Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Scarey Stuff

In the last two days I've heard two things which have literally struck fear in my heart.

The first was on the news as I rushed to get ready for work yesterday morning. When I heard it I literally stopped, looked at the television and stared in disbelief. There is talk at the moment of introducing mandatory filters on Australian internet access. Read about it here:

Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect children (ABC report)

Filtering out the fury: how government tried to gag web censor critics (SMH paper)

The announcement has caused a stir - see:

Dean's Blog, Amnesia's Blog, and the Petition

The second moment I had to remind myself to stop breathing...when I heard some colleagues make this statement:

"Mobile phones have no place at school."

Seriously? They had to be kidding right? I wish they were...how sad is it that teachers out there honestly believe this? If we banned phones there are so many things we'd be denying ourselves the opportunity to do, things like MrRobbo's recent mobile blogging whilst on school camp (check out his student's posts and leave your comments - HERE) - and let's face it, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I honestly hope those of us out there devoted to the integration of new technologies into our classrooms are prepared to dig in for a long war of retrition - the technophobes have well and truly entrenched themselves in our education system.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was a my daughter's school recently, at a parent meeting to discuss the school's future (it has recently withdrawn from an amalgamation process and needs to reinvent itself). We were asked to discuss a range of thngs in groups and then share. I couldn't believe it when one group, in response to "what issues/challenges does the school face" said mobile phones should be banned. But no, I didn't stand up and engage in an educational argument, I just quietly banged my head on the table and groaned...I'm a wimp, I know.

Nic Mobbs said...

I tend to do the same thing, Heather. I was just so shocked that my colleagues were so narrow minded I think I actually stared at them...but I couldn't say anything in front of the parents. Schools are fighting a loosing battle trying to ban phones and ipods/mp3 players. I personally have no issue with ipods at lunchtime but have to enforce a rule which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I totally sympathise with the students - I want to listen to my music with my friends too!