One Approach to CIPA : Little Kids, Big Possibilities

When Kelly Hines began her presentation discussing CIPA, I have to admit that I looked back at the topic to make sure I had chosen the right link.  However, as I listened to her opening rationale I found myself nodding in agreement.  So often, I am intrigued by a website and want to use it with a class only to find that it is inundated with ads or links to an inappropriate site.  Very seldom do I let students even use search engines unless I am sure that I can ensure that they will only see results that are for children.  This need for vigilance makes me, at times, a hesitant user of the Internet.

I was interested to see how Ms Hines approached adherence to the law and found sites that she deemed  child friendly.  The first site she discussed was Wallwisher.  I had not heard of Wallwisher before and so I used her access link and found that it was as described.  The ability for children to post notes and then to manipulate them as a class could definitely be useful.  I was a little perplexed about how she had students post  during a movie (someone who visited her link, asked if the students had laptops but there  was no answer to their question when I viewed the wall) but that was only one example.  

The next link she provided was Wordle - a site I enjoy both personally and professionally.  I was concerned about using the site with students since some Wordles are not really topics you'd want students to see but under FAQ in the Wordles site, I found that they give complete directions for how to block areas of the site that could be problematic.  

Less helpful, was her discussion of Comic Creators because I didn't hear any specific websites (or perhaps missed them) that would allow students to create their own comics.  I do agree that comics capture student's interest (just look at the surge in "graphic novels") and would motivate writing.  I did a search and found http://www.readwritethink.org/MATERIALS/comic/  that looks promising.

The last site covered was the social networking group edmodo.com.  A place where students can share ideas and files, reflect and take polls.  Again, it was helpful to have a link to explore that didn't require me to sign up.

I enjoyed this presentation the most so far of the ones I've watched for a couple of reasons.  It allowed me more in-depth coverage of the sites she discussed, gave good examples of practical classroom uses and provided links for hands-on practice.  It also was very age appropriate for the grade levels I teach.