Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Well, I was stuck at the bottom that day. Don’t be shocked. I’m not perfect.

I teach art amongst other subjects. My kids sound like a similar bunch as yours, though a bit older (15 and up) and we do see art that depicts the human body, like the David. The first few times there is definitely some giggling but we get used to it. I can’t screen every web site about Renaissance art, for example, for images of the David!

To be honest, Elona, I was a bit shocked by your reaction. If it had been explicit pornography I’d understand shutting down the computers and switching gears but it seems to me that you fed into their ‘wild’ness when you shut everything down because of the David.

Think about it, one of the most beautiful statues ever made – both because of the story behind it’s creation as well as its balanced design – has now been confirmed as inappropriate and taboo for your students based on your reaction. What if you had looked at the statue with them and talked about it as a work of art? That may have diffused the situation rather than escalating it.

My students are in the process of using Voice Thread to present their findings as they interview family members and locate historical documents to track the evolution of population trends in and around Chateauguay and Kahnawake.
.-= Tracy Rosen´s last blog ..Interdependence =-.

Steve,
Thank you for taking the time personally to tell me that I can filter content to keep it appropriate for my students. I really like Voice Thread and so did my previous students. I’m delighted that there is a way I can continue to use it. Thanks so much.

The cost of $60 a year or $10 a month is well worth it. My previous students who were considered academically at-risk were really engaged by Voice Thread and actually looked forward to coming to class and loved creating their own audio visual presentations.

Voice Thread is an easy tool to use. It wasn’t hard to learn to use. Actually, Kevin helped me out. He used Voice thread in his blog and asked for feed back using Voice Thread. I didn’t quite get it and Kevin so kindly showed me that it wasn’t difficult to use at all. Kevin’s always ready to help.

Beth,
Yes middle school kids do have a short memory, and thankfully so do I.

Amy Jean,
I had my students use Voice Thread to do their research projects. The presentations were wonderful and the kids had fun doing them. These were at-risk kids who hated traditional paper and pen tasks but loved voice Thread and the other Web 2.0 applicvations that I use in class. There are lots of good ideas out there. Check Kevin’s blog. He’s done very creative things in the classroom that have inspired me. Have fun! Learn how to use the software along with your students. I do. Good luck.

Sorry about that, VoiceThread is being used in kindergarten and Medical School so clearly what’s appropriate in one may not be appropriate in another. But we’ve thought about this particular problem and developed a solution that allows you to control what your students are able to browse, at least on ed.voicethread. Here’s the details that you can send on to your school’s network admin, http://ed.voicethread.com/help/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=31 just scroll down to the section, ‘Blocking urls to control what content the students can browse’