Autumn’s Portfolio

One of the presentations that I have found to be quite interesting and I just found this one of my google reader thinger, was about motivating student writers through connectiving students through blogs, chats and videos. This is an excellant idea for any grade in any school because it doesn’t actually have to be students from another country who they can connect to but even just students from another city or province. This is an amazing idea because it connects students together and helps them realize that beyond their town or city there is a larger world that can be explored. In this presentation they talk about how they have connected students from different countries and how they have been able to form friendships between the kids and let them communicate and get to know each more simply through posts and comments. This would be an amazing thing to try out in a classroom because it helps students understand that there is more going on in the world then just what they see in the news or hear from someone. Also it helps students build friendships that even though they may be far away, there is a comfort in knowing someone new and when they get older they may run into that individual some where. The feeling of being connected is important for students because sometimes they may have difficultly making friends where they live but if they have a chance to talk to someone and slowly grow they may begin to feel more confident. This idea is also unique because it shows how different people around the world can show and teach people about how their lives are and how they may differ from another persons. This gives a better cultural understanding for students who may only see other cultures as they are betrayed through the media without understanding the details. In my opinion this is a great learning tool because it can cross over multiple subjects and brings the idea of connecting everyone in the world instead of making it seem like a strange world where no one actually knows anything beyond their own home.

Since the creation of ICQ, MSN and emails, cyber bullying has become more of a problem I think. Its easier for kids to go online and attack another student through words, messages and now even videos and websites. Its the most frustrating thing because there is not really any way of stopping this and if someone accuses an individual of doing something they don’t have solid proof besides any messages or websites that they may have. The problem wiht the internet is its so easy to be anonymous or be someone completely different. Cyber bullying is just a easy way for kids to attack each other without the fear of parents and teachers getting directly involved because they may see it occur on the play ground during recess or after school or even in the class room. Though there are programs created to encourage students to stop this trend there is really no certain way that it can be done. It is easy to tell students that harrassing people is wrong and that what they are doing is inappropriate but there is no way to have solid proof that a particular person sent an email or created a website for the entire world to see by simply typing a few words into the a search engine.
From personal experience I have actually been harassed online by a group of people and things actually went completely out of hand. It started when I was in high school and a girl I was friends with for many years began to dislike the new group of people I was hanging out with so she befriended them also and then began to spread rumors and lies about me to them. This then set of a barrage of emails and msn chats harassing me and telling to go kill myself. It went so far as a few people found out my parents email address (which I still do not know how they managed that to this day) and began sending harassing emails to them saying that I was into drugs and alcohol, when I never have been. This was extremely hard for me because being only half done high school and suddenly having a supposedly great group of friends turn against you because the one person who you thought was your best friend decided that she did not like the way things were going. In the end I stopped speaking and having anything to do with any of those people. Also I set up blocks on my email and msn account so that they could not contact me anymore. Another thing that occurred that made the harassment stop was that my parents went to each persons house and spoke personally to all of the peoples parents. This did not go over well but I never received another harassing letter or MSN message from these people. I know I have a slightly more positive ending to my story then some people who do not have a way to get away from the harassment and have to be pulled from highschool. I personally think that cyber bullying is just a cheap way for kids to avoid saying their feelings face to face in fear of the consequences and actions of another person. Also I think it is just not fair and if someone does have an issue with a person they should just flat out tell them instead of hiding behind a computer screen and lettting words on a computer screen be there fighting words.

I found a few video’s that relate to this idea.