It is necessary as a teacher to submerse ourselves in the world our students are growing up in today. Building personal learning networks is an important part of creating self-determined learners. Using technology allows students to have more freedom which spurs them to further question and find answers.
One of the things that stuck out to me from the video was Richardson's comment about students already having facebook accounts and what that means for us as teachers. We have the ability to help student explore these networks in safe ways, to help students understand how to use these networks for learning purposes and safe social purposes. It reminds me that internet safety must be taught as part of this process. I think sometimes I take that for granted --since I know what is safe and what is not. Students however need explicit instruction.
The five blogs I commented on are Foster's Findings, FairyPrincipal, My Teaching Life, Ms. Maddox 2nd grade, and Johnson's Journey.
I totally get your point on the safety aspect. That terrifies me, being a bit of a self-professed controller (hee hee)! At school we have 'the powers that be' to help govern what is appropriate and what isn't. But at home...who is looking over their shoulder as our students explore the wonderous web?
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