Storify and social media

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Anna Kim

In my paper about educational technology, I mentioned Storify as a great classroom tool. After watching the president’s speech last night, I decided to create a story of my own and pulled in various news items, images, and even tweets. The tool is simple to use. Items from the web can be accessed easily via the actual website; however, twitter doesn’t load properly if there are too many people trying to access it at once, like last night. Occasionally, I looked through my own RSS reader and copied links from there to Storify because I didn’t like the options that showed up on the Google News app on Storify. Regardless, I can see this tool being used in class as a way for students to create stories that make sense of the events that are happening in the world by giving them some context.
[View the story "10 years" on Storify]

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Technology in the 21st Century Classroom

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Anna Kim

One of the major issues facing education is how technology can be used in the classroom in a way that is effective to teaching, learning, and assessment. The National Education Technology Plan was created by the Department of Education in order to address these issues.
Once schools have decided on the best way to approach technology, they must take a proactive stance, rather than a reactive one. It is more common for schools to take punitive measures when it comes to digital and social media tools, which are actually ineffective and deleterious to learning. In order to prevent this, school districts must create not only an acceptable use policy, but also a social media policy that directly addresses these issues.
Using the National Education Technology Plan as a guideline, the paper discusses how technology can be used effectively in a 21st century classroom by suggesting various digital tools for each area and practical applications for each. The rest of the paper discusses the three common barriers that prevent schools from properly utilizing technology tools.

Read the paper here.

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Collaboration

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Anna Kim

Often, we’re afraid to collaborate with one another because we’re afraid. We afraid of not having time to get our own work done. We’re afraid that our ideas won’t be accepted. We’re afraid that the other individual(s) may not be prepared.
Take the risk anyway. You may be amazed at what develops.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9jghLeYufQ]

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The (Digital) Natives are Restless

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Anna Kim

Technology is often underused in education where most often the Power Point presentation is considered to be the epitome of high-tech. For some reason, seasoned educators scoff at social media and other digital tools as effective ways of reaching out to our students. At the same time, these educators do not consider technology in ways that could help them become better collaborators and teachers. Those of us in education have been aware for some time that we are in the season of change. Not only must we deal with the economics of the times and politics, but we also must face the issue that the way that our students learn today is vastly different from the way we used to learn before. Educators are trained to be reflective practitioners and the best ones generally do spend time reflecting on their practice. Therefore, they are cognizant of their students’ strengths and weaknesses. Even the media tells us that more children are venturing online. Knowing what we know, why are educators reluctant to face the future and persist in sticking with the past?

Barriers

Using John Palfrey’s book, Born Digital, as the basis for my paper, I am going to address three issues that I believe affect how technology is (or is not) implemented in education.

  1. Budget

    2. We can’t deny that technology costs money and there is very little money available right now. There may be many schools and school districts that are eager to implement new databases, purchase new computers, but just simply lack the funds to do so. In this section, I will discuss and suggest some cheap options for schools and individual teachers. The following are just a couple examples of resources that will be included.

    • How to Use QR Codes in the Classroom is one way of implementing cheap technology.
    • YouTube: Create Easy Digital Storytelling is a way for students to create digital stories without needing any expensive equipment.
    • Open Yale Courses is a program that is offered through Yale University. Though this is not a resource site, per se, with worksheets and suggested activities, teachers who have gifted students will appreciate the content of the lectures which range from Astronomy to Sociology.
  2. Fear

    3. What usually prevents us from trying new things is because we are afraid of either change or the thing itself. Despite its prevalence, technology is a somewhat frightening entity for many individuals, probably because the rate at which it changes and renews itself is completely mind-boggling. That leaves us with two options: go off-grid or embrace. As educators, we must always choose the latter option. The following are some ways that timid educators can get their feet wet before they dive right in.

