by Brendan
The DRAFT Hume 21C Learning Paper has been released for comment and peer review.
Embedding 21st Century Learning across the planning, delivery and evaluation of curriculum
“What differentiates this paper from the ACOT, Cisco and Intel White papers is that this paper has a set of ‘Recommendations for Action’ for each cohort in the region … from student to regional director.”
Not so many login issues today … phew!
REM: On the first day, even before attempting to install certs or log into the local venue’s network, your lead users should do a screen dump of their proxy settings in both IE and FF, so that when they get back to thier school, they can correctly re-set their proxies.
Watched the ‘medieval helpdeskvideo’ from teachertube ….. the analogy is that the School Ultranet Lead Users will be seen by their colleagues as ‘helpdesk gurus’
Revision Tasks: add calendar event, (9August?), add a quicknote to any page without one, leave a message on one of your learning contact’s wall, bring you fav website into your eXprss Space using iFrame app, add a comment to the message board on the Astronomy Design Space
Then …
Adding Child pages
Notices
Adding pics to wiki – 1st, put it into your ‘content’
Revisit of Stickynotes ‘Excites/Concerns’ activity
Day 1
Today I am at Bright P12 College for the first day of Ultranet Lead User training.
We have all the Hume Ultranet coaches here, and Prins and lead users from Bright P12, Whorouly PS and Mount Beauty PS. …..
John O’B (no relation) is the tech and has been helping people install a certificate on their laptop so they can access the local wireless. There are a couple of ways of installing the certs and John used the Edustar ‘autoenrol’ process which works well.
1. Connect
2. Docs to have at hand “Getting Started” & “So uou are a Lead User”
3. House keeping, link to ‘Connections’ website – Bookmark it now
4. Slide 1 : Day#1 = Global navigation, Home landing page, eXpress space, Design Space, Collaboration Space
Day #2 = Apps, Content, Community space, Planning for in-school training
5. Introductions
6. Slide #3 Sticky notes – What excites you, what concerns you - 3 mins to write 2 sticky notes – then Prin reads out notes.
7. Slide #4 What is you Lead user role? Video ” medieval help desk”
8. Slide #5 – First time loging- IDAM instructions > www.ultranet.vic.gov.au
Task #1 – Add sticky note – red – “I love the Ultranet”
Task #2 – Add iFrame – your fav website
Task #3 – Add Calendar _ Add event – “my birthday”_________
Task #4 Read Page 16 of User Guide – eXpress Space > THEN> eXpress Space – Note, that unlike your Home/Landing page, your eXpress space can be seen by your learning contacts (your peers)
NOTE: Do not have students as your learning contacts (because you don’t want them to see your eXpress Space)
NOTE: You can assign yourself as a ‘portfolio viewer’ …. this is refreshed on Dec31 each year.
Task #5 – Add learning contacts – use seach (but not working today)
Task #6 – Add application > Reference Library
Task #7 – page 7 of User Guide – who can see what – eg grade 4 can see 3,5
Task #8 Add application In eXpress Space>portfolios>prtfolios I view
Task #9 Go to Gail stanley’s eXpress space (see the iFrames)
TAKE A BREAK ………………………… watch a vid ‘helpdesk’
Task #1 Overview of Appropriate ‘Ultranettiquette’
Task #2 Look at Graeme Henschells DEECD maths Design space …. note pages, sub-pages, child pages, scoping wikis
Task #3 Read page 18, then work on your own design space.
Task #4 Look at Collaborative Space – Ultranet School- Great wall of china
Task #5 Adjust the layout of your page
Task #6 Search for resources
Break
Stories … our work so far
Scoping wikis _ to make unique wikis (otherwise the default wiki will be repduced wherever you put one)First, go to new page and add a wiki (Actions>Add Applications>wiki) …. Notice it is the same as your first wiki. Now > Configuration>Scope>dropdownbox>change to ‘this page’
Change Name of wiki from ‘Main Page’ to “astronomy”.
Adding Polls : This is a 2 part process
a) create the poll >Utilities>control panel>Collaboration> Polls (
b) make the poll visible > Actions > Add applications > Tools > Poll Display > Add
Quick wins: Putting School docs in publications
Here’s a design for nice home-made storage units which can be mobile or bolted to the classroom wall.
