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John Carr Hotseat
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Transcript
John Carr: Hello! It's really nice to be here. Send in all your questions. I'll be here for the next hour, and I hope you enjoy the experience!
Beryl: I've been teaching primary for fifteen years, and my new head is keen for all his staff to be computer-literate. I know it's going to take me ages to learn, so I'm thinking of buying a computer to practise on. Should I buy a laptop or a desktop computer? And is a Mac the easiest to learn on, do you think?
John Carr: On the question of Macs versus PCs, you're talking to the wrong guy. I've been a PC user for 20 years or so and never touched a Mac. People who use Macs love them to bits and will never be separated from them, but they always complain that everything to do with them is expensive because they're a smaller and more exclusive community. 90 per cent of computer users use PCs so often the software and support is going to be cheaper. But in the end it depends what you use in your school. If everyone's on Macs, get a Mac. If they're on PCs, get a PC. Laptops are obviously more useful because they're portable but you can pay a hefty premium for that. If you're not really going to be on the road a lot, you'll get a much better desktop for the same money as you would a laptop.
Paul: In my view a lot of professionals in education are very much behind their pupils. No disrespect intended, but the kids seem to pick the knowledge up with ease and it quickly becomes second nature. How can we ensure that there are enough capable training schemes to ensure that educators are fully versed in changing technology and its applications?
John Carr: Teachers need to feel comfortable with the technology they're using otherwise they won't use it and they'll avoid it. Training has to be a key part of changing that, but training costs money and there's never enough of that in education.
Mark: How will teaching methods change with this growing
array of technology?
John Carr: Technology can never replace a good teacher. But technology can help good teachers be even better by providing them and their class with access to a huge range of material. My daughter did a project on the Pharaohs the other week and she was able to go to a museum in Cairo online to see how the Egyptians view the Pharaohs. That simply could never have happened in my day and so children today have got more to gain because of the Internet and related technology.
Jenny: I've heard that there are 1MB broadband connections - how does this compare to normal broadband, and what will we be able to do with it?
John Carr: This is about speed. On the Internet, faster nearly always means better, so movies, TV programmes, etc. can reach you faster and with much better quality pictures. Downloading stuff also becomes easier if you've got a bigger connection. But watch the cost - going up to 1MB can be very expensive with some suppliers. Shop around.
Michelle: What sort of advice would you give to parents and teachers alike to give to the under 16s with regards to safety, etc.
John Carr: The key lesson is that children must not suspend
their critical faculties when they go online. They need to remember that some
of the people they might meet there will not be who or what they claim to be.
And some of the information they are given could be complete rubbish. There are
lots of lunatics out there with some very peculiar views on history, for
example. It's hard to explain the harsh realities to children, particularly
younger ones, but we have to find a way. When you bring the Internet into your
home or classroom, you're bringing in the outside world and, as we know,
everything in the outside world is not always as neat, simple or honest as
we'd like it to be.
Hetty: Can you explain what Bluetooth is, in simple terms?
John Carr: Lots of mobile phones and some electronic diaries (PDAs) come with Bluetooth as standard. Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows Bluetooth-enabled devices to talk to each other just like other wireless technologies do. It can be very useful and it can be fun, but there's a new craze going around called Bluejacking which means people who've got these devices can get into your system without you knowing and create all kinds of havoc. You could be on the bus or in a coffee bar or anywhere, and get bluejacked. So if you've got a Bluetooth device make sure you have password protected it so strangers can't see what you're diary is for today or tomorrow.
Elke: Can I assume that there is an effective Internet filter at my school which keeps unsavoury stuff away from the children?
John Carr: I would never assume anything. Talk to your children's teachers about the system they have in their school — it will be interesting and informative if nothing else. However the fact is that 99 per cent of schools in the UK are now online and almost every one of those schools has got a system in place, and most of those systems have been shown to be very robust.
Francoise: I teach adult IT. This particular group are not as quick as the younger adults — they could be classified as silver surfers. I recently saw on the news that gaming can help to bring IT skills and fun, what are your thoughts on the matter?
John Carr: Whatever works for you — games can be a
way of engaging people and showing them the potential of the technology.
.
Stella: Why should I keep up with developments in technology
to teach my subject? I've never needed to before and struggle to see why
technology should play such a big part in teaching.
