I’ve been speaking in schools and other educational settings since 2005.
I speak to parents, teachers, and teenagers (in separate groups) and raise awareness about issues linked to the use of digital and social media: blogs, YouTube, facebook, WoW, and the internet in general.
- I explain teenagers that there are limits to what one can do online. Legal and ethical boundaries, as well as consequences to one’s publications and doings. I give many real-life examples of what can happen if you don’t behave responsibly online, as well as tips to keep out of trouble. I talk to different age-groups separately as teenagers’ maturity and the precise nature of the issues they face evolves rapidly with the years.
- I act as a tourist guide to the online world for parents, introducing them to some of the online activities teenagers are involved in. My aim is to demystify, offer reassurance (particularly on the much-overblown issue of online sexual predators) and guiding educational principles to deal with the real issues of online presence: being a public person, anonymity, limits, permanence and findability of digital media. Dealing with online issues is not fundamentally different from dealing with offline issues: it usually comes down to dialogue and a good relationship — and understanding more about the online world definitely helps.
- As for teachers, in addition to introducing them to a connected world they might not all be familiar with, I offer advice and suggestions for both educational use of social media (like blogs and facebook) and dealing with “online problems” that may arise between teenagers or teachers. What should the school’s position be on these issues? Having been a teacher, I have had the opportunity to reflect first-hand on some of these situations and advise fellow staff and superiors accordingly.
My sessions can be between 45 and 90 minutes long, including lots of discussion and interactivity, as well as immediate illustration of what I bring up (beamer + live internet connection). I adapt my talks heavily to my audience and am very reactive to their concerns.
If you would like to invite me to come and talk in your school or association, please get in touch so that I can send you a quote.
In 2008, I talked about my work in schools extensively at the SHiFT conference in Lisbon.
