to tech him other words. Within 1 year he went from being unable to read 1 word to being grades ahead of his age in school. Remember every child is individual.

I think some teachers may often forget to alter their lesson for special needs learners. I can remember first hand watching my classmates with special needs get lost in class unless we gave him/her the answers. Preschool is a wonderful time for parents to learn what type of learner their child is. This can help their future education.

Reading rockets has lots of wonderful suggestions for teaching preschoolers to read. I especially love the one that states "know when to stop!" Teachers often want to drag lessons through even though they've lost the class in the process. Preschoolers have a very short attention span and need short lessons of no more then 10 minutes.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/7833

Read together every day

Read to your child every day. Make this a warm and loving time when the two of you can cuddle close.

Give everything a name

Build your child's vocabulary by talking about interesting words and objects. For example, "Look at that airplane! Those are the wings of the plane. Why do you think they are called wings?"

Say how much you enjoy reading

Tell your child how much you enjoy reading with him or her. Talk about "story time" as the favorite part of your day.

Read with fun in your voice

Read to your child with humor and expression. Use different voices. Ham it up!

Know when to stop

Put the book away for awhile if your child loses interest or is having trouble paying attention.

http://www.iched.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=iched&item_id=teach_writing_prek-1

Dr. Lance insists that “Children who are encouraged to draw and scribble ‘stories’ at an early age will later learn to compose more easily, more effectively, and with greater confidence than children who do not have this encouragement.” This finding is based on research literature reported by the U.S. Department of Education (What Works: Research about Teaching and Learning, second edition, 1987). This same article goes on to comment:

Even toddlers, who can hardly hold a crayon or pencil, are eager to “write” long before they acquire the skills in kindergarten that formally prepare them to read and write.

Studies of very young children show that carefully formed scrawls have meaning to them, and that this writing actually helps them develop language skills. Research suggests that the best way to help children at this stage of their development as writers is to respond to the ideas they are trying to express [italics added].

Very young children take the first steps toward writing by drawing and scribbling...others may dictate stories into a tape recorder or to an adult, who writes them down and reads them back...it is best to focus on the intended meaning of what very young children write, rather than on the appearance of the writing [italics added].

Children become more effective writers when parents and teachers encourage them to choose the topics they write about, then leave them alone to exercise their own creativity. The industriousness of such children has prompted one researcher to comment that they “violate the child labor laws” (p. 9).

The preschool years provide parents with the opportunity to build a solid base upon which good writing skills will be developed in later years. Use this critical time in a child’s development by providing paper, crayons, large pencils, good modeling on your part, and most of all, lots of encouragement and supportive response.

Emergent literacy is also very important in the process of having preschoolers to read and write. Reading and writing go hand in hand. What adults consider scribble is the attempt of a child to express themselves through writing and should be respected as so.

http://www.greatschools.org/students/academic-skills/preparing-preschooler-to-read.gs?content=738

Lastly according to Barbara Graber we should:

Make Literacy a Part of Every Day

Kids learn best through direct experiences that let them safely experiment and explore their world. Offer your child choices and let her be the leader in deciding which activities she wants to do. Each child learns and develops language skills in her own unique time frame, but all young children need the following:

• Opportunities to develop and practice emerging skills.
• Encouragement and praise for effort.
• Understanding that ongoing learning is a family value.
• Parents and other caregivers to help plan learning activities that are appropriate for her development.
• A special place of for reading and hands-on learning activities.

I think that if I take note and attempt to use some of the aforementioned suggestion by the authors I will see an improvement in my students reading and writing skills.

2nd and 3rd things I've learned.

2. Students should be allowed to use social networking sites at school as long as they can multitask for educational purposes.

3. Skype is a wonderful tool for virtual field trips and videoconferencing.

Schools should handle social networking sites by....

