The information society

is a society in wich the creation, distrubution, diffusion, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic, political and cultural activity (wikipedia).

This mean, I do believe, that all the information that we hold, we share in a more open way then before. And the main reason for this sharing is the internet.
"Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are central to modern life. They are increasingly used at work in day-to-day relationships, to access everything from public services to culture and entertainment, and for community and political participation" (Europe's information society).

So in general this means that we, who lives in the information society, uses ICT significantly. This we can see in the following youtube - video "Did you know 4.0?", which includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape including convergence and technology.

Does everybody have the opportunity for ICT? What about the developing countries? There is a positive report that shows us that times they are a-changing. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) there is a report that shows that strong gains have been achieved in digital opportunity around the world.

In this picture you can see the Digital Opportunity Index (DOI) that evaluates the opportunity, infrastructure and utilization of ICT for 180 economies worldwide created by the ITU.

One of the challenges we must face in the information society is to develop learning strategies about how to "live" in this information age. Which opportunities and challenges does it give us? How do we relate to the internet and this information society? For example: This flow of information makes people more enlightened. Well, It is what we believe that we are. The "truth" of today, may be outdated tomorrow. And the flow of information can even give some people poorer health. A fresh ad in adressa, says that too much info can give you poorer health. In the ad,Kari Mogstad, says that pregnant women searches the net for info and gets "bombed" with lots of truths. And even too much information. "They do not dare to rely on nature, listen to the body's own signals, and just being in pregnancy" she says.

One of the things I do believe is important, is to teach "the people of tomorrow" how to relate to this society. How does the internet work? What are the "rules" in the internet? How do you use social medias like blogs, social networks, wikis, photography and art sharing, video sharing and music and audio sharing.
Who has the responsibility to teach the children this? Well I do believe it is the school and the guardian. Most of all I do believe that the school needs to take an active part in this information society we live in. They need to teach them right and wrongs.

So how do we live in the information society?
In Norway, according to ssb (Statistics Norway), over 70 % of all homes have a broadband subscription at home. These homes, I believe, uses the broadband subscription to: purchase online, read the newspapers online, watch different TV-shows and to use the social medias.


The opportunities in the information society are huge! Now it doesn't matter if you live in Norway or Poland, you can either way collaborate with each other in a way which was impossible for over ten years ago. Now you can keep in touch with your friend/job/others through e-mail, chat and social networking. No one is too distant.
The accessibility of information is great. You can access to all information which took you days before. Internet on-line shopping: you can order a pizza, a movie or f.ex buy clothes on the net.
Online internet games. Here you can play against a friend, the computer or even other people in the internet community.

I believe that this society to live in is good. But it is important to remember that there are those who haven't got the same opportunities like us. In school you have to take care of those who haven't got internet, we have to be aware and help them so they aren't left behind with task that deals with the internet. It is our job as teachers to not distinguish students from each other, and people from people.

Our job is to teach!

ICT and ethics

“The Facebook”. It all started in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg and with some help from Andrew McCollum og Eduardo Saverin decided to start an internal network for all the university students. From this time on and to now, it’s called Facebook, and the website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide.

According to Wikipedia, Facebook is a net community where users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other users can be done through private or public messages or a chat feature. Users can also create and join interest groups and "like pages" (formerly called "fan pages" until April 19, 2010), some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising. To allay concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see what parts of their profile.

Here is a funny song about "how Facebook works".



Pros for Facebook.

It’s an ideal place to meet and find old friends/new friends, to keep in touch with each other. Friends are an important resource for social belonging, support and networking.

There is a great opportunity to keep in touch with your family, you can share photos, stories and videos.

Cons for Facebook.
All the things that you decide to put on your Facebook is owned by Facebook. This means that if you put a picture of your son "out - there", its rights are now owned by Facebook. This also concern videos, texts and so on. And lately in the media there are concerns about the complexity in the Facebook privacy. As you can read in the New York Times, it's even longer then the Unites States Constitution and it's hard to figure out what are the right settings. So Facebook has called in for a meeting about the privacy settings that people are dissatisfied with. Because we just want to care about how our class mate is doing, not about worrying our self how the information about us will be used. In E24Media we can read that even the European safety authorities calls the changes in Facebook users' privacy for "unacceptable". And recently it is discovered a new hole in the security of Facebook that causes anyone, with or without a Facebook account, search for your status updates. (27.05.10) Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg has anounced that Facebooks privacy setting will be more easy to understand, and more secure.


