Dangers of the “New Homework System”…

Have you heard about the new homework system?

When I was young, I went home and quietly did my homework in our family room. I guess I was naive to think that students still did this. Perhaps some do. Yet, many don’t…at least those I have spoken with recently.

My students informed me this week that they often do their homework using Houseparty – a group video chat app. I can see the benefits and dangers of this. Students receive a notification as soon as a friend is on. They can have up to 8 on at a time as a private or group chat. “Where this opens up an entire new circle of communication and online safety is that if one person in the chat happens to be connected to a user and the others are not friends, those connections are still able to join the conversation because of the mutual connection. Which means that kids who do not know each other have the opportunity to be chatting with people they do not know. Also of concern, is the ability to take a screenshot of the people you are chatting with, without them knowing about it “(SociallySafe, 2016 quoted from this site).

The benefits may be collaboration. It’s great that kids can help each other and collaborate easily on projects.

The problem may also be cheating. Last year, simply texting was a problem.  I found that students would take screenshots of their finished work and text it to friends so that they would all have the answers. Now, students can just video chat and share the work. There is no evidence of a photo left on the phone.

My concerns are many – so many I can’t write it all down in a blog post. Parents may want to consider a parental control app. Check out this post to read about ways to track what kids are doing. Teachers need to be aware. The ease of cheating using a smartphone adds a whole new dimension to the problem. (Birdsong, 2017) This site may give you a few ideas to put in place.

 

New Journey Coming Soon!

It’s been a while! I’ve battled back and forth a while between various blogs…and which one to keep. As Educational Technologist of William Jessup University, I used this blog on a weekly (or more) basis. As a teacher, I used a different blog platform. Now, I will be starting a new journey of my life – school principal.

Beginning this summer, I will start my next journey as a K-6 principal of a Christian school in the Sacramento area. Until it is formally announced at the school, I won’t reveal quite yet. But I can tell you – I am super excited!

These past 2 years I have been working at a public, charter school. It’s highly ranked and I have to say, my students have been awesome! I have learned more at this school than I could have imagined. They are excellent with their collaborative processes, PBIS system, and PLN amongst teachers. However, growing up in Christian education and spending most of my career in this type of setting, I found myself longing to be back in Christian education. I love being able to pray with families and talk about God at school. Some decisions of the charter school ran contrary to the core of my own beliefs and this started my decision to head back to what I love.

I know I will run into some trials with my new position. I am going from a 1:1 high tech school to one with very little technology. But this is okay! As much as I love technology, I have also seen its dark sides within the classroom. I hope to bring a healthy mix to my new position.

Have any new principal apps you love and want to share with me? Send them my way! I hope to use a few new tools and will post about them shortly. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you, my followers, are currently using.