Week One: Jumping in with Both Feet!

What do I want from this class? More Web 2.0 tools to share with students and faculty. Another goal would be to be able support the argument that faculty need an override code on the filter. There's so much out there that can't be accessed when the school filter is strict. I work in two districts and in one I can't even post on the DCF blog for the state reading list for 4th-8th graders. We can't access teacher-tube and all that could be shared with students through that avenue. In the other district, the filter is much looser, and we can access youtube, games, and a variety of things that are filtered by the other school.
Am I anxious or nervous about any of this? You bet! Learning is one thing, but being vocal about the need for access to whomever, school board or district Superintendant-Yikes! I've been taking Library Media courses for the past two years and one of the things librarians are getting heaped on their plate is teaching tech. I've got a couple of things I rely on, but I really want to be as tech savvy as the students. I know my own 14 and 16 year-olds put me to shame. They are fearless when it comes to the Internet.
Okay, Internet Detective was good. I actually went through it twice. Because I've been trying to learn this same thing for several years already, not much was new to me. The copyright and plagiarism references made me go looking for something more entertaining. I found one created by the Paul Robeson Library for Rutgers University, posted on youtube. It comes in three parts, is entertaining, and I think for the most part okay for middle and high school students. Let me know if you think otherwise. But then again, I can't access it in the school where I teach 7th and 8th graders tech safety, netiquette, and research skills.