Show - offs. People can show off with their friend list, saying:"Look at me, I'm popular! I have many friends". This can again feel like a terrible defeat for many who hasen't got many friends. And by the way - How many of your friends are really FRIENDS?

Sites as Facebook can be used for bullying, in terms like tagging photos of you doing something stupid or creating a group against YOU. As we know there is a lot of photos being handed out there without asking the ones in the picture for approval. It is almost a universal belief that it is ok to add your photo to Facebook.


What TO say or NOT to say?
People seem to notice that there could be others reading your facebook page, through your page as a friend, or your page through a friend's friend. This makes things even more important with what you say and what sort of pictures you post. It is important that you choose the right account settings to your account.

Is it ok to talk badly about your old job on Facebook. Where is the limit between privacy and business? What is "allowed" to say on Facebook? Can somebody post f.ex "I'm glad I quit my last job, my new job has so much to offer!" Is this really ok to discredit your old job like this between the lines?

Can you post a picture without asking the ones on the picture for their approval?Anyone who publishes online images must adhere to the Personal Data Act and the Copyright Act. This means that one can not publish a picture of a person without the consent of the depicted. It is he who has published the photos, if any, must prove a voluntary, express and informed consent really exists.
Read more about the legislation here:

- Åndverksloven §45
- Personopplysninsloven §8

So why do we break the law and the ethic? Why don't we care about these rules? Is it that we haven't yet seen the "worse - case - scenarios"?

Still there has been some:

Facebook scandal in sweden. An employee at Karolinksa Univerity Hospital embarked surgery photos to a group on Facebook. The comments on these pictures were also of a offensive nature.

Facebook scandal in Denmark. A press representative for the Danish party Venstre did write on her wall that a person who worked in a kiosk was "on drugs and f#¤%& up". She ended her job.

Facebook scandal in USA. A emplyee did let her frustation take over when she wrote on her facebook-status: "Thank you for dining at Brixx, you cheap "#&%/¤"§!" So the boss had to fire her.

What is really ok to post on Facebook? Why do we post pictures of others without asking them? Why don't we care? Do YOU have a answer to this?

children and mobile phones

9 out of 10 ten year - olds have mobile phones, and even those who are younger have mobile phones (a mobile survey from Telenor). They use it to listen to call with, listen to music, to take photos and to search the web. Do the children really need a mobile phone?

Mobile phone radiation is one of the factors why kids shouldn’t have any mobile phones. A Swedish study says that children are FIVE times more exposed to cellular readioation than adults. The study recommends children to use the sms instead of calling with the phone. Only use the phone to call with in emergencies.

- Mobile phones and bullying:

15% of the children between the age of 13 to 16, has expirienced bullying via mobile phones or via the net.

Here are some facts from ung.no about sms-bullying.

In this clip you can see an example of how a mobile phone can be used for bullying.

Do the children know what's right or wrong when using the mobile phone? There have been some problems at schools with children using the camera on the back of the mobile phone, to film other students in odd situations, and then to show it off to others. Bullying professor Erling Roland says in an interview with "Puls" on NRK; - Since it is quite common with a camera and even recording oppurtunities for video on mobile, I think the scope of the problem is going ti increase, 8 - and 9 year olds have great opportunities to take the picture and spread it,but little chance to understand what this means.

So it can end up with pictures and/or videos uploaded to the net, without knowing the consequence of what could happen to the person on tape. This could also give children new ways of bullying others. Why should children have mobile phones? When should they get one? In this clip we can hear CBS News education expert Amy James talks about kids and mobile phones.

I think the main reason why children should have a mobile phone is so they could be reached, at any time. When your kid hasn't come home from practise, it would be nice just to pick up the phone and ask where he/she is, and why he/she hasn't come home. You can even track your kid down. mBuddy is a service wich provides you the opportunity to find the other person via the mobile phones signal. Both owners of the phones have to agree that this service should take place.

Other pros for mobile phones for children is that they could get to learn, in early age, what kind of possibilities there is in ICT nowadays. They get to learn how to use the mobile phones, how to behave in medias like the internet and written and unwritten rules that can come along this device.

-Parental control.