Are you an educator who commutes? Listen to these great Ed Tech podcasts from Darrel and Tony as you travel … and learn on the go! These podcasts will also help you connect with others …. http://www.edtechcrew.net/
Thursday 6 April – ACEC Conference Keynote Address
Sylvia Martinez – www.genyes.com + http://blog.genyes.com
(My one line summary of my response to Sylvia’s Keynote:
“Our modelling of student-led PD in Hume Region via programs like SNICKS, is spot-on!!!”)
Sylvia’s Big question is WHY DON’T TEACHERS USE TECHNOLOGY?
Assumption- ‘teachers need more PD’
Learning via PLN – but you can’t take your PLN back to the classroom
Where teachers learn is DIFFERENT to where teachers teach
Seymour Papert http://www.papert.org/ – teachers CAN learn in the classroom WITH the students
BASIS: Students as mentors, Technology – waste nothing, raise the bar, grow your own.
Genyes project
Sylvia’s title is the 92% solution. She is the President of Generation YES
Gen YES works with school to help them adopt models of integrating tech utilising the capabilities of students
Relating her back ground in GPS and how the theoretical has always been far in advance of capability.
my comment …. so our challenge is to have a cultural change in schools where teachers have the confidence to ‘let go’ a little .,…. a big ask for us in a climate rife with NAPLAN, ’standards’ and now a national curriculum driven by the god of CONTENT … better get to work folks!!
Sylvia’s title is the 92% solution. She is the President of Generation YES - **www.genyes.com** + http://blog.genyes.com
Gen YES works with school to help them adopt models of integrating tech utilising the capabilities of students
Relating her background in GPS and how the theoretical has always been far in advance of capability.
Big question is WHY DON’T TEACH TECHNOLOGY
So much though is more than using the tools, pedagogy needs to be changed which trying to embrace is really hard.
Research shows just about anything you want to believe especailly in relation to PD.
Stanford research shows only a 20% success rate in best PD activities
The big problem is when teachers go back to their own environment when local factors impinge
Even PLN’s no matter how well developed can’t help you in the classroom.
Big problem is that where teachers learn is not where they practice
Who’s there to help you in the classroom.
If trad PD doesn’t transfer successfully what can we do instead?
Why not teach students to support teachers in the classroom.
It models collaborative learning, values students and provides ongoing support
Students are 92% of the population in schools so why not use them.
Teachers need to learn alongside students
Teachers can learn in the classroom
Obstacles are also opportunites
When Gen YES students go to teachers they have a check list which they work within
Watched video of Gen YES student
Suggesting why not simply get the students to use tech without the teacher needing to learn it?
Finds other ways to get around roadblocks
Research on Gen YES suggests that 80% teachers would use tech more as a result of Gen YES experiences
4 Models for students to be involved
1. train and support staff and teachers
2. Provide tech support
3. Develop resources and communicate for the school
Technology Ecology:
Tech Support is a piece of string you can never have enough so why not use the best resource, students
Looking at students buidling computer carts where students asked if they could help. They came in during hols and are now key players with ownership over these carts
Looking at kids showing iTouch to prins. The message is it’s not just the tech but how it’s used which kids show off
Are these students “digital natives”? NO
There are some who are amazing and magical but not all are but plenty have things to say and contribute
Talking about Tomaz Lasic “Catch a Teacher Day”
Students were setup in room to show off tech. For 1st 3 days most teachers dropped students off and left. Students were upset so on 3rd day they went out and pulled students in. Success
Non-conformest kids are the most avid users of tech BUT they are the most likely not to be used to sharing what they know
Checking out ‘Kevin Rudd owes me a laptop’ on Facebook
Looking at idea of students organising tech shows. Students had a whole other set of ideas that added to the days.
Students identified safety issues on My Space and organised how to present this to peers.
They suggested that this was harder to do than they thought. Students need to know much more when they have to apply. Students find things are not as
“cut and dried”/ Their peers also tend to listen to peers better.
It’s more than peers teaching peers, it’s a conversation in which teachers can listen in and mediate which is vital to process
Projects need
1. Professional Development
2. Tech Support
3. Student Tech Literacy, (which is more than just having a taster. Students need to become fluent with tech).
Tests can’t capture what it means to be tech literate, they don’t modify behaviour.
students have to explain choices then there is a stronger chance of changed behaviours
One tough part of Project based learning is Teacher focussed assessment which is why teachers get everyone to do the same project.
If peer mentor students act as a filter at different levels this enables teachers to not have to concentrate on much of the mechanics eg are images, sources cited etc. Mentors can check this
Question from me: So far all of the video mentor examples are older students, how low down the school can we go?