    • ReadWriteWeb is a website that often reviews upcoming technology, both hardware and software (physical devices and programs/apps). Though this is a bit tech-heavy, it is worth culling the posts as some great gems can be found. For example, can’t attend any major conferences this year? Visit Lanyrd and track the ones you want. There are additional resources available on the site from previous conferences in the form of audio clips, videos, and slides. This is one of the sites highlighted by ReadWriteWeb recently.
    • Tumblr has a strong education community with its own featured #Education tag. Though it’s better to be a Tumblr user and actively participate, membership is not necessary since a user can just search by tag. How effective is this? The three resources suggested in the previous section are from my Tumblr feed.
    • The Horizon Report from the EduCause Conference is a great resource for librarians and educators who are interested in preparing for the future of educational technology. For those who are a bit timid and nervous about the rapid changes, this is a great way to get ahead of the game, so to speak.
  3. Lack of discernment

    4. I asked a friend if she ever felt that her school wanted her to use technology without giving her instruction on how to use it or even why she should use it. Her response was, “Yes, and sometimes they don’t give us proper training. We are just supposed to figure it out” (Google Chat, April 17, 2011). When I asked her how she felt, she answered, “Well… with the smartboard, there was really solid training, but with other online software, it [was] only like a one day training, and then we are suppose to figure it out after that. It makes me feel very insecure about using technology”. I found her response very informative; however, I hope to find some more documentation or anecdotal evidence about how overeager acceptance of every new piece of technology or educational software is deleterious to the effective implementation of technology in the classroom.

Social Media

  1. Social Media Policy for School Districts
    Schools usually tend to treat student use of social media with draconian and often reactive measures that are generally ineffective. Rather than punish students (and teachers) who use Facebook or YouTube in school, administrators should draft a policy that is not punitive but informative.
  2. Bishop Lynch High School’s social media policy is a great example of how a school can both protect the students’ and teachers’ rights to use these common technology tools without sacrificing their responsibilities. I will break down what makes this an effective policy and discuss how this can impact student learning.

Collaboration
Among educators, collaboration is one of those ideas that gets tossed around so much that it just becomes another word that has lost its meaning. While this is unfortunate, this does not mean that educators should not collaborate. However, collaboration is something that can be done on a much grander scale and is not really limited to the physical building.

  1. Local

    2. From my experience, teachers who did not collaborate often did so because they did not have the time, not because they did not want to meet. This section will look at how technology can help teachers use their time effectively and still work with one another.

  2. Global

    3. Collaboration is not limited to just the one school. Thanks to technology, such as Skype in the Classroom, educators can share ideas with one another without having to meet.

Working Bibliography

Ahart, M., K. Miller, A. Rominiecki, K. Smith, and S. Yates. “Linking Up L4L: Web Sites to Support the New AASL Standards in Your Library. ” Teacher Librarian 38.3 (2011): 12-17. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Braun, Linda W. “Playing Keep Up with Emergent Technologies.” VOYA. Aug. 2005. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. http://www.voya.com/2010/03/30tag-team-tech-archives.

Brown, V.. “Digital Media Learning Supports Individuals With Cognitive Disabilities. ” Childhood Education 87.1 (2010): 61-64. Education Module, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Horton, Mark. “Education 2.0 – Social Networking and Education.” The Future of Work. 2 Nov. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. blog.socialcast.com/education-2-0-social-networking-and-education

Johnson, Doug. “How to Be Unpopular: No Teacher laptops.” Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog. 09 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. How to be unpopular: no teacher laptops.

Lamb, A., and L. Johnson. “Divergent Convergence Part 2: Teaching and Learning in a Transmedia World. ” Teacher Librarian 38.1 (2010): 64-69. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Lamb, A., and L. Johnson. “Sensible Approaches to Technology for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. ” Teacher Librarian 38.3 (2011): 62-67. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Lauby, Sharlyn. “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy.” €“Mashable. 2 June 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts

Loertscher, D.. “The Power of Technology to Enhance Learning. ” Teacher Librarian 38.3 (2011): 40-42. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Marcoux, E.. “Being Smart About Technology. ” Teacher Librarian 37.4 (2010): 87-89. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

“A New Direction for Jolicloud.” Jolicloud. 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. A new direction for Jolicloud.

Northwestern University: School of Education and Social Policy. “High-Tech Baldwin Learning Studio Dedicated.” Inquiry 12.1 (2011): 5.

Palfrey, John G., and Urs Gasser. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic, 2008.

