May 02 2008
Wiki Deleted
6th graders -
I decided to write this in a blog post and have you respond here rather than having an open class discussion right away. After our discussion yesterday about appropriate wiki material and proper citing of photos, several students decided to add somewhat questionable material to the wiki during school yesterday, including photos without citations. This was something that I was going to address again during class today. However, last night, 1 or more students abused their wiki privileges to such a degree that I was forced to delete the entire wiki. Why? Well, because I was trusting and set it up with openly-known (to your and Mr. M’s class) passwords, I can’t 100% prove who the offender was. I also can’t prove that the offender was in this class, and don’t want to falsely accuse anyone. I have a fairly good idea of who the student is, but this truly is a class issue. I’m very concerned because in the last group there was never even a single misuse of the wiki or privileges.
The student(s) last night took advantage of the openness of the wiki and a) sabotaged other pages, which is completely disrespectful and against all proper-use guidelines, and b) wrote inappropriate material on the other pages, including material that would be considered bullying by any standards.
I would like you to comment here with your reaction to this incident and let me know why any 6th graders, ANYWHERE, should be allowed to work on a wiki. Do you think 6th graders are mature enough to handle a project like this? What do you think I, as the teacher, could have done differently?
Due to the seriousness of this incident, this is a graded assignment that will be reported back to Mr. V for the gradebook.
35 responses so far
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
I do think that some sixth graders are mature enough because they can handle themselves without an adult being there by there side and help make their desitions for them. I think that you as teacher could have not used that website. I think that it was a very good idea that you decided to delete the wiki page.
I first think that sixth graders should be allowed to do wiki . I also think most sixth graders are mature enough to do wikis but some take advantage of the fact that your somewhat anonymous. I also think Mrs Olson couldve made it so that you can only work on the wikis in class and she has to make sure each picture is appropriate.
I think that this issue is very important because its a serious issue./ I think that it is very rude and disrespectful. I dont think that we should get a second chance. honestly because someone i dont kn ow who but they used it innoprpriatly and i dont think we deserve a second chance. And i dont think six graders are mature enough to do this. I dont know what you could have done differently. Sorry.!!!!!!
I do not know for sure who did it but I have an idea. I heard that two students were messing with other people’s space even before this incident. I will not tell anyone who did it until I am completely sure. I don’t think there is much more you could have done to prevent this. I hope it doesn’t happen again
These people who did it shouldn’t have at all. We got the prilvage to write what we wanted to and be who who we wanted to and say what we wanted to and I thought that was really cool. What think that Mrs.Olson could have did diffrently was maybe give all of us diffrent passwords so other people couldn’t get into our page.
I think the thing that you could of done was not even do the wiki because some peope in this class have the right that they think if they do it they won’t get in troble so they do it anywyas. I alsothink that we should have not been able to put pictures on because i think that t would screw up the hole things because some people mabye think that they can put any pictures on the wiki even if they are bad for sixth grade. hope you figure out how to fix it.
I think sixth graders are mature enough to handle the responsibility of using the wiki’s in an appropriate way. I think you just gave us too much freedom. If you would have had guidelines to what we could do on the wiki’s this wouldn’t have happened. I think you should have taught everyone how to put pictures on the wiki’s. If we had guidelines of what is appropriate this would not have happened. Some kid’s don’t know what is appropriate and what is not.
First I would like to say that I didnt do it, but who ever did it they (or them) must have not really thought it all the way threw. But I tink that when you find out who it is they sould not be able to Wik, ut as soon as you find out who it is you should put the WIk back. You should chang every password so that student has a hole bunch of numbes, and when you assine numbers to people you should wright down what number they are. So then you look at the Wik ad theres bad stuff on it you can look at what student had the Wik and then it would be easyer!
I think sixth graders should still be able to use wiki anywhere, because not all of us would do something like that. I think whoever did do that should turn themselves in so the rest of us can go along with our keyboarding lessons. I do think most sixth graders are mature enough to handle a project like this. Although some arn’t. As for what you could have done differently, I don’t think theres much there. You explained everything perfectly for me and my friends sitting around me.
I think kids should be allowed on a wiki because it’s a way to have fun and mess around. I think some 6th graders are mature enough to handle it, but others aren’t. I think that you could have set a consequence for something like this. Although people should know to not do something like this.
I think that some 6th graders are mature enough to handle using wikis appropriately. Maybe not some of the people of this specific class, but most of them. I think maybe as the teacher you could have made passwords that weren’t as open, but I know that may a little tougher than ones so open.
I think the sixth graders should have a prevlige to have access to the wiki because it is a way to express what they like in a different way than they are used to. The login and password should be a little harder beause then they might remember how to get in and the next day you could told how to again. The “sign in” tab could be in a tab so it would be harder to get in. But I do think sixth graders are mature enough to handle a wiki and that they should have the prevlige to make there own spot on what they like to do.