But there is a catch. It is important that the children have good role-models and someone who can guide them to a propper way to act. Superiors should, in cooperation with the kid, make rules of what is allowed, how to use the phone and thoughts about how they both want to use the phone.

Homework, does it work??

An on and on going debate is homework! Does it work? Why do we have it and what's it good for? On the other hand homework is culturally contitioned over many years, and it's a platitude that we still have homework. So homework, does it work?

PROs: Homework can have an important role in the cooperation between school and home. This will give parents an opportunity to take part in student training. Homework contributes the students to learn to take responsibility and it teaches them good working practices. Students, who practice, will learn!
Here's a short film created to encourage students to do their homework.



CONs: Schoolwork belongs to the school. Today the children are really busy. More busy then before. So when the school is finished they hurry home to eat, then it is off to football practice, gymnastics or something else. And when the training is over, they want to be social with their friends with what’s left of the evening.
And if the children don’t have much to do, they often have siblings which are occupied. Then the parents have travel from one to another just to keep the wheels spinning. And then there is this kid at home who needs help and follow-up with his/hers homework. He/her feels adversity evening after evening.


The homework these days aren’t the same as in “the old days”, so many students feel that the grown-ups at home can’t contribute with any help and there are also grown-ups. Students from minority backgrounds can have parents who haven’t the qualification to help in Norwegian. So they end up felling adversity…again.
Education Act hasn’t got any provisions in it which says that homework is decreed by law. It is just an old tradition which says that homework is necessary.
Here is an article from the newspaper Aftenposten who talks about the topic.
So as you all can see there are more CONs than PROs. So am I against homework? What do I mean?
I mean that homework is something that we have to practice. Why? I do believe that homework is important for the parents because this gives them an opportunity to take part in student training. According to the new research from Statistics Norway students can learn more, but especially those who have high – educated- parents.

rapp_201001

What about the other parents and their students? Well I do believe in this statistics and I do believe that we have to find a solution that can help this group. How? What about more quality on homework at home and homework – lessons at school. This gives, especially students who has little help at home, a chance to get equal help. This means that the school needs to have homework-help at school.

According to the newspaper Dagsavisen students rush less and no truant from lessons anymore. So it is clearly that it gives a positive effect on the students in many ways. The students now have some spare time to use at home with their friends and family.

What do I mean about more quality at home? I do mean that the teacher needs to choose homework which is thought through and can be done at home. The teacher needs to follow up this homework back at school so it has a learning objective.

If a teacher could manage to combine do these two things I do believe he has done a good job.

Information Society – educational implications

Just the other day at work, (I work as a teacher at elementary school), some kids of mine began arguing in their break. One kid told the other that he was just a "mini". And this pupil, who is short for his age reacted by telling back, to the kid who named him, that he was so fat that a dog would appreciate him.

When i talked to my students about what had happened, they just went: - We're just having fun! I didn't mean it like that! a.s.o..

So now's the time to ask ourselves; Is this behavior a "lesson" learned from TV, Internet and even real life? Are todays kids blinded by this "innocent" bullying and accepting it as ok? But is it okay when it happens to THEM?

In todays TV-shows and Internet you can see a lot of "innocent" bullying; TV - host are making fun of other people, in reality shows you can see the participants are barking to each other, humor shows are making fun of others. This is just some of the "canals" where kids get to "learn" this behavior or making this behavior "legal". Even in "everyday - life" we can see and "learn" lots of bad bahavior.
At "Idrettsagallaen 2010", a annual norwegian show with awards for the biggest sport names, the anchors made fun of an norwegian football trainer at prime time. Read more here.
Other Shows wich can encourage this behaviour is shows like bigbrother and paradise hotel. In shows like this you can see and listen to the participants making fun of eachother.

So what do YOU think is important to teach the kids? Is it ok to let children surf the internet, watch reality shows which contains backbiting and bad language?

I think it's important to be as a good role - model as we can be. Try to teach the kids right from wrong and to learn them manners. I think that the kids must not be held back from all the media that surrounds us. It is important to be there with them, to show interest and to talk about the topic about bullying and manners.
Just take a look at this youtube - film, Children see... children do.
We all can make a difference.

Blog

So here it is! My first blog.

I hope that those of you who will be reading my blog will find it interesting. And please leave a comment if you have any!

Ole Martin