Perez, L.. “The Role of School Librarians in Promoting the Use of Educational Technologies. ” Teacher Librarian 38.1 (2010): 72-73. Teacher Journals, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Richtel, Matt. “Growing Up Digital.” The New York Times Upfront: the Newsmagazine for Teens 31 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f013111_digital

Valenza, Joyce Kasman. “Manifesto for 21st Century School Librarians.” VOYA. Oct. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. www.voya.com/2010/09/15/tag-team-tech-october-2010

Valenza, Joyce Kasman. “You Know You’re a Twenty-First-Century Teacher-Librarian If….” VOYA. Oct. 2006. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. www.voya.com/2010/03/30/tag-team-tech-archives

Watters, Audrey. “Study Finds the Internet Makes Youth More Engaged Citizens.” ReadWriteWeb. 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_finds_the_internet_makes_youth_more_engaged.php

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Nerding (and Geeking) Out at the Library of Congress

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Anna Kim

Though I had lived in Maryland for a couple of years and visited most of the museums in the Smithsonian complex, I have never actually visited the Library of Congress. Yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the relatively nice weather to remedy that situation. While I knew that the Library of Congress has a strong online presence, I didn’t know that it was utilizing interactive technology in order to make their collections and exhibits much more accessible to all library visitors.
One of the first things that visitors see (aside from the security) is the information desk with an interactive display that shows users where all of the major exhibits are. Users can pick up a “passport” and then register it by putting the end with the bar code into the reader and then registering (or not–I accidentally added another item into my digital dossier by registering). Users are also given the option of then adding to their “collections” via the internet.

(I apologize for the quality of the images and videos.  It’s hard to take pictures and record video when one is technically not supposed to be doing either.)

If you’ve never been to the Library of Congress, it’s a good idea to see what is on exhibit in order to have a plan.  I was at the Thomas Jefferson Building and, compared to one of the Smithsonian museums, it’s not actually that large, so it’s not hard to see the exhibits in one day.

As per the Library of Congress’ posted requests to refrain from photography, I did not take any pictures or videos of the exhibits, but I do have some artifacts of the technology.  Of all the exhibits and interactive displays, the two that really stood out for me were in the Creating the United States and Exploring the Early Americas exhibits.

Creating the United States

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZtNpwnTQPE]

The interactive display has a lot of movement, which attracts any user who is standing near it.  The simplicity of use combined with minimal instructions makes this a very user-friendly experience.

This display shows the Declaration of Independence as it was originally written.  However, due to handwriting, age of paper, deterioration of the ink, and copying to a digital format, it is difficult to make out the actual text.  Because this is incomprehensible, it is boring for the average visitor and/or student on a field trip.  What is the Library of Congress to do?

Why, translate it, of course!

Using the touch screen interface, users can choose one of the pre-selected sections (these are highlighted) and read the original words, along with any revisions and cuts that did not make it in the final draft.  This “translation” makes the document more accessible to any user who is interested in this display.

Thoma Jefferson’s personal library is also on display in the same wing, but I didn’t take any pictures because I a.) wanted to respect the wishes of the staff and b.) there were too many people around.  I was impressed by the breadth and depth of his collection and I was struck by just how much an individual’s personal library can tell you about the individual.  Viewing his collection reminded me of something President Kennedy said at a speech honoring Nobel Prize winners, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Exploring Early America

The history of early America is no doubt very exciting and interesting.  This is due, no doubt, to the total awesomeness of the pirates who roamed the Spanish Main, with or without official letters of marque.  One of the interactive displays is a digital copy of a Danish (?) text, a veritable who’s who of American piracy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_kN9Nkevs]

The layout of the display is almost similar to that of an e-reader in that the pages can be flipped, albeit by touching the next arrow.  The “toolbar” on the right-hand side displays all the options that are available, including a translation feature that translates from Dutch (?) to English.

I regret that I didn’t take any pictures of the gorgeous architecture inside the building.  However, I made up for my oversight by taking a picture of beautiful mosaic of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom (and my favorite of all ancient goddesses).