Thank You
Well, I never knew that this was happening and I (deleted by Mrs. Olson to protect identity). Therefore I may have had one or two pictures without the person who took the image. I did not do anything else one wiki, but I think I might know someone who did. I don’t know if you want me to tell you, though. I don’t think you should have taken away the priveliges of us kids who you think DID NOT do this because it was a loss for us. Also, try and find out who did it and bann them from wiki instead.
Thank you,
(well you know who ; ) )
I think that you should let kids work on the wiki because it is very fun if you treat it right. I do think that 6th grades are mature enough but I do think that there could be more rules about the wiki. I think that you as a teacher could have made it harder to get on to the wiki like make the past word a little more different for each 6th grader.
I think that sixth graders are mature enough to do wiki. I think this because most sixth graders are respectful and don’t do bad things that they know is bad because they don’t want to get in trouble but, there are some sixth graders that are rebels, and thrive to get other kids in trouble. I think that Mrs. Olson could of prevented this by only letting the kids work on the wiki’s in class only. I also think that if she gave the kids a less guessable password the “rebels” wouldn’t of been able to get on other peoples wiki and abuse it. I hope my suggestions helped and we get to use wiki again.
I think that you should not let us go on it antil you find the person who did that. you can also have them band from the wiki.
I think what you should have done to prevent this is give everyone a different word and number. This is the first I have heard about this and who ever did this is not very nice.
I think that sixth graders are mature enough to do wiki. I think this because most sixth graders are respectful and don’t do bad things that they know is bad because they don’t want to get in trouble but, there are some sixth graders that are rebels, and thrive to get other kids in trouble. I think that Mrs. Olson could of prevented this by only letting the kids work on the wiki’s in class only. I also think that if she gave the kids a less guessable password the “rebels” wouldn’t of been able to get on other peoples wiki and abuse it.
well because they should have a second chance. Because they just got one chance to do it and that was there first time they kind of new what they were doing but not all of it. And I think they are mature enough to do wiki. Because they are old enough and they know now how much dangoris it is now. what ms.Olson could of done better is showed us how or what to right. Instade of just saying dont put your personal stuff on there then ppl could find you and do doom stuff.
I think that 6th graders are mature enough to use the wiki. We (all 6thgraders) should learn how to use our tecnology at an early age. Also so that we can help other people use it to. It’s a fun project to do too. What I think that you could of done was instead of having almost the same password for everone, maybe let them choose their own password.
I think you did a good job on the wiki. But I think you could have given people nubers on their computer so you could identify the person that did that. But anyway I think you did a good job telling eople that they shouldn’t do bad things to the wiki but people didn’t listen so we don’t get to go on to the wiki anymore.
I am really suprised to hear that somebody in one of the classes would have done something like that. I think that sixth graders should be able to use a wiki because they should be and for the most part have proven themselves mature enough to know what content you can post, and likewise, what you can’t. I didn’t think that anybody in our class would have been that immature to do something like that, but I guess not.
I think the problem with citing the images comes from bad examples from the whole World Wide Web. You Tube videos are copied and posed under different names. Nobody is really inforcing the rules of copyright. Mrs. Olson did inforce that you HAD to cite the images.
I thought that Mrs. Olson did a very good job last time preventing online bullying with the Teacher Tube videos. Maybe she could have gone over the rules of good online behavior again, just to refreshen everybody’s mind. I think there should have been severe punishments (detention . . .) set in advance. But I also think that the person or people responsible for this knew what they were doing was wrong but did it anyways. That can’t be prevented.
yes becuse that is good for the students to know something in the computer becuse if they need any thing from the computer they can get it and I think this is interresting.
You should let the sixth graders all around use the wiki because it could of been the other class. Or a kid that just did not know the rules for the wiki website. I think that almost all the six graders are mature because someone had to mess the site up by posting bad stuff about the site or about the author of the posts. If it was up to me I would of expressed more of the rules about the wiki and took more time to talk about the rules so we would know what not to do.
I think 6th graders should be aloud to wiki. Germany should not be judged by what the nazis did and neither should 6th graders because of what our classmates did. many 6th graders are mature enough and those who are not shpuld not be given the opportunity. one think you could have done differently was give everyone a specailized name.
I think the wikis were fun but,you should have changed the password after each class did the wiki. I have no idea who abused the wiki.
I think that the 6th graders should be allowed to go on the wikis. I am really mad that one of the 6th graders did not follow any of the rules. I think of one thing that you could of done better. The thing that you do to prevrnt this from happening again is that you could do is keep a look out for any body that is changing other peoples wiki’s. My thought is so nobody can change other peoples wiki’s is that you should make everybody passwords so no body can get in thier wiki’s.
