Article Reflections Continued From Week 15

Article Title:Video helps overhaul district's curriculum Baltimore County uses video streaming to enhance lessons and engage students
Article Source:By Laura Devaney, Associate Editor, eSchool News
Weblink:http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=7015
Reflection:
In an effort to revamp its curriculum, Baltimore County Public Schools,the nation's 25th largest school system, has installed video servers and a video-on-demand system in all of its 169 schools. Although the use of video on demand is nothing new for schools, what distinguishes Baltimore County's effort is that the district has formed teams of teachers in each school to brainstorm ways of using the videos to their fullest potential across each subject area. Video servers are nothing entirely new, but for such a large school district to adopt a brand new system, it is a huge leap for technology integration in schools. I especially like that Balitmore School System has formed teams of teachers to discuss the new technology and how it can be integrated into each subject area and the uses for it. I think that by holding meetings and discussing, teachers can not only learn more about the system in itself but how they might use it in other areas. I think that this is a huge step for converting schools into the 21st century.

Article Title:The Marshal Of MySpace How Hemanshu Nigam is trying to keep the site's 'friends' safe from predators and bullies
Article Source: Business Week Online
Weblink:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_17/b4031092.htm
Reflection:
Hemanshu Nigam was a federal prosecuter who has been hired by MySpace to keep children safe from online pedophiles and reduce bullying. This is very important to MySpace not only to protect its users, but to boost profits by attracting advertising. When MySpace first began, predatory adults used it to lure young children for offline meetings. Now, there have been privacy policies put into motion and other protective measures have been taken to ensure adults are unable to talk to minors unless they have the full email address and name of the child. I think that this is a huge job for Hemanshu Nigam!!! Internet hackers are continually finding ways to disrupt programs, teenagers will always bully and be rude to people online, and there is no 100% fail proof way of blocking adult predators. I think that MySpace has done a great job so far to protect young children from predators by implementing restrictions that were not previously there. Hemanshu Nigam is also trying to educate users about online bullying. He says, "If you wouldn't say it in person, why say it online?" He also deletes profiles of known or reported bullies and even refers some to the police. I think that overall, MySpace is doing the best that they can do and will continue improving as needed.