During the process of setting up my PBworks account, I took the time to examine some of the lesson plans that instructors have developed on wikis. There are numerous ideas for diverse courses. Will Richardson also points out the many ways  that wikis are being used in education and suggests viewing the “tinyurl.com” (Richardson, 2010, pg.66) site.
       Wikis have obviously gained ground in pedagogy. To begin, the “Building your PBworks class” page offers an introduction to the use of wikis.  In addition, PBworks step by step guide offers educators, otherwise unfamiliar with  using a wiki, a simple process of getting started; including some resourceful ideas. Having a distinct section for educators, facilities and universities gives PBworks a distinct advantage over Facebook, because the education section reflects a separation between education and personal life. As a social network Facebook  lacks this feature.
       Reflecting back,  EDU 651 week three discussions revealed that there are apparent concerns regarding  Facebook privacy issues. The conflict between what is considered private in an individual’s life, and the realm of  formal education remains a concern when considering a social network for formal education.  
       Discovering that there are a number of applications that can be used to develop  learning courses on FB is  impressive, yet, not proming enough  to override the concerns. It would be advantageous for Facebook to supply a seperate section for educators. It is therefore fair to contend that PBworks is better equipped to consider the needs of instructors than Facebook (FB).  
Richardson (2010).Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (3^rd ed) Corwin

                                                      

Among the tasks for the week were establishing an FB Group, linking the PBworks learning course to the FB group and starting a bookmarking account with delicious. Subsequently, sending e-college emails to colleagues with account links. 

Challenges included:                        

• Having to Add  potential group members as Facebook Friends in order to add them to group list.

• Difficulty masteing delicious in such a short time, with numerous other assignments to contend with.

Positive Aspects

• FB has an option to keep the group "closed" or "secret."
• PBworks site is complimentary to educators in the establishment of learning courses.

        Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate: Should Online  Privacy for Educators Exist?

The Charlotte teacher in question, had posted statements on her Facebook page regarding the school  and students in her class. The comments were made unwittingly, as the teacher assumed that her Facebook page is private and her friends were the only ones viewing it.

• Should the teacher who posted the comments to her friends be disciplined for her remarks she thought were made in private?
• How responsible are educators for their online content?
• Should online privacy exist for students and educators?
• Should we be able to separate our professional and personal profiles on social networks? Would it actually be feasible?

 To begin, the Family Educational Rights of Privacy Act FERPA asserts that “agencies must maintain, for public inspection, a list of employees who have access to personally identifiable information”(pg.8). This in essence, suggests that all employees who have access to student information are required to follow the guidelines.

 Family Educational Rights of Privacy Act (FERPA) is explicit in what information may not be exposed, and to who it may be revealed.  Educational records protected under FERPA are defined as “information directly related to a student, specifically any information recorded in any way” (pg10). This includes “handwriting, print, computer media, videotape or audiotape, film, microfilm, and microfiche; and maintained by an education agency or institution, or by parties acting for the agency or institution (e.g., special education schools and health or social services institutions”(pg.10).

When “the suspended teacher wrote, “I am teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte”( Schaffhauser, November19, 2008,¶14), she was, in fact, revealing the economic status of students at the Thomasboro Elementary School to people not necessarily on the “list of employees” (National Forum on Education Statistics, pg.8). Furthermore, because a student’s financial status is documented at the school for purposes of free lunches or statistics, it falls under the guidelines of protected information.  The National School Lunch Act of 1994 “protects the privacy of information that agencies collect from families of children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals.”(pg 8)

Is there any relevance to the fact that the teacher was on her private Facebook page? When considering that she was divulging protected information in a manner unacceptable to FERPA guidelines. When should a teacher’s right to privacy excel over that of a student’s? 

 FERPA standards insist on teachers admonishing the privacy of students and adhering to the laws set before them. Educators are implicitly responsible for their online content because the private information of their students is entrusted to them.  FERPA sets the standards and the teachers enforce those standards. Is

Facebook privacy  really  the issue here? Or should educators  know their boundaries regarding what information can be shared and what is private.

Schools afford educators and other employees a private, secure means of discussing student information through school and district communication systems that are only accessible to specific employees. Isn't this where the separation exists?

Instructors today must teach students that whatever they put online stays online and to be cautious about what they write.

 It is imperative that instructors  set the example of appropriate online communications for their students.

Students, on the other hand, do not have access to private information regarding teachers, so whatever they write is not under scrutiny.

What students choose to write has much to do with the models that are set for them. 
Here's a thought:

Now that we have reasoned that standards are set in place for instructors to follow in America, we face a much greater impasse. Who will set the standards for online communications, and what will they be when there is no universal code of ethics?

