Adobe recognizes ZoeyBot for innovative use of Flash
Adobe has selected ZoeyBot as an official Adobe Site of the Day (SOD). Adobe's SOD award recognizes websites based on their use of strong visual designs, superior functionalities, and innovative uses of Adobe products.
Think that site is safe for your kids? Think again!
In what has surprised many, news is surfacing that Wikipedia is unsafe for children. An article published last night states that the FBI is investigating Wikipedia regarding a photo which could violate federal child-pornography laws. Tech savvy parents and educators are already aware that Wikipedia can host questionable content. For many - this isn't news! However, many people do place a considerable amount of trust in Wikipedia. And some who don't, tend to have safety measures in place to block inappropriate content.
To complicate matters, there is widespread disagreement over what constitutes inappropriate content. However, World Net Daily published a list of inappropriate Wikipedia hosted content which is arguably difficult to dispute. Is the material inappropriate? Decide for yourself here, here and here.
Concerned parents and educators might wonder how this sort of thing is possible. The answer lies in Wikipedia's editorial processes, policies, and recommendatations which is simultaneously the source of its success as well as its shortcomings.
When asked about the inappropriate content, Wikimedia communications officer Jay Walsh responded:
"I have no idea when it will come down, as I probably already discussed with you – the foundation does not play a direct role in making edits to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a platform for use by members of the public, around the world. I understand your concern has been raised with volunteer administrators and editors. They will review and consider your request, in the context of the Wikipedia editorial policies."
As a parent, I must say that Jay's response doesn't help to instill confidence in a speedy resolution. As a long time Wikipedia user I can empathize with the challenges involved and the impossibility of being all things to all people.
The reality is, Wikipedia and Google don't cater to children. In fact, Google's own Terms of Service states:
2.3 You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if (a) you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google, or (b) you are a person barred from receiving the Services under the laws of the United States or other countries including the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Services.
Search services in general face a related problem. They don't create or host their own content - they mearly link to external content found in "the wild". The content they link to is subject to change. The problem is that changes won't be discovered until the search service revisits the updated sites. Due to the exponential growth of the web, search sites can't review changes fast enough. Even Google, the king of search, can take a week or more to notice a site change.
Unbeknownst to parents and educators many sites specifically created for kids don't claim to be safe. For example, Yahoo's kid site Kids.Yahoo.com states:
Accordingly, as the legal guardian, it is your responsibility to determine whether any of the Service areas and/or Content (as defined in Section 6 below) are appropriate for your child.
And Ask.Com's kid site states the following:
Web sites can change suddenly and without our knowing. We go to great lengths to verify the content of our search results pages and the sites to which our results directly link. Unfortunately, a site that has been verified as safe can eventually change its content, advertising policy, or the Web sites it directly links to, becoming inappropriate without Ask for Kids knowing it.
Let's not forget that before the Internet grew in popularity many of us visited local libraries to find the information we needed to complete school assignments. Are we better off today? As web users I'm sure many of us would like to think so... but as parents we'd better read the fine print!
In the spirit of full disclosure: I've long known that Wikipedia and Google are inheritently unsafe for children. This is why my wife and I created ZoeyBot. Our goal has been to create a site which is safe because of strict measures preventing external links and user submitted content.
Educators embracing Tech
I've been using Twitter for just over a month. During that time I've started following educators, both to understand their needs and to reach out to them to share ZoeyBot. I've watched as educators have shared technology related information.
More impressively it's been wonderful to see how they've leveraged the twitter platform to self organized in support of education related projects. Along the way I've chimed in with my 2 cents and participated in a collective consciousness. Throughout our history we humans have learn to adapt, embrace and later thrive in any new environment. I'm excited about the emergence of the 21st century educator.
Carlos Justiniano: technologist, veteran software developer, world record holder, entrepreneur.