Watched video of student CJ running a podcast session. Nice.
CJ didn’t learn his stuff from manuals or lessons but from personal experience. He is now sought out by peers and teachers. The ecology has been set up.
Relating this model to the notion of composting, returning the knowledge into the cycle.
Digital citenzship is more than a set of rules.
You can’t teach empowerment, you need to trust and pass things out in bite sized pieces.
They need to belong to the process.
Engagement is more than an end.
Citizenship is a verb.
It’s what students
and teachers
do that counts
Another video of teacher advisor relating how over time she ceded the lexus of control to students
Letting kids do things she might not know how to do. This was hard.
need to engage in a process where they “teach” less and allow the students to “do” more.
Sylvia’s Gen YES can be found at http://genyes.com/
Important question is what do we do we could ask students to do.
Most of our work as teachers is locked within us but we rarely share the vision.
Technology Ecology
· If a student can do it why does a teacher have to do it?
· Students can be allies and advocates when you let them in
· improving education with tech is an authentic problem
· this is a win-win solution
· It’s not about the kids though as they need to teacher guidance.
Sylvia is @smartinez on Twitter.
We are in the midst of
A Perfect Storm
· societal expectations,
· facility,
· new resources,
· need
this is a gift we shouldn’t ignore!
School Business Managers have been asked by DEECD to add their Network Ultranet coach as a teacher on their CASES21 system.
A short video (2′46″) shows exactly how to do this CASES ‘How-to’ Video – CLICK HERE
Talent Show (click to play this fab 3 minute clip)
Acceptable Use Template (Select & copy, then paste into your own word doc)
In reaching this agreement:
- schools should:
1 an About the AUA information sheet
2 Part A of the AUA – The school’s support for safe and responsible use of technology
3 Part B of the AUA – The agreement to be signed by the student and parents/carers.
4 A Family Information section
[Insert SCHOOL NAME] uses the internet as a teaching and learning tool. We see the internet and mobile technology as valuable resources, but acknowledge they must be used responsibly.
Your child has been asked to agree to use the internet and mobile technology responsibly at school. Parents/carers should be aware that the nature of the internet is such that full protection from inappropriate content can never be guaranteed.
At [insert SCHOOL NAME] we: Schools will need to modify these according to what they provide. This is an important statement of how you demonstrate your Duty of Care for students online. Only include programs and features you have or will initiate this year at your school.
When at school I agree to:
When I use my mobile phone, iPod or other mobile device I agree to:
To this end, when using my mobile device as a phone, I will:
When using my mobile device as a camera I will:
This Acceptable Use Agreement also applies to students during school excursions, camps and extra-curricula activities.
I acknowledge and agree to follow these rules. I understand that my access to the internet and mobile technology at school will be renegotiated if I do not act responsibly.
I have read the Internet – Acceptable Use Agreement carefully and understand the significance of the conditions and agree to abide by these conditions. I understand that any breach of these conditions will result in internet access privileges being suspended or revoked.
Student Name
Year Level Student Signature
Parents/Carers Signature Date
If you have any concerns about this agreement or ideas for making the agreement better
Contact [Insert SCHOOL CONTACT]
For further Support with online issues
Students can call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. Parents/cares call Parentline 132289 or Visit
http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/report.aspx
© State of Victoria 2010
This work has been created by the teachers listed below as employees of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria and copyright is owned by the Crown in right of the State of Victoria. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for the purposes other than those indicated above requires the written permission of the Department of Education and Training. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Liability Management Manager, Department of Education and Early Childhood, 2 Treasury Place, Melbourne, VIC, 3002
Reminder: The 60 second science video competition will be held again in 2010 www.60secondscience.net
Recording Links to our recent online conference for science teachers :
Recordings link: https://sas.elluminate.com/mrtbl?suid=M.9DD63A447128DA3F5C74FA54EEDD0C
CYBERSAFETY for STUDENTS
Part 1: Malware
In these postings I will give details on the major security risks to students on the internet, and how they are mitigated.
A recent posting to this list reminded me that not everyone has a clear idea of how to be safe on this interweb thingy. Remember when we used to call it ‘the information superhighway’?
There are many scary stories about viruses, trojans and malware … and a paranoid response might be ‘I do not participate on private sites, the risk of encountering malicious malware seems too great.’
