Newfound Technocalities

This entry has been sitting here in draft form since last fall. I haul it out every once in a while, revise it a little, then put it back in draft form. But tonight at the regional Title One conference, there was discussion about student bloggers that made this particular post again come to the forefront for me. Now I can’t stop thinking about it – which must mean it’s time to go public with it.

This year, in addition to Technocalities, I’ve maintained a personal blog. It started out as a place to post photos that I was trying to make myself take more of. But it quickly became a narrative of sorts – with a photo to accompany each entry. And two big surprises have come from it: I work harder at the writing part than I ever expected I would – and I actually look forward to doing it. How did that happen???

Usually I post late in the evening, just before the end of my day. Throughout the day, I think about an idea, a notion, the content of the day’s post. I find myself composing phrases at odd times. If I come up with something I really like, I often make a note to myself. I even started a running list of ideas about which to post – old stories and memories, things that are on my mind, that sort of thing. When I finally do sit down to blog, I have my dictionary application open so I can check spelling and reference the thesaurus. I compose the day’s post, then I reread and revise. Mull over my choices of words. Vary my sentence structure. Make sure the paragraph flows. Try to be concise but clear. I work hard on the ending trying for a big finish. When I think I’ve got it right, I publish – and then shut down for the night. But in the morning with coffee, after I’ve caught up on the news, after I’ve checked email and the weather, I read the post again. If it needs tweaking, I do it then. I find it helps in the revision process to have that little bit of distance from the original writing session.

Doesn’t this sound familiar??? Isn’t this precisely what we ask our kids to do when they write?

What is it that drives me to put so much effort into something as trivial as a photo blog? It’s because I know it’s being read. At this writing, I have a small audience. Very small, actually – but it’s an audience nonetheless. And, as I write, I am becoming more and more aware of the impact of my writing on this audience. I do believe I’m hooked. And I can not tell you how surprised I am by that.

So here’s my question: Could the same thing happen for kids who blog? Does it? Does their sense of audience drive them to work harder at writing than they ever thought they would? Might they find they actually like to write? I wonder.

This weekend I read an article called New Approach To Online Safety Education which summarizes new research about kids who use social networking sites and their likelihood of internet victimization. The author, Larry Magid, has written about internet safety for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and hosts websites dealing with online safety for kids and teens. The research comes from several universities, including UNH.

In the past, safety measures have focused on the importance of not posting personal information like name, age, location, school, phone number, etc. While this is a good practice for children, the three studies cited suggest that this may not be the most important message for us to be relaying.

The data is consistent with other recent findings that have caused the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to no longer focus on “stranger danger” but rather the types of interactions that children are having with other people, including both strangers and acquaintances.

The types of interactions? The obviously risky ones like sex talk with someone met online. But also the less obvious – rude or nasty commenting and harassing or embarrasing others in a virtual setting. The kind of behavior we teachers don’t allow in school. The kind we trust parents don’t allow at home. Perhaps now the adult message needs to be stronger that these behaviors are unacceptable everywhere – including in the virtual world where we encourage anonymity and true identities can be hidden behind usernames and avatars.

This new research doesn’t mean we’ll change our message to kids about posting personal information. But even our young students chat – with each other as well as with unknown players in virtual settings. For their own safety, they need to learn to be as cautiously respectful online as they are off.

This month’s issue of Orion Magazine has a thought-provoking article, Leave No Child Inside, about re-emphasizing the waning relationship between children and nature.

Studies of children in schoolyards with both green areas and manufactured play areas have found that children engaged in more creative forms of play in the green areas, and they also played more cooperatively. Recent research also shows a positive correlation between the length of children’s attention spans and direct experience in nature. Studies at the University of Illinois show that time in natural settings significantly reduces symptoms of attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder in children as young as age five. The research also shows the experience helps reduce negative stress and protects psychological well-being, especially in children undergoing the most stressful life events.

The article continues to outline obvious physical and physiological benefits to being outside, then launches into the not-so-obvious, cognitive ones that affect not just science skills, but also reading, math, and social studies. It states that studies show self-esteem, problem-solving, and motivation are all impacted by learning from nature. The author hints at a link between children’s stress levels and frequency of outdoor experiences. And to make a point, he relates a wonderful story about Ansel Adams as a young boy.

The article poses all sorts of questions. How does information like this relate to the testing movement of NCLB? What of children’s increasing use of technology in school and at home? Does the incidence of working families have an impact in this area? What are the implications for us in education? Do children’s interactions with nature or lack of it affect their future responsibility for the welfare of the Earth?

Reading this brought to mind childhood experiences outdoors that helped make me who I am. Many of us have memories like this. Will kids today have these memories too?