If you’re ever in the DC area and have a few hours, I highly recommend making a stop at the Library of Congress.  It’s not just something that librarians and library students can enjoy, but the stunning architecture, the wonderful exhibits and displays make the Thomas Jefferson Building a fantastic place for anyone to visit.

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Social Media Policy

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Anna Kim

Social Media Policy for School Districts

Though it’s become obvious that more students are spending time online, shockingly few school districts have anything even closely resembling a social media policy.  Even fewer schools take into consideration the behavior of the adult members of their learning communities.  This was emphasized in the recent case involving a teacher who had been posting inappropriate and rancorous comments about her students and their parents on her personal website.  It bears repeating that nothing online is private, regardless of whatever privacy settings may have been selected.

Often, the administration’s reactions to anything inappropriate online is to ban it.  Gwyneth Jones, the Daring Librarian, found this out only recently.  Not only is this reactive, but it’s pretty useless.  The prevalence of smartphones means that students will find a way to get online, with or without school approval.  Besides, the way students interact and communicate with the world is not the way we interacted and communicated.  Plus, our world was much smaller back then.  So rather than take punitive measures, it makes more sense to teach students to become more responsible users of the internet.

However, the issues of open access in schools is tricky because a large part of it is trusting students (and staff) to use technology responsibly without exploring the murkier depths of the online world.  Furthermore, comments left by student/staff users can be inappropriate or cast a negative light on the school.  Obviously, they can’t be left on the site for the whole world to see, but isn’t removing them the same as censorship?

Though librarians are famous supporters of the First Amendment, the truth is that some compromises need to be met.  Yes, students and staff have the right to say whatever they want online, but they also have the responsibility to maintain a respectful tone and professionalism.

A good social media policy finds a middle ground between being too restrictive, which will force students and staff to rebel, and being too lax, which allows users to not take any responsibility for their online actions.  Furthermore, a social media policy should try to encompass all aspects of online participation, from using the school’s equipment and/or participating on any school-run websites/social media networks to the use of personal equipment and/or websites/networks.

The Bishop Lynch High School’s Social Media Policy hits on all of the aforementioned points and more.  It includes expectations for all the members of the learning community–students, faculty, alumni, etc.–and sets clear boundaries on what can and will not be tolerated online.  It encourages the right to express  oneself without reneging on the responsibility.  This is one of the few high school social media policies that I was even able to find online, let alone like, that I borrowed heavily from it in order to create my own policy.  The passages that are in italics are lifted directly from the school’s policy since I did not feel I could improve upon it.

My Social Media Policy on Scribd

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Save Libraries

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Anna Kim

Rather than monitor a brick and mortar organization, I decided to track Save Libraries, which is, according to its website, a “grassroots effort to compile information and advocacy resources for libraries that are facing devastating budget cuts.”  Because Save Libraries, as a concept is different and not really related to Save Libraries, the website/Facebook page, it was much more difficult to monitor the conversation that occur.

The save libraries movement first came to my notice when I began seeing tweets with the hashtag, #savelibraries, appearing in my Twitter feed in the wake of the library closures in England.

The tone and mood of the tweets using #savelibraries is often very positive and upbeat.  I have not seen any trolls using the hash tag to be critical or demeaning.  Most of the tweets, though, seem to be retweets of news articles or videos that voice support for the libraries.  Though Twitter obviously helps facilitate this conversation, it is not used as a means of organizing any planned protests or actions.  Though #savelibraries is still a popular conversation, I was surprised to learn that Save Libraries is actually not officially connected to the hash tag, though the end goal is still the same.

Save Libraries is also traditional website with a collection of various resources that can help struggling libraries.  The tabs make the navigation relatively easy, though all of the columns, especially due to their narrow widths and amount of information, can make the home page a bit overwhelming.  Having an index really helps organize the information more neatly since all of the information is categorized under broad topics and then alphabetized.  A really neat aspect of the site is that it has a separate “Twitter Archives” where tweets using the various hashtags followed by the Archives are stored.  Surprisingly, Save Libraries follow hashtags of local, imperiled libraries, as well as the general #savelibraries tag.

Like any good 21st century grassroots movement, Save Libraries also has a Facebook page.  This screenshot is from March 15, 2010.  The immediate thought that comes to mind is that this is not updated every day.  Even though March 11, the date of the most recent post, was only a four days ago, that is an eternity (almost) in internet time.