But what is a ‘private site’? And how can you tell if a site is ‘private’ or not? Answer … you can’t. And saying you are never going to visit wikis and blogs and nings and other social networking sites, means you will miss out on much of the richness of the net. This is a bit like saying you will only drive your car on the freeways.
For many students, most of these risks are prevented by the hardware/software/practices and policies implemented by the school, state education departments or governing bodies, and their ISP (internet Service provider). However, many students are now ‘connected’ 24/7, via mobile phones, internet hotspots and home networks. So how can students be protected from these risks?
So rather than discuss how schools mitigate risks, I will focus how we can protect our home networks. Most home computers are PC’s with a Microsoft operating system, so this is the focus of this posting, though much will still be relevant for Mac and Linux users.
I have net-savvy 11yo and 13yo children … we discuss the internet in the same way as we discuss newspapers, TV and movies.
Major Risk #1 “The greatest risk is your own behaviour”
Major Risk #2: Malware, spyware, viruses and Trojans
Q. How can I keep my kids safe online and stop getting malware, spyware, a virus or a Trojan on my home PC?
In order of importance ….
A. First, by having the family PC in a public place in the home, where the screen can be easily seen from the kitchen/living area. We can discuss what to do when something ‘pops up’ on the screen, how various applications work, what to do with electronic ‘chain mail’, and how to share our skills. Bedrooms are for sleeping, reading, listening to music … they are not places for mobile phones, DS’s or internet connected devices.
Second, by having ‘automatic updates’ turned on for your operating system. The good news is that it is now turned on by default in XP, Vista and WIN7. On the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft send out ‘patches’ to repair recently discovered security holes. Adobe products should also be updated regularly.
Third, by having an updated antivirus/security program running on your system. AVG, Avast, NOD32 are all good and popular free antivirus programs that have worked well for me in the past, but the ‘nag’ screens are often a pain. I have been a trenchant critic of Microsoft for many years, but I have recently been trialling their free ‘Security Suite’, and I am very impressed, it is lightweight (ie unobtrusive) and updates itself with the latest definitions very effectively.
Fourth, by using the most recent version of Firefox or Safari as your browser. If you must use Internet Explorer, make sure it is IE8, as previous versions have more vulnerabilities. If you are a bit of geek, you might want to add ‘noscript’ to Firefox or disable scripting in IE8.
Fifth, by not going to porn/illegal-download/torrent/p2p or ‘file-sharing’ sites like Limewire, Kazaa etc. Email used to be the main vector for malware, but now just by visiting and infected site and having scripts enabled in your browser is enough to install malware. You son or daughter may think they are downloading Linkin Park’s latest single from Limewire, but it may instead be a Trojan that steals your internet banking password.
Sixth, do not click on links in unsolicited emails, and only open attachments you are expecting.
Notice that I have not mentioned net filters. They don’t work and they create a false sense of security. The previous Federal Gov’t provided a ‘family net filter’ a couple of years ago. It was cracked in 4 hours by a Melbourne 15yo. Likewise the current Government’s filter will not achieve its stated aim. The internet is just too complex. The bad guys move too fast, and the truly bad guys use filesharing programs that are untouched by filters. My 13yo found out how to circumvent the school’s filter in Term 1 of her secondary education. You could spy on your kids and install a keystroke logger, or do geek things like installing OpenDNS or creating whitelists and blacklists in your browser, but I believe a combination of trust, openness and education will be ultimately more powerful, and protect my kids even when they are over at a friend’s place.
Stay safe everyone …
In Part 2, I will cover passwords and phishing, botnets, identity theft, how to set up an account without giving away the keys to the kingdom, and your ‘internet footprint’.
In Part 3, We will look at how to establish the veracity of information we find on the net.
PART II
In Part 1, We discussed how our behaviour online is the greatest threat to our security, and how we can do six simple things to keep ourselves and our students reasonably safe.
Now in Part 2, we will cover bullying, backups and botnets, identity theft, how to set up an account without giving away the keys to the kingdom, and our ‘internet footprint’ on Social Networking sites, Virtual Worlds. Passswords and phishing.
In all of this it is vital that we balance our concerns about exposure to harmful things on the Internet against the real benefits gained from exposure to positive things on the Internet. For example, I think it’s an over-reaction to say ‘No webcams in our home.’ To begin with, most netbooks and notebook computers now come with a built-in webcam, so banning webcams is a temporary strategy at best. Better to say … ‘No connected devices in bedrooms’. Webcams can do great things …. Our family has had fabulous times using webcams and Skype to have free video-chats with interstate and overseas friends and family. They are much-loved family events.
