Lawrence Lessig has been fighting the copyright fight for a while now and often says that "outdated copyright laws have turned our kids into criminals". If you're not familiar with Lessig and his thoughts on the law and copyright, this 9 minute video will help catch you up to speed.   So since our laws just don't address the reality of 2012...

Almost, but not quite a follow up to my last post about stages, this snippet from Spark’s latest podcast sheds some interesting light on why people choose to lurk rather than participate. If you’re one of those who tries to persuade others to invest in social networks and embrace them, perhaps this might help, or maybe you would challenge the premise....

As I begin another class with pre-service teachers I was asked for the very first time, “Does my blog have to be public?” I didn’t give a choice. It would be great to have a discussion around the benefits and issues around public sharing but given the time constraints of the class (specifically this term as it’s only over a 6 week period),...

We missed Rick and Alec but welcomed back Heather Ross and Kyle Lichtenwald as we talk about digital safety and identity, digital residents and digital tourists. I was able to elaborate further on the debacle of the other night’s presentation. I actually don’t show up until about 15 minutes into the conversation. I was busy eating donuts. Thanks to Rob...

I had one of the strangest events of my professional career on Tuesday night. Coming back from 10 days in Europe I checked my calender to see I was schedule to speak at a Parent night at a high school in a neigbouring district.  I remember being asked a few months early about speaking as part of a 3 person lineup on Internet Safety. I was very up front with the...

On first reading, this story from a Wisconsin school district, bugs me. The district is planning to ban any communication between teachers and students on social networking sites and instant messaging services.  I realize there are two sides to every issue but to me, this represents so much of what makes school irrelevant for students. “There is absolutely...