UPDATE: a new video has been posted to the site.

Scrolling down the page also reveals some other problems.  While there are people who are participating in the Facebook conversation by posting updates and comments, there are a couple of posts, like Lisa Cohn and Nancy Denofio’s (the latter is cut off), that are not directly related to the Save Libraries movement and are mostly personal.  Even though Cohn is trying to help her library win books,  her post does not provide any useful resource or information that can be used to help other libraries.

One other issue is the spam.  It is unclear who is responsible for updating and maintaining the Facebook page and though there aren’t many spam posts, the problem is that the nobody has taken the step of deleting the ones that are there.

This was originally posted last December and, as of March 15, is still on the Wall.  Though most readers seem to have ignored the post, as you can see from the comment, at least one person has noticed and reacted negatively (obviously, considering the content of the spam) to it.  As far as spam posts go, this one looks as if it was sent by an actual Facebook user and any visitor curious about the organization could have seen that post and possibly even formed some erroneous conclusions about the group.

One of the challenges of monitoring this “brand” is that it is not really regulated by any one individual or group.  Though there is a Facebook page and website that somebody is clearly maintaining, Save Libraries, the rallying cry, is open to anyone.  For example, typing “Save Libraries” into You Tube will find a long list of videos relating to, well, saving libraries. Some of these videos have been posted by the institutions themselves while others are newsclips or even home videos of rallies.

There is a savelibraries channel, too, but there’s no indication that the ones behind the website are also those who are maintaining the YouTube channel.  As of March 15, there are only four videos found on the channel with no subscriptions or subscribers.

Because Save Libraries is so fragmented, tracking the conversation is done piecemeal.  Aside from what is happening on Twitter, there are videos posted on YouTube and even pictures that have been tagged, “Save Libraries” on Flickr.  However, none of this is cohesive, though all the attention I have seen have been overwhelmingly positive.

Libraries need all the help they can get and the effort is really appreciated.  But only by those who are aware of it.  As a resource, the website does a great job collecting information, though the same cannot be said for its information dissemination skills.  The Facebook page has only 3,934 “likes”, while “Freaks and Geeks”, a television series canceled after only one season has 160, 378 “likes”.  In addition to some of the maintenance and issues that are simple to repair, Save Libraries-the resource, the conversation, the YouTube channel-needs to somehow do a better job of marketing itself.  Just by having a webpage or a hash tag isn’t enough.  Ideally, all of these various social media tools can come under the leadership of one unified group or individual so that they can be coordinated.  As it stands now, with all these independents all trying to “save libraries”, nothing is really organized, which is a shame, considering that all of these tools used together can really make a palpable impact.

Just for fun, here’s Alan Moore on libraries:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2qLgZG0l54]

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Speaking of online communities

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Anna Kim

I am particularly fascinated by the communities of blogging parents that seem to have sprung up almost overnight.  Though I’m not a parent, I sometimes end up reading the different “mommy” and “daddy” blogs and even subscribing to some.  Eventually, I’ll realize that I’m being kind of crazy and becoming totally invested in a family that is not mine and then I’ll unsubscribe, only to find other blogs and starting the whole cycle again.

The New York Times Magazine has a profile about Heather Armstrong, who almost single-handedly started the mommy blogging craze.  This profile also mentions several other famous names, one of whom may see her life story turned into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon.  Armstrong’s blog has become so successful that she and her husband quit their jobs and basically live on the revenue produced by their blogs.  ReadWriteWeb also interviewed Armstrong about her 10 years of blogging and they discussed just how much the web has changed in those 10 years.  One comment that I found interesting is when Armstrong says that if Facebook or Twitter had been around when she had started blogging, she would not be where she is now.  I was also interested to learn that she has expanded  her blogging empire by introducing forums, which allows greater interaction among her readers, thus cementing their connections and creating even more of a community among her loyal readers, and when I say loyal, I mean loyal.  (Just try and write something remotely negative about her in her comments section.  I dare you.)

