TeacherTube! Safe video uploading and publishing?

Interesting to see that a 'safe' version of YouTube has been created for education. TeacherTube aims to provide the same service, but with a number of safety features and proactive monitoring. A crucial feature is that access can be restricted to invited users. Perhaps this marks a change?

You see, I positively embrace the web 2.0 world and its possibilities. The epiphany I experienced following a seminar with Will Richardson, the ultimate read/write web guru, profoundly changed my understanding. Would I feel comfortable using these tools with children in school? ... probably not without considerable reservations at the moment!

Publishing, sharing and audience amplifies behaviours, whether positive or negative. I can't be the only one that worries that the innocense of childhood is irrevocably corroded by children viewing hard core porn, pushed at every opportunity by seeming global legions of porn peddlers. What they do is indiscriminate evil.

Truth is, it isn't usually schools where this happens, ... it's in the home! As professional educators we must be discerning in our use of web publishing. It means we have a duty of care that is no different to the care when children are taken on school trips. Children value being excited by adventure, but the same attention to risk assessment is required in the virtual world.

At the recent e-safety conference at Maidstone Police HQ, I was profoundly shaken on hearing a specialist police officer talk of the degradation that fellow humans inflict on children for their own gratification. Schools are required to have safe systems. So must families!
Published Sunday, April 01, 2007 10:35 PM by AlanDay
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