Clasen-Kelly, F (November 14, 2008). Teachers and Facebook: Privacy vs. Standards. Retrieved April 12, 2011 from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2008/11/14/349354/teachers-and-facebook-privacy.html  

 

National Forum on Education Statistics. Forum Guide to Protecting the Privacy of Student Information: State and Local Education Agencies, NCES 2004–330. Washington, DC: 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2011 from nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/2004330.pdf

Schaffhauser, D (November, 19, 2008)  Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate:  

            Should Online Privacy for Educators Exist? Retrieved April 10, 2011 from   

            http://thejournal.com/articles/2008/11/19/suspended-teacher-in-facebook-incident-

            ignites-debate-should-online-privacy-for-educators-exist.aspx

Week two assignments include the development of this blog; a required assignment, which will be ongoing throughout the course. In addition, this week's assignments include twittering the blog. Learning to use these technology tools, and interlink them reveals innovative ways for a student to reflect, communicate thoughts, collaborate with others, and share ideas.
Developing a learning course wiki represents the greatest challenge of this weeks assignments. There are several elements to consider when using a wiki for learning, which include anticipating pitfalls. Most pitfalls  appear to relate to the actual interactions between a group of learners. These include fear and mistrust, which are in fact ”natural reactions”(West & West,2009, pg 46) according to James A. West and Margaret L. West, authors of ”Using Wikis for Online Collaboration “ (2009). Subsequently, conflicts can occur among group members when project standards are disregarded, and/or an imbalance of contribution among members exists.
The lack of “constructive editing ” (52) can create conflict and affect the wiki outcome. West and West list unflattering “behaviors ”(52) of editing, which include, do-it-all, over organizer, wikitroll, empty pager and lockdown manager. Because the objective is to have a successful wiki outcome, dependent on member editing, both monitoring and process checks should be adopted in early planning and structured as an assessment in the project. Individual assessments should also be prearranged into the course. These elements would prove helpful in confronting and resolving an individual’s failure to contribute and avoid “sticky wikis” (55).  Project coordinator, Brian Lamb, with the Office of Learning Technology at the University of British Columbia claims that overall " a wiki will generally have little difficulty remaining stable, assuming that people see value in its existence and have a genuine interest in keeping things tidy" (pg.6).  Much confusion and dismay can be prevented by initially clarifying members roles and responsibilities, establishing a “wiki etiquette” (38), and group “ ground rules”(38), promoting learners use of discussion tools, and having a clear understanding of the difference between controversy and conflict.

    
Lamb, B. Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not. Retrieved April 07, 2011 from http://tccl.rit.albany.edu/knilt/images/c/c1/Lamb(final).doc 
 West, J.A. & West, M.L (2009).Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read/Write Web. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 

Over the past few years, adolescent online content creators and mass global users, have ushered in the manifestation of Tim Berners Lee’s vision of a“collaborative (Read/Write) medium” (Richardson, 2010, pg.1) with the development of cost free, accessible, uncomplicated, internet publishing tools. Availability to create weblogs, wikis, podcasts and various, other online applications has inspired a massive increase of internet readers and writers around the globe, all conceding to sharing their opinions, ideas, products, stories and creating online media. In 2009, “Technorate.com noted “133 million blogs” (Richardson, 2010, pg 2). In addition,




Wikipedia currently has approximately “ 3 million separate entries” on subjects from A to Z. Early on founder Jimmy Wales, compelled us to "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge” (Richardson, 2010, pg 55). Today we are witnessing the reality that anyone who can read and write has the ability to create online media, and second by second, the world wide web is drawing closer to becoming “the sum of the source of all human knowledge”(pg.55) .




It’s all very exciting, but there is a downside from the perspective of education where many students exceed “their teachers in computer literacy” (Richardson, 2010, pg 6). Over the past few years, “tens of thousands of teachers… have begun using” (pg.6) technology tools to bridge the gap. These include blogs and wikis, which have a number of pedagogical uses and advantages. The web is flooded with resources for educators. This week’s coursework revealed the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 by Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html
Educators today face a number of challenges when instructing students to become efficient online “readers, writers…editors… collaborators and publishers” (pg. 6). In this Read/Write era where anyone can author online content, students must understand the anomaly of online data and the importance of testing authorship and authenticity prior to accepting it as accurate. Major, ongoing challenges for teachers remain in the area of ensuring student privacy and protecting their students from “inappropriate content” (12).




References




Richardson (2010).Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (3rd ed) Corwin




West, J.A. & West, M.L (2009).Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read/Write Web. John Wiley and Sons Inc.