I believe that schools should allow students to access social networking sites. I questioned a seasoned veteran teacher who doesn't utilize technology at all and a green teacher who uses these form of sites everyday. The seasoned teacher didn't agree with students using the sites because she was told that there may be predators online and that there was no educational benefit to posting pictures of yourself and sharing the latest gossip online. I found her response interesting yet funny for someone who's never been on facebook or myspace. Everything she stated, she said she learned from her daughter or watching television. The green teacher and I felt the same. We both feel that by instilling good surfing habits within students while they are younger then will be responsible users of social networking. There will always be bullies in real life and cyberbullies. However, if students were taught the importance of time management online they wouldn't run to social networking. If we allow students to access these sites we would have a window to their world. Columbine may have been prevented.... Kids always show signs whether verbally or non. Social networking sites allow them to express themselves and show their growth emotionally and educationally. Isn't that what portfolio's are for? Couldn't we as teachers help them integrate their studies and their concerns? Schools need to accept that social networking sites aren't going anywhere. Students at my school use proxy server websites with various names that change daily because the tech people catch onto them. However they students stay a step ahead because they are always on facebook or myspace when I see them in the lab. The system has already been beaten. Why not join them?


http://thejournal.com/Articles/2009/09/16/Social-Networking-in-Schools-Incentives-for-Participation.aspx

Social Networking in Schools: Incentives for Participation

• By Patricia Deubel
• 09/16/09

In July 2007, the National School Board Association published results of three surveys regarding social networking, which included 9- to 17-year-olds, parents, and school district leaders in charge of Internet policy. While it came as no surprise that 52 percent of all districts interviewed prohibited any use of social networking sites in school, an interesting result with implications for schools was that "almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork" (NSBA, 2007, p. 1). The NSBA also found that schools and especially parents have strong expectations about the positive roles that social networking could play in students' lives, and both are interested in social networking as a tool.

With this in mind, one has to wonder why social networking has not been leveraged more in schools to enhance the education of youth. A quick answer would have to do with ensuring their online safety, which has posed a challenge to schools, as well as the typical issues surrounding introduction of any innovation. Such issues include factors that teachers can not easily influence or alter: research and policy factors and factors inherent to technology itself, and those factors that they can influence: district/school factors such as culture, factors associated with teachers' and students' beliefs, attitudes, experience, technology skills, and so on, and the technology-enhanced project itself (Groff & Mouza, 2008, cited in Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff, & Haas, 2009, p. 16).

However, there are at least two more issues to consider. District leaders want some evidence that social networking would fulfill their expectation of adding strong educational value and purpose. According to NSBA, before district leaders would buy into social networking for school use, there would need to be a strong emphasis on collaborative and planned activities, strong tools for students to express themselves, and an emphasis on bringing different kinds of students together, all with adult monitoring. I would add that social networking activities have not been promoted in schools, in part, owing to how student achievement has been measured as mandated by the No Child Left Behind accountability system, which has strongly influenced daily life in classrooms.

So where is the evidence that district leaders need, and what are the incentives for participation in social networking activities? Such evidence is tied to providing a 21st century global education, including project-based learning, which connects the social and the networking to curriculum and standards. An additional incentive considers the value and renewed focus on the development of the whole child, if changes in school accountability noted within School Accountability: A Broader Bolder Approach (BBA, 2009) become a reality.

Going Global
Interest in social networking in education is global, as evidenced by the wiki Social Networks in Education, which contains a "must-see" extensive list of social networks used in a variety of educational environments or for educational purposes. While open-access sites like Flickr, MySpace, YouTube, Del.icio.us, and Facebook might easily come to mind and contain relevant curricular content or groups with dedicated purpose (e.g. YouTube's education channel or Flickr's Visual Story Telling), schools often ban their use. They might be considered just too global and too scary. You'll find some alternatives among the Global Projects listed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria, Australia. Childnet International, a London (UK) based company, provides additional information, advice, ideas and examples, and resources for using social networking services with young people at its Digizen.org.

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http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/05/051548/student-gripes-voiced-social-networking/news-breaking/

By RONNIE BLAIR | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 5, 2010

Updated: 03:48 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - Teenagers have always griped about their schools and teachers.

Maybe they traded snide remarks about a less-than-effective chemistry instructor as they enjoyed lunch in the cafeteria. Maybe they gathered in small cliques at the mall and railed about unfair rules handed down by the principal.

Regardless, the complaints usually were heard only by those within listening distance.

These days, though, students can turn to social networking sites on the Internet to air their gripes and reach a much wider audience, including an audience that might not be receptive to the message.
That's what landed Alex Fuentes into trouble.

