Comments on: Online Safety is for Teachers Too

By: Internet Safety Week | The World is Round

Internet Safety Week | The World is Round — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:15:28 +0000

[...] teachers very little has been done. As Dennis Harter alluded to on his Thinking Allowed blog, ‘Online Safety is for Teachers Too’, web 2.0 technology and sites such as FaceBook and MySpace are making this a real issue. [...]

By: Dennis Harter

Dennis Harter — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:29:58 +0000

Chad,
You are so right. From a professional stand point, it is best to assume it’s public no matter what you do to lock down your profile. You never know what “friend” will later turn out to be a potential boss or even the friend of a potential boss.

Or worse yet, a parent or board member.

It’s one thing to behave responsibly, it’s another to make sure it’s documented. Or in other words, to make sure behaving irresponsibly is not.

By: setab

setab — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:05:19 +0000

Dennis,

Thanks for posting this link, topical for me at the moment. Whether it’s online through FaceBook, MySpace, at a football game or down at the local pub … as a teacher I must know the audience and act in a way that is appropriate. KNOW THE AUDIENCE … KNOW THE AUDIENCE … KNOW THE AUDIENCE.
One of the issues with FaceBook is, can you really know the audience? Sure you can only allow friends to see your profile, but what’s to say your friends don’t share the information with others (as a group of Middle School students found out here recently). I’m now of the opinion you have to assume that anyone can see your FaceBook account.

By: Dennis Harter

Dennis Harter — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:28:03 +0000

Rebecca, great to hear from you. Elisabeth is not alone. While what we mean by “private” hasn’t changed, where we think privacy is has. While we continue to transition into a constantly changing technological landscape of new tools, we hold on to our old understandings and ways in a world where different rules apply.

Some words that have different meaning online vs unplugged:

Friends

Sharing

Photo albums

The level to which those are public in the online world is something many people aren’t prepared for or at least aren’t thinking about.

Thanks for the comment!

By: Rebecca Lemos

Rebecca Lemos — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:07:26 +0000

Thank you for sharing this Dennis. I tell my students this all the time, and Elisabeth, too. They seem to believe Facebook is “private” but it isn’t as this article demonstrates. I will send it to USF!

By: Dennis Harter

Dennis Harter — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:01:06 +0000

Will Richardson has written a post on this WashPost article as well.

The conversation in the comments is worth reading.