PONderings

I found the interchange of ideas on Dean’s post on Blog Rage most interesting. It occurred to me, as I engage in this blogging experience, that I’m not at all certain what my voice should be online, that I’m venturing into a forum where my online persona may be very different than my own. This, of course, is not news to the digital natives; however to an digital immigrant like myself, I find this somewhat disconcerting.

Anonymity would be most welcome and liberating in times like these, when I am tentatively playing with ideas. This path of anonymously posting absolves me of any responsibility. As a teacher modeling behaviours for my young learners, however, I believe that I must be held accountable for my actions. Indeed, I hold our Code of Ethics in very high regard. As educators, I believe that we must conduct ourselves online with higher standards than “regular” bloggers.

Idealistic?? You tell me.

Back to the construction of this blog…I liken my style of blogging to that of a newspaper. I try to provide my interpretations on “news”worthy items for those who would stumble across my blog, much like the headlines on a newspaper. I elicit feedback from the readership, such as letters to the editor or “Help Wanted”. I provide my editiorials on topics of interest.

Long ago, in a grad class I took, I compared web publishing to that of journalism. Way back then, in 1997, I believed that we should teach journalist ethical standards to our students; today, I still believe this to be true. Sites such as Be Cybersmart infuse these standards in child-friendly ways into their lessons.