BurnBook - An App Created for Bullying?

Photo from 10News: http://goo.gl/HcKI4E

I shared the below information with my management team today as Burn Book seems to be the latest and greatest way for high school students to cyber bully. Feel free to modify and use if needed.

But more importantly, I encourage you to read this blog post by a high school student about the impact these types of apps have on people: http://goo.gl/Ls4Tv8

By now, most of you have probably heard of an app called BurnBook.

Burn book allows students to anonymously post comments about anything. They choose their school, and then start posting. There are a lot of mean comments about other students and teachers being posted on the app, and occasionally threats to the safety of the school’s campus.

I began monitoring the app the other day, and so far, it seems to be focused on high schools.

The high school district personnel have started a campaign to talk to students on all their campuses about the seriousness of posting threats on the app. Because of this, there may be a temporary increase in student curiosity as older siblings come home and share the information. And this morning San Marcos responded to a school threat posted via the app (http://goo.gl/kP8f9z) so that will be on the news this evening.

Unfortunately, we can’t block access to the app because students are using their own devices to access it. What we can do, however, is remind students about the impact cyberbullying can have on others. And also let students know that anonymous does not mean untraceable – IP addresses are recorded by the app and can be used to trace people posting serious threats.

More Information:

Burnbook App CEO Promises Change After School Threat - http://goo.gl/Hqwahm

Burnbook: Can An Annonymous App Have a Conscience - http://goo.gl/Nsy1RC

Comments

Creating Wonderspaces

Jordan inside the "Daydream v2" exhibit. On Sunday, my daughter and I attended the Wonderspaces exhibit in San Diego. It is described on their website as " a pop-up museum of extraordinary experiences." Each of these experiences was given their own space in which to reside so that each piece could speak its own voice, without the presence of the others. "The Last Word" exhibit As we explored the 16 unique experiences, Jordan and I experienced a range of emotional reactions to the art. In some, we were completely awestruck. In others, we were perplexed. At others, raw with emotions. And in some, we felt playful. "The Last Word," consisting of hundreds of pieces of rolled up paper, allowed participants to leave their "last word" to someone... a way to "recapture what was never uttered" ( website ). This opportunity to peer into the soul of others silenced my mind, and opened my heart to the emotional plight of oth

SAMR Sort: Getting Teachers To See the Bigger Picture

A couple months back I attended an executive briefing about digital learning and our 1:1 initiative. During the briefing, we were led through a SAMR sorting activity. Eight different classroom projects were shared with us. We had to sort the projects in to the SAMR level we thought it best fit. We then had to defend our decisions. It was an enlightening experience. Back at the district, my ed tech team decided to recreate that opportunity for our students. Using ISTEs Student Profiles for learning as a guide, eight K-8 grade scenarios were created. On Tuesday, teachers attending the "New to Classroom iPads" professional development completed the sorting activity. It led to fabulous discussions about looking at learning from different perspectives. Teachers commented that most of the lower level activities could have easily been modified to advance in SAMR level. With so much focus on using technology meaningfully in the classroom, activities like this one

The Punctuation in Your Classroom

Photo Source: Flickr, Eric E Castro I learned the other day that ending a text message with a period can be interpreted as insincere. Such a simple, innocuous dot now carries more hidden messages than it was ever intended to convey. Likewise, the messages we think we're sending in our classrooms may not be the messages received by students. Consider these... Time WILL pass, will YOU? Does this imply a nurturing, supportive environment that believes ALL students deserve every opportunity to be successful? I'm not so sure. Students not paying attention in class? Lock up devices. Does this show trust? Relationship building? I wonder if the teacher's device is locked up during meetings as well. Or how about this sign I saw in a classroom: "Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise." A companion sign read, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Does this mean we don't value collaboration? Team work? I wonder how

Igniting Awe in Learning

Search This Blog