When the Ignorance of Technology Can Go Very Wrong
April 5, 2008
So how could the ignorance of technology cause a problem? Here is a clip taken from the Julie Amero page on Wikipedia.
On October 19, 2004 Julie Amero was substituting for a seventh-grade language class at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, Connecticut. The teacher’s computer was accessed by pupils while the regular teacher, Matthew Napp, was out of the room. When Julie took charge, the computer started showing pornographic images.
On January 5, 2007 Amero was convicted in Norwich Superior Court on four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. Her sentencing was delayed four times after her conviction, with both the prosecution and judge not satisfied that all aspects of the case had been assessed. The felony charges for which she was originally convicted carry a maximum prison sentence of 40 years.
On June 6, 2007, a New London superior court judge threw out the conviction of Amero, she was granted a new trial and entered a plea of not guilty. The new trial date has not yet been set; it is unclear at this time if the State’s Attorney of Connecticut will pursue a second trial.
Since I too am a school teacher, this really got my attention. I could see this scenario playing out in many other situations. Imagine if malware popped up a porn advertisement in the middle of a presentation and a female from the audience wanted to make it a case of sexual harassment?
Leo Laporte provided some on-the-air commentary about this case during his “The Tech Guy” radio show. A clip of that is included below.
Leo Laporte On Julie Amero’s Case
Technology… Its the Work of the Devil!
April 4, 2008
Many in today’s culture have embraced technology; however, some think it is the works of some evil force. Perhaps you know of someone who thinks computers are sinister and evil. My wife’s parents are always talking about the nonsense of technology. Her mother saw some kids with wires stuck in their ears at the mall and this concerned her. I didn’t even try to explain to her that they were likely listening to an audio file on a portable audio player. Or that it is even possible (but not likely) that they were listening to educational content and not music from a singer who would bite the head off a bat!
Unfortunately those that have a warped opinion of technology are not just the older (and basically uninformed) but are “educated” and teaching in our school system. Take a listen to this clip for an interesting opinion from an 8th grade writing teacher. It is really sad…
Clip From a David Warlick Technology in Education Presentation
Shift Happens
April 3, 2008
I have given several presentations about technology over the years and I usually set the mood by playing a presentation called “Shift Happens”. This presentation was originally authored by Karl Fisch, who is the the Director of Technology for Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado. You can learn more about this presentation and Karl at his blog, The Fischbowl.
Karl graciously allowed his presentation to be distributed and modified so the original presentation has taken on a life of its own. You will find several updated versions of the original presentation on the Internet. One of the best places to find additional information and downloadable versions of Shift Happens is at http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com
This is one of the more recent versions of Shift Happens.
Staying Safe While Web Surfing
April 2, 2008
When you take a computer online, you must be prepared for a hostile word. The bad guys are working hard to compromise your computer for a wide range of reasons. Some of which are:
- Acquire personal information from accessing your computer’s files or even installing a program that will monitor your keyboard input.
- To present advertisements to you via pop up windows (even if you are not connected to the Internet).
- To do malicious damage to your computer files.
- Present you with a web page or form that looks legitimate in hopes you will be tricked into providing your personal information, This scheme is called “phishing“.
- To “zombie” your computer by installing a hidden program on it that allows your computer to be used for malicious actions. Your computer could be used to spread spam or even be partnered with thousands of other computers to hit the same web page at the same time and take the site down.
Almost everyone is aware that you need to take some precautions; however, far too many people rely on anti-virus software to protect their computer. While software can help, your personal online behavior is actually more important. A person who follows a very strict regiment could actually surf the Internet safely without any ant-virus software.
On his weekly call in radio show, The Tech Guy, Leo Laporte covered the five most important things a person can do to keep safe while on on the Internet. The link below is a clip of this advice from his two hour show.
Leo’s Audio Clip