Sometimes, being a part of an online community isn’t just about joining a chat room or a discussion board or a forum.  It can be as simple as following the same blogs and participating in the comments section.  Though I jokingly mentioned just how involved I would become in the lives of these strangers, the truth is that there are some readers and commentors who truly and really feel as if they are part of the family.

We have a tendency to oversimplify our interactions online, but the truth is that relationships formed on the web are just as complex as relationships in the real world.  Most of the parent bloggers started out in order to connect with other parents and form a network of support.  The better writers with greater staying power managed to find some followers and they become a different subset of community.  There are daddy bloggers and mommy bloggers.  There are minority bloggers (who, for some reason, tend to be mostly dads, not moms) and there are bloggers from the dominant culture.  While the original reason for blogging may have been to find resources for their upcoming adventures in parenting, many have found these communities surprisingly lucrative.

I don’t think we can, or should, underestimate just how much power these communities have in shaping our ideas and forming our identities.

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Research paper topic

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Anna Kim

It’s no secret that my main interest in librarianship lies with schools.  I started out as a school teacher because I wanted to make a difference in education and three years of harrowing experience hasn’t necessarily changed that.  I just want to change the way that I can make change.  In this class, we’ve discussed a myriad of issues facing libraries and librarianship today, including collaboration, transparency, and technology.  I would like to research just how these different issues can be applied specifically to schools, institutions that are typically not known for their innovative stance on, well, innovation.  If we keep using the same system that we have in the past, schools are going to end up doing irreparable harm and may cause our children to fall even further behind in the international standings.  President Obama claims that this is our “Sputnik moment”.  This doesn’t mean we have to continue to use the same methods and tools from the 60′s to teach today’s students.

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Community

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Anna Kim

One month, in 2007, the New York Times ran two stories about going online. The first article attempts to placate parent fears about the dangers of going online, but just a few weeks later, the same paper reports that more teens are actually experiencing more cyberbullying. With conflicting messages like this, it’s no surprise that people are often confused by what it means to go online and participate in online communities.
When I was younger, I didn’t really join any chat rooms or belong to any groups online. However, in college, in what can be called a rite of passage for any minority, I became interested in exploring my cultural identity and joined some groups online. Some were pretty innocuous, such as a group of Asian bloggers who had formed a community and interacted via our blogs and the site’s discussion boards, while others were a bit more vocal about activism. It was during this time that I had my first real experience with cyberbullying and I was the victim. As a response to a member’s post about how he believed his teacher was racist because the teacher constantly picked on the member, I asked if there were any other extenuating factors, such as the member’s classroom behavior, which could explain the teacher’s actions. I explained that I thought assuming racism is a dangerous step and being labeled as a racist is incredibly damaging, especially without proof. Almost immediately, the backlash started, not just from the original poster but from the other members of that particular group.
Fortunately, with the exception of 1 or 2 nasty emails from a particularly persistent member, the harassment ended when I left that group and I was left with a few lesson from this experience:

  1. You can’t always expect people to be reasonable and logical. This is especially true when you’re online. The members of that group claimed to be activists, but I learned that for most of them, activism wasn’t that different from racism. As far as I can recall, that site was a platform used by most of the members to rant and gripe about real and/or perceived instances of racism without much effort at education or real action.
  2. Every cloud has a silver lining.  While I had a negative experience with that (and one other) group, the online community of bloggers ended up being so much more rewarding in terms of enrichment and personal connections.  Though the actual site is no longer available (lack of time and funds to run it), most of us have found each other again on Facebook, Twitter, and even Foursquare and we continue to interact with each other through these platforms.
  3. Online communities aren’t that different from offline communities.  Aside from the lack of inhibition, I think most people stay true to their characters online.  The people that I clashed with in that one group are most likely people with whom I would not get along in real life, whereas I would probably continue to get along well with the members of the online blogging community.  Actually, I do know that I will get along with them since I’ve met a few of them in real life.

So are online communities safe?  Yes.  Is there cyberbullying?  Yes.  This doesn’t mean that we should let young children navigate the internet without supervision, but this also doesn’t mean that we should forbid any young user from going online.  Just like we use common sense and caution in navigating our offline lives, we should do the same for our online ones.

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