To be Safe, or to be perceived as being Risk Free.

I have just read Graham Wegner’s post on Risk Free Classroom, and he makes some very good points.

I am on the OH&S Committee at our School and we have had some broken limbs on our play equipment, in the same way that Graham has mentioned. The Committee discussed this issue of the Play Equipment just last week and decided that we as a College had met all of the Safety requirements for this piece of equipment, and that there was a known risk involved, but the benefits of having this type of equipment on “Growth and Skills” really outweighed these risks.

Of course all this has come about because of Al Upton and his Mini Legend’s being closed down. Which in itself has raised the awareness of a narrow minded thinking towards safety and the use of Social Networking on the Internet.

I also read this comment by Bill Farren, posted in response to Al’s Reason for Closure page. Bill quoted a comment made by Rachel Dretzin, co- Producer and co-writer of PBS’s Frontline – Growing Up Online (on their site, in the What We Learned write-up): You can watch the full program on line, and/or download the transcript of the show.

Rachel says:

“One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child’s vulnerability to predation.”

So what are the risks of using Technology in our Classrooms? What would be better, to tech our students about the use of Social Networking and other Web 2.0 tools in a Class setting with a Teacher as Moderator, or to let them continue to learn about these things in the real world, in their own time, without any supervision. There are correct ways to interact on-line. There are correct ways to use these tools. Having a knowledge abut how your comments may be seen or perceived by others are all part of our Students learning. Why are they so often left to their own devices in these area’s.

On the other side of the coin, what risk are we putting our “Tech Savvy” students under by placing them in a classroom with a misoneistic Teacher and thinking that they will actually learn anything. That is a bigger Risk, and a greater disservice to me.

I also promise I’ll stop using my newly learnt word now too.