John Carr: Children go to school to learn about life every
bit as much as they do to learn about subjects on the curriculum. 85 per cent
of all jobs these days require some use of new technology. Children who are
more familiar with the new technology are bound to have an advantage. If
through your teaching you can make children more familiar with modern
developments that has to be to the good. I suppose a lot depends on what
subject you teach, but I would have thought most subjects can benefit.
Christian: Many schools have technology, but find it hard to
integrate into lesson plans, etc. Is there anywhere on the web to try and gain
ideas?
John Carr: The Becta site, www.becta.org.uk, is a great place for teachers and others to go for great ideas on how to enrich the teaching and learning experience.
James C: Will the Government crack down on unmoderated websites?
John Carr: The Government is drawing up voluntary guidelines. I guess if the industry ignores them for too long legislation might follow.
Jasmine: Hi John — what are your thoughts on the latest controversial plans to remove hard drives from offenders. Will this really help, and what is to stop them going out and buying another PC?
John Carr: It's very important that we don't send out the wrong messages here. We don't want victims of abuse to think that the guys who abuse them are going to walk away scot-free. At the same time it would be very good indeed if we could find a way of encouraging offenders to come forward, hand over the evidence of abuse that they've already been involved in and go on a treatment programme to deal with their offending behaviour.
Benson: What is the industry doing to stop kids from being vulnerable when using 3G mobile phone technology?
John Carr: The mobile telephone industry published a draft code of practice on mobiles which showed that they understand the potential for difficulties in this area. The final version of the code should be out by the end of this month and I am very hopeful that it will answer all our worries.
Ashley: What software is currently available for schools to monitor and restrict Internet usage by pupils?
John Carr: Becta has done a range of tests on the top ten filtering and blocking products that are commonly used by schools. If you go to the Becta website, www.becta.org.uk, you'll see it all laid out there in a neat table.
Malcolm: Does the Government have an official view on children's use of mobile phones, taking into account the health risk they pose?
John Carr: The Stewart Inquiry looked into this in the 90s
and they found that, particularly for young children, whose brains were still
developing, there were potential issues around how the radio waves from mobiles
could affect the development of the child's brain. As a result the mobile
phone industry undertook not to market or promote phones or services to
children. I'm glad they did that but we now know that millions of children
are using mobile phones every day, so maybe we need to look again at the
responsibilities of the mobile-phone companies. They interpret the Stewart
Inquiry as meaning they can't speak to children about anything, ever. That
can't be right.
Susan: John what would you like to see in terms of protection,
over the next year?
John Carr: In schools we have some brilliant systems in place. It's very rare to hear of a child getting into trouble online at school these days. The problems start when the children go home and the parents don't have the same knowledge of the Internet as their children do. So I'd like to see two things: a big effort made through schools to reach out to parents, to help them to understand the Internet better, so they in turn can help their children better. Secondly, I'd like to see every new computer sold into the domestic market, for use in people's homes, coming with safety software preinstalled and set to a high level of security. Education and technology together hold the key to this.
Bob: Hi John, Does the liability for wrongdoing rest with the website, ISP or moderation company (if there is one)?
John Carr: It depends. Basically everybody involved has some responsibility. Who might be legally liable in a given situation is a question of fact initially and then of law. My guess is that with moderated chat services, if something were to go wrong, it is probably the host of the website providing the chat that will have the primary legal responsibility.
Ruth: Hi John — the Superhighway Safety website has info on filtering software: http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk.
John Carr: Yes — this is a great site and so is Parents Online: www.parentsonline.gov.uk. Check them out!
Ashley: How realistic is the use of walled gardens within schools? Are there resource issues associated with this, or are there any walled-garden Internet service providers set up specifically for school and education usage?
John Carr: For those who don't know, a walled garden is a fragment of the Internet, where all the content has been prescreened and where all the users are properly identified. If your real identity is known it generally means you'll behave better. For junior and infant schools the grid club is a great service and it is effectively a walled garden. There isn't an equivalent for secondary schools although with the strong filtering that's in place on most school systems you've sort of got a walled garden anyway. At home, AOL is sort of a walled garden as well or can be made to be like one.
Ashley: How important do you think e-learning applications will become in future classrooms?
John Carr: The whole of education's being reshaped by new technology. It works better in some areas than in others, but the trend is clear — enjoy. Bye everybody, I hope this has been helpful, and I've enjoyed taking part.
