The Upgrade Begins

Today an expert tech contractor (i hope) arrived to begin upgrading our school network from B.C. DSL to Y2K T1. Yes, it's not THAT much better for a network of our size, but it's a big step up. We had some crazy weather that took out many trees and powerlines, which translates to a delayed installation of our cable backup. Seems like it's going well, though, and our network tech Paul is having more of a conversation with the "expert" than I have ever heard him have with anyone else ever. I suppose I just don't speak his language, humph.

Digital Natives: Growing Up Online

Tomorrow, I'm giving a presentation at a law firm in DC on MySpaceFacebook Social networking issues. I'm posting the presentation online here:

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Virtual Playground

I never got around to publishing my research paper on Social Networking and Identity Development for the Marshall McLuhan class I took in the Fall. This 14 page paper outlines the research I synthesized from various cutting-edge researchers on the topic of how socializing online affects children's development, specifically their sense of self, or identity.
You can read it here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg9rtthh_5g6zxftfp

Most Recent Presentation Resources

I'm preparing for a presentation next week in DC about Social Networking. Here are the resources I plan on using for the presentation. They are in no particular order at this point:

NetFamilyNews Blog
http://www.netfamilynews.org/

Frontline: Growing Up Online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

Megan Meier Chicago Tribune Story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-megan-meier-myspace-080515-ht,0,1888103.story
CNN Story on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFsfDLCkfQU
Megan Meier Memorial MySpace Page
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=282649353

Olivia Gardner Story in San Francisco Chronicle (Bullying)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/23/MNGTFPVVON1.DTL

Avery Donninger Case: Hartford Courant Newsarticle
http://www.courant.com/community/news/fv/hc-doninger0530.artmay30,0,5206405.story

Instant Messenger Dictionary
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/mediaglossary-lexicon.html

Crimes Against Children Research Center 2006 Report
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/cv138.pdf

Pew Internet Research Center: Teens and Social Media
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.asp

Pew Internet Research Center: Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/211/report_display.asp

Tips For Removing Offensive Profiles from Various Social Networking Sites
http://www.cyberbullyhelp.com/Help%20Tips%20for%20Reporting%20Offensive%20Profiles.pdf

Internet Filter Review and Comparison
http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/

AOL Parental Controls Download
www.parentalcontrols.aol.com/

The World Village Comes A'visitin'

This week marked a momentous occasion for our World Village initiative: we had our first visitor. Now, it's not the first visitor the school ever had, but it's the first to occur because of our global connections initiative. Mr. Samuel Yalew is the founder of the Ethio International School in Bahirdar. He stayed with my family for an evening after a week-long conference in DC, then visited our school for a day. He gave informative and interesting presentations to our 2nd, 3rd and 8th graders. I was not only impressed at Mr. Yalew's ability to communicate and connect with our students but also with our own students' questions in response--they were thoughtful and insightful. Here are some images: