We’ve seen some really good stories during the last several days concerning how students and teachers behave online.
• The Christian Science Monitor reports that a new study by Chicago youth-market research firm TRU finds one in three American teens has been the target of cyberbullying, and more than half say they know someone their age who has been targeted. This comes just days after a recent report that showed the issue lurked way behind on the list of parental Internet safety concerns, even after the cyberbullying-related suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi early this month.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that parents are reactive, rather than proactive, to cyberbulling issues, as one expert tells The Christian Science Monitor.
• Meanwhile, Converge has a feature about the Connected Principals blog, a blog authored by principals and for principals that aims to give insights about successful school administration and in the process show principals the benefits of using social networking for learning.
While the blog’s 24 authors from around the world mainly write and tweet, they also reach other administrators via a community Facebook page and monthly Elluminate sessions.
• And in Wisconsin, the Fond du Lac Reporter talks to local educators about the friend-or-not-to-friend debate that affects tech-savvy teachers who try to weave Facebook into their brick-and-mortar classrooms.
The Reporter found some teachers resisted “friending” their students because of responsibility of reporting any illegal or inappropriate student activities, but that others felt friending students helped uncover issues students might not want to discuss with a teacher face-to-face.