Letter to Oprah (draft)
[Replies:
3]
Here is a draft of a letter I hope to get some other educators involved with... let me know what you think:
Dear Oprah,
As professional educators, we consider you to be the "Education Talk Show Host." We know how much you care about the education of students, and support efforts
to improve education and Net safety for children. To that end, we also know that you consider Chris Hansen of Dateline to be a "white knight," capturing cyberpredators with his sting operation. While we have no interest in defending those who prey on children, we would like for you to consider the backlash effect that Dateline has, and consider holding a show (or series of shows) which discuss Internet safety, positive uses of the Internet in K-12 classes, and any other issues you would like to address.
Dateline has done close to two dozen of what basically amounts to the same show. In each show cyberpredators are brought to a house and busted. While this may do a national service in making some wannabe cyberpredators wary of using the Net to entice children, and it does take a handful of them off the street, we feel that Dateline does not address real issues of Net safety, and indeed, may have a chilling effect on positive educational uses of the Net. Dateline does not show ways for children to be safer, other than a "just say no" attitude. It does not show any positive site that students could use, nor does it even delve into the myriad of ways parents can be safer and more secure about their child's use of the Internet. Indeed, by repeating the same show constantly, they
instill fear without remedy, and have spawned local news shows to mimic their show across this country. We believe and understand the number one reason for this is ratings, and that undoubtedly this show is successful, because it capitalizes on the seamiest side of the Internet.
As professional educators we are members of dozens of educational listservs, message boards dealing with education and Net safety, and have a wealth of knowledge which we would like to share with your viewers. We believe that the Net may truly transform education in the 21st Century to help students become engaged, active, and lifelong learners. However, the majority of schools do not
use the Net to even close to best effect, with computers used mostly for high stakes testing required by NCLB, if there is any access at all. Most students don't get online at all for scholastic pursuits, and there is little outcry
about this because of shows like Dateline.
The Net can be a wonderful place to learn, indeed *the* most engaging place to learn for today's students. By knowing where to go, what to do, and how to do it, as professionals with extensive experience in K-12 education (both online and off), we would like a chance to appear on your show and discuss the above issues. We would welcome a chance to converse with Chris Hansen about his show,
as well as show your viewers a number of ways they can make their children safe on the Net, and using it to further their education.
Please let us know if you are interested in making this happen; we know that in our hearts all of us are working our hardest to improve education for our kids and would welcome an opportunity to use your show to help.
Regards,
Jeff Cooper
Adjunct Professor Concordia University
Education Technology Support Consultant
Dear Oprah,
As professional educators, we consider you to be the "Education Talk Show Host." We know how much you care about the education of students, and support efforts
to improve education and Net safety for children. To that end, we also know that you consider Chris Hansen of Dateline to be a "white knight," capturing cyberpredators with his sting operation. While we have no interest in defending those who prey on children, we would like for you to consider the backlash effect that Dateline has, and consider holding a show (or series of shows) which discuss Internet safety, positive uses of the Internet in K-12 classes, and any other issues you would like to address.
Dateline has done close to two dozen of what basically amounts to the same show. In each show cyberpredators are brought to a house and busted. While this may do a national service in making some wannabe cyberpredators wary of using the Net to entice children, and it does take a handful of them off the street, we feel that Dateline does not address real issues of Net safety, and indeed, may have a chilling effect on positive educational uses of the Net. Dateline does not show ways for children to be safer, other than a "just say no" attitude. It does not show any positive site that students could use, nor does it even delve into the myriad of ways parents can be safer and more secure about their child's use of the Internet. Indeed, by repeating the same show constantly, they
instill fear without remedy, and have spawned local news shows to mimic their show across this country. We believe and understand the number one reason for this is ratings, and that undoubtedly this show is successful, because it capitalizes on the seamiest side of the Internet.
As professional educators we are members of dozens of educational listservs, message boards dealing with education and Net safety, and have a wealth of knowledge which we would like to share with your viewers. We believe that the Net may truly transform education in the 21st Century to help students become engaged, active, and lifelong learners. However, the majority of schools do not
use the Net to even close to best effect, with computers used mostly for high stakes testing required by NCLB, if there is any access at all. Most students don't get online at all for scholastic pursuits, and there is little outcry
about this because of shows like Dateline.
The Net can be a wonderful place to learn, indeed *the* most engaging place to learn for today's students. By knowing where to go, what to do, and how to do it, as professionals with extensive experience in K-12 education (both online and off), we would like a chance to appear on your show and discuss the above issues. We would welcome a chance to converse with Chris Hansen about his show,
as well as show your viewers a number of ways they can make their children safe on the Net, and using it to further their education.
Please let us know if you are interested in making this happen; we know that in our hearts all of us are working our hardest to improve education for our kids and would welcome an opportunity to use your show to help.
Regards,
Jeff Cooper
Adjunct Professor Concordia University
Education Technology Support Consultant
Last Post Nov 20, 2006 4:24 PM by:
Anne
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Anne
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jbcoops
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