The events of September 11 will have a profound effect on those who saw the images, envisioned the impact, and witness the implications and retaliation.
The group of Computers in Education School Contacts and School Support Technicians who were at the "Update on Initiatives" workshop were all moved during our noon hour observance of respect for those who lost their lives and those who lost friends and relatives. In our small way, we supported the Red Cross financially and each other emotionally.
It was a truly wonderful example of what can happen when people of a like mind come together.
Some of what follows in the next weeks, however, is sickening and shows what awful things can happen when technology is used improperly.
Perhaps it's a sick twist of human nature that there were scams that arose asking people to give money or credit card numbers to phony causes. In this day and age, these events aren't all that difficult to spot. Nobody should give out that sort of information or money to causes that aren't verifiable.
The internet also provided a medium for this sort of thing as well. I think that most people have a healthy distrust for unsolicited electronic mail. However, the perceived anonymity of the internet lets the brave get just a little braver.
One example is an image that is circulating the Internet, supposedly the last picture taken from the Observation Deck of one of the towers of the World Trade Centre. A young man is standing near the edge as an image of an airplane heads toward the tower. Thankfully, there are resources that quickly dispell any sense that this is a true image. In fact, there are pictures of this young man turning up at the Hindenburg and a number of other great tragedies.
While it may take a minute or so, these things can be dismissed as just another in a long line of hoaxes perpetuated on the Internet.
But what of our youngest students who stumble across these things? It is time again to consider just how lessons that have an Internet content are conducted.
In Greater Essex County, we have a number of tools in place. The Student Reference Portal points students to legitimate reference sites. The Webquest Locator directs teachers towards some great activities that enable students to use the very best of the Internet.
Sites are updated and refreshed regularly. The goal has always been to ensure that we get the best educational value of the Internet for our students.