I do believe that there are benefits for 6th grade students who participate in the wiki process. Besides the obvious gains from the writing/editing process, the sabotage is evidence of the need for training in collaboration and an understanding of what is meant by community, personal and group responsibility and consequence of behavior. I will be honest, the youngest group of students I have worked with are 9th graders. The wiki (wikispaces) is designed for public viewing but editing can be done only by students who have signed in with a unique username and password. So far one incident was observed but I was able to deal consequences to the responsible student immediately. Good Luck.
A similar situation occurred in my class last year, so I know how frustrated and disappointed your teacher is right now. First of all, the term used for people who put inappropriate stuff on a wiki just to get a reaction is “wiki-trolls”. It’s ashame to take the whole project down just for the mistakes of a few trolls. I think, that just like in the case of wikipedia, pages that are missing proper citations should be flagged for editing, and wiki-trolls should be blocked. The very nature of a wiki is an opportunity to learn and collaborate, write, re-write, and edit. It’s very important to remember that an online presence like a wiki lets the world see you. What do you want the world to know about you? What kind of reflection of your school, your teacher, or your class do you want to show? I agree with most of you. Sixth graders can be responsible enough to create a wiki. It’s a shame that the actions of a few trolls spoil it for others. If you dont’ get to resume this project, there will be others. Know that the person(s) who created this problem probably feels really bad right now. He or she should suffer a consequence, but don’t let that consequence come from you guys. Everyone makes bad choices from time to time. Forgive them and move on.
I am using a wiki with my grade 6/7 classes at the moment, but each student has to have permission from their parents to join, and then I send them an invite. So each student has their own username and password. Not all students have brought back their note from their parents, so they can’t write on the wiki but they can still participate by doing the research and adding links through the discussion pages.
I thought first like Mrs Olsen to have generic names and passwords but decided in the end that those students who were keen to learn the new web2.0 tool would get permission from their parents and would then be very careful about using the wiki. We also are still learning how to cite our sources and this is often done on a one to one basis when some students are ready to add images.
The students in my district, from Kindergarten to grade 12, don’t have access to interactive tools like wikis. I think this is a shame because everyone needs to be comfortable with digital means of communication and collaboration in order to be successful in school, business, and life in this modern world.
Some of you have said that Mrs. Olson should have had more security on the site. Please remember that no security is fool-proof and that people who want to break the rules usually find a way to do so.
There will not always be an adult available to supervise you either in school or at home. You are old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. Betraying a trust, defacing someone else’s property, or bullying someone is wrong, no matter where, when, or how it occurs.
Your thoughtful responses prove how intelligent you are. Now use those brains to make choices you can be proud of.
This is a lesson for all students that they should think about their actions and the consequences. It is not only themselves that have privileges withdrawn, it is also their classmates.
I just attended a Digital Media conference this week for kids in 6-12 grades, and there was a keynote speaker who talked on this very subject to the kids in that group. I will share with you a little bit of what he said. I don’t think half of the kids there were listening, but since it pertains to what your class is going through, I hope you will listen.
A lot of parents are afraid of their kids going online. A lot of parents do not understand technology and the Internet. The reason that schools block or restrict access to these great new technologies is because the parents are afraid and concerned for your well-being.
When you misbehave, when you circumvent filters, when you break the rules pertaining to computers, you are proving the fears of your parents correct. You are giving the adults some very good reasons for restricting and removing computer privileges.
You need to be learning this stuff to be prepared for your future. You don’t need to be giving adults reasons to make it more difficult to learn what you will be needing to know.
That’s pretty much what the speaker said. Now for an idea from a long time computer guy– me!
I teach computers to college students. Believe it or not, from time to time, I have students do computer exercises on paper for practice. I even give written, paper exams on writing Java programs! In the old days when computer time was expensive, people learned about computers using paper and pencil all of the time. You really have to know what you are doing if you do it on paper, because the computer can’t help you.
I wonder if a Wiki simulation could be done using only paper and pencil for practice until students get the hang of how it’s supposed to work? Just a thought.
I think that it’s a real shame that such a disappointing thing has happened. Being able to do things like this is a PRIVILEGE and students should feel honoured to be in an environment where the have the freedom and flexibility to be part of a wiki.
Perhaps individual usernames and passwords may have made the process more secure. But I think that it’s important for these year 6 students to about the consequences of putting up inappropriate material.
While it is a shame that some invidividuals have found it necessary to ruin a fantastic thing, I think it is refreshing to see the response of other members of the class. It is clear that (some of) these students value the experience that Mrs. Olson is sharing with them and it is also clear that (some of) these students have given some serious and meaningful thought to this subject.
Even though the deletion of the wiki is a negative thing, I think the overall experience can be seen as quite positive due to the mature responses of the students.