1. Cyberbullying: via mobile devices, email and social networking sites.
What do kids like? Talking with their peers! And thanks to ubiquitous digital technologies, now they can chat 24/7 anywhere, anytime. Sometimes chat can turn to bullying.
Q. How can I stop my child from being bullied?
A. You can’t, but you can give your kids some guidelines to deal with bullying if it does happen.
First, mobiles can be charged in the living area/kitchen rather than bedrooms. At night, there is no need for mobiles to be in children’s bedrooms. When a message arrives, it is reasonable to ask ‘who was that?’. After all, it is the parent who is paying the bills, and open communication and frank discussions between parents, students and teachers is a great habit to begin early. All students should know that Australia has specific laws that prohibit the transmission of threats, and police will be very happy to track down offenders. And just like on the internet, we leave very clear tracks whenever we use phone networks. Most social networking sites have a ‘report abuse’ button, and administrators are happy to take action to de-list offenders. True, the real baddies can move stealthily around the internet using VPN or TOR technologies, and can evade phone detection by using ‘throw away’ mobile phones, but your average teen bully is NEVER going to throw away their precious phone. What the car was for my generation, the mobile phone is for today’s students.
BASIC RULE: Tell your students to NEVER respond to a cyberbully. It is the response that is the cyberbully’s oxygen.
ALSO: All students and parents should be familiar with the school cyberbullying and network acceptable use policies. If your school does not have these, it should. If bullying occurs and involves threats, police should be notified.
Cyberbullying is a huge area that I won’t go into further detail here, but excellent info is available at http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/
2. Backups – ‘The dog ate my memory stick’ – or – ‘Mum washed my thumb-drive’ – a student’s excuse for the 21st century.’
Q. How often should I back up my data, documents, photos etc?
A. Once a week. There are two types of hard-drive. Those that have crashed, and those about to crash. All hard drives fail. Google has a huge number of hard drives deployed in their system, and to their credit they have kept track of how the first 100,000 of their hard drives behaved. They found that if a drive didn’t fail in the first three months (thankfully covered by warranty), then they failed at about 8% per year. That means that if your computer is 3 or 4 years old … a crash may not be so far away. Also thieves have been known to steal not only your PC/laptop, but also your backups. Francis Ford Cappola lost 15 years of unpublished scripts and photos when his computer AND his backup were stolen. Now that we are all using digital cameras and videos … and we don’t often print hard copies of all our family pics …. how would you like to lose all your family photos? That’s right … me neither. The good news is that there are ways to rescue a crashed hard drive, but that’s often expensive … better to do our backups regularly!
Q. How should I do my backups?
A. Use the 3:2:1 principle. We should have 3 copies of every file. 2 at home on different storages, and 1 offsite. In practical terms this means we have one copy on our machine, one copy on external storage eg CD/DVD/Memory stick/ external hard drive, and one copy offsite. A nice, free backup program I use is Synctoy, which I run once a week. It’s a free Microsoft download (yes, I know, another MS recommendation from the trenchant MS critic, but it is good, slick and easy to use.) Some people do their offsite backup ‘in the cloud’ using services like ‘carbonite’, but I don’t have much bandwidth where I live, so I prefer using external hard drives. External Memory is getting cheaper by the day … a 1 terabyte drive is now about $130, and can hold 10 years worth of high quality family archives. I keep one TB drive at work, and one at home.
3. Botnets, phishing and Trojans – and how to avoid them
The good news is that if you follow the 6 points listed in last week’s post, your chance of encountering these is VERY slim.
Q. What is a botnet?
A. A botnet is a fleet of zombie computers all infected with a hidden virus program. Most email spam is delivered by botnets. Botnets have also been used to attack websites for nuisance or blackmail purposes. There are millions of un-updated computers on the internet that are parts of botnets.
Q. What is phishing?
A. Phishing is a way of stealing our password/login information. Obvious targets are our online banking, our ebay or paypal account. Just remember that financial institutions will NEVER email us asking us click on a link in the email to verify/update/unlock our account by entering our username and password. Online commerce is quick, convenient and presents great opportunities for consumers, but we need to be wary, and watch for the padlock symbol, the HTTPS:// preface in the address bar, and watch for when the address bar turns green … all indicators that we are in a secure site.