Last month, the senior at Wesley Chapel High in Pasco County was booted from his school's National Honor Society after he created a Facebook page critical of the school and its D grade from the state.

Fuentes, 18, said the page started as a joke, but he was also frustrated by the school's poor showing on the state's grading system. Plenty of other students jumped on the Facebook page to offer at times profane comments about Wesley Chapel High.

Fuentes said his school's chapter of the National Honor Society accused him of violating his pledge to be loyal to the school and dismissed him from the organization. He decided to transfer to another school.

Fuentes' page was hardly unique, though.

Search Facebook for nearly any high school or middle school in the Tampa Bay area and – with a few exceptions – at least one or more pages will appear. Pages also are dedicated to some elementary schools.

Often they deal with innocuous subjects. Alumni share information about class reunions or the whereabouts of former classmates. In many cases, people praise the schools and express happiness with their high school experiences.

On other pages, though, students and former students slam their schools, rag on the teachers or discuss instances of discrimination, drug use, weapons on campus and inappropriate activities or comments by school staff.

Facebook is just one of many social networking locations. Teenagers can just as easily use MySpace and Twitter to trade barbs about their schools.

It's a new world of student communication where the principal or superintendent has little to no control over a message that reaches a much larger audience than would a critical article in the school newspaper.

School districts say they don't have the manpower or the inclination to try to monitor or refute all the information circulating out there.

"We are in no way the police of MySpace," said Summer Romagnoli, a spokeswoman for the Pasco County school district. "That's not really our role."

In the Fuentes case, she noted, the student was accused of violating National Honor Society rules, not school rules.

Linda Cobbe, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County school district, said she does not know of any cases in Hillsborough where a student was disciplined over critical comments written on Facebook or other social media sites.

Cobbe said district employees in Hillsborough can't even access Facebook from work because a filtering system blocks it.

That isn't to say student social-networking sites are ignored completely.

Law enforcement officers might check the sites to learn about drug activity or crimes. Also, Cobbe said she knew of at least one situation in Hillsborough where threats were investigated.

School district officials also could get involved if a parent or student makes them aware of cyber bullying or other potential violations of the student code of conduct that have a direct impact on the operation of the schools.

Case law on what school districts can and should do about comments on the sites is still evolving, though, Romagnoli said.

"It's sort of a new territory for public education," she said.

Just this week, a U.S. appeals court said Pennsylvania school students can be disciplined for creating MySpace parodies of school officials at home — but only if they are likely to disrupt school.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court reached different conclusions in two cases Thursday that involve suspending students for fake MySpace pages created off-campus.

In a Mercer County case, the court's 2-1 opinion said a high school cannot reach into a family's home and police Internet speech.

But another three-judge panel said Schuylkill County school officials can suspend a teen for her sexually explicit parody of her principal. The panel says the school could expect the posting to disrupt school.

Any member of Facebook can create a group or page about nearly any subject. One Facebook page dedicated to Hillsborough County's new Steinbrenner High, which opened in August, is titled "Steinbrenner High School is Hell."

Only a few people have bothered to leave comments on the page, though some of those who did laced them with profanities.

Students and former students on a page about Durant High discuss their least favorite teachers, naming names.

One of the topics on the discussion board for the Durant High page is titled "Evil Evil Teachers that Should be Flicked in the Head."

A topic on an Alonso High discussion board is "You know you go to Alonso when. . ."

Some responses are whimsical, but others raise issues about discrimination, weapons, drugs and inappropriate comments by teachers.

It isn't just limited to high schools. Middle school students and alumni also trade memories and critiques of teachers and principals.

"Because it's a forum out there, it goes unchallenged," said Lizette Alexander, Pasco's director of student services. "I write whatever I want and that's my First Amendment right. But it creates a one-sided perception."

Even if they discover inaccurate information on one of the sites, district officials can't really respond, especially if the comments relate to confidential information such as the discipline of individual students.

Sherri Dunham, a student services supervisor, said Pasco schools teach character education and Internet use has been added to that curriculum to encourage students to be more responsible.

Alexander said parents can help by discussing with their children the responsible use of First Amendment rights.

"You need to use good judgment about where you go [on the Internet] and what you put out there about yourself," she said.