Q. What is a Trojan?
A. Trojans are rogue programs that lay dormant on an infected machine, which watch and collect usernames and passwords, then transmit them to the Trojan controller. Trojans can also act as ‘back doors’ to make the infected machine part of a botnet.
4. Identity theft, and how to set up accounts without giving away the keys to the kingdom
Q. How does identity theft occur, and how can I stop it?
A. Identity theft occurs when someone gets hold of our personal information ie Full name, DOB, address etc., and uses it to open a bank account/credit card/phone account in our name. We can prevent identity theft by carefully guarding our personal information. (We use a shredder at home to shred personal mail, old bills and credit card statements, rather than letting them all go to the bins) Unfortunately we are often required to fill in an online form to access a variety of services on the internet, to download products or applications, or to join groups or social networking sites. It amazes me that so many webforms ask for personal information they don’t need and should never have. Unless we are signing up to have something delivered to our home, there is really no need to put in our real address. Likewise we should NEVER put in our actual DOB. Many of these forms just don’t work if you leave a field blank, but our dog’s DOB will work just fine! J Another good strategy is to have a ‘disposable’ email address ( I have a couple of Hotmail accounts for exactly this purpose, and it really reduces the amount of spam that arrives at my regular email address.)
5. Our Internet ‘Footprint’
Q. How can I make my internet footprint work for me, not against me.
A. By remembering that once we put something out on the phone network or the ‘net’ … it stays there! Any photo or email we send can be copied and pasted up onto a website or blog and made public. Anything we post to Twitter, or comment we make on someone else’s blog, Facebook wall or on any website is there forever, and usually we will have NO control over it and can’t remove it. Any picture or text we transmit over the phone network/internet can end up anywhere. Oh, and yes, we can leave our footprints in Virtual Worlds as well. (for students, there are only 2 ‘safe’ Virtual environments I know of … SuperClubs Plus and Quest Atlantis … both are very well moderated … I’m sure there are others, but I don’t know them) … Meanwhile, Google is indexing everything … and by everything, I really do mean EVERYTHING … (did I say everything?) … so finding information about anyone is easier and easier … try it … Google yourself (or your children) … you may be surprised at the size of your footprint. Students should be making sure that their ‘footprint’ portrays them in the best light possible. Future employers and future partners will definitely be looking at their footprint, so now is the time to start to develop good habits online. Already Governments use facial recognition software linked to internet databases to look for baddies at airports. The cat is out of the bag … and my crystal ball tells me that before long we will be able to walk down the street, take a pic of someone with our mobile phone … and immediately find out a hell of a lot about that person … this is not science fiction … this exact technology is in use now …. my bet is the open source community is already working on this.
6. Passwords
Q. What are good passwords, and why do we need good ones?
A. Good passwords keep our money safe and our identity safe. There are 90 different characters on our keyboard, so if we use a 1 character password, it won’t take long to crack. If we use a 2 character password, there are 90 x 90 or 8,100 variations … by the time we get to 4 characters there are 65 million combinations … it sounds like a lot … but this is a small number for a modern computer. Good passwords are between 6 and 8 characters at least … a combination of upper and lowercase, numbers and other characters.
Good passwords are changed regularly … and are not easily-guessed words that are vulnerable to a ‘dictionary attack’ … and please students, don’t use the same password for your internet login, your banking account, your email account, your Facebook account etc … that would be very foolish.
To reiterate … In all of this it is vital that we balance our concerns about exposure to harmful things on the Internet against the real benefits gained from exposure to positive things on the Internet.
In Part III, we will look at how we can determine the veracity of material we find on this Interwebby thingy.
Stay safe everyone … Brendan
CORALS & LUNAR CYCLE:
For scientific analysis of the effect of the moon on coral spawning, just google ‘effect of moon’ + ‘coral spawning’ … there is a plethora of studies of varying quality.
The fact that coral spawns in synch with moon does not support any theory that the moon effects human behaviour.
I cannot find any peer-reviewed studies that statistically link moon phase with behaviour. Nor any theory that suggests any testable mechanism for this to happen.
A starting point for those interested is http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
A metastudy which examines 100 research articles and concludes that there is no evidence of the so-called ‘lunar effect’ is at by Kelly, Ivan, Rotton, James & Culver, Roger (1986), “The Moon Was Full and Nothing Happened: A Review of Studies on the Moon and Human Behavior”, and can be found in Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 129-43
Everything has a natural explanation.” The moon is not a god but a great rock and the sun a hot rock.” Anaxagoras, ca. 475 BC
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