Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make

HA HA, I can't believe people are watching porn at work!
That is absurd.
Why he decided to compare that with what follows is I guess to catch the attention of the reader, but I do not feel is in the same scope, but a great eye catcher!

To me these mistakes are common sense, Not backing up data, Treating a school computer like a home computer, Not supervising computer-using students, private online communication, Believing that one's teaching style need not change, ignoring kids interest in technology, Thinking technology in schools will go away. I do not see how teachers are making these mistakes or believe these things. I certainly hope that there are not any new teachers in the field who are thinking these things.
I realize all of these points and plan to abide by the rules of common sense. Do not use you work computer as a home computer! Do not look at anything or post anything on the Internet that you do not want traced back to you. REMEMBER YOUR FOOTPRINTS!

The two that are most important to me are...
1. Not backing up data. "You mean having two copies of my files on the hard drive doesn't count as a backup?" The first time a teacher loses his or her precious data, my heart breaks. The second time, well, stupidity ought to cause some suffering.


I think that out of them all this is the one mistake that may have actually made. It is always a good idea to have a thumb drive, but what about backing up your back up? I have had thumb drives that erased all of my files before!

4. Thinking online communication is ever private. Eventually, everyone sends an embarrassing personal message to a listserv. I've heard of some tech directors who get their jollies reading salacious inter-staff e-mails. Your school e-mails can be requested and must be produced if germane to any federal lawsuits. Even e-mail deleted from your computer still sits on servers somewhere -- often for a very loooong time. Think you wiped out your browsing history? Don't bet that is the only set of tracks you've left that show where you've been surfing. Your Facebook page will be looked at by the school board chair; your superintendent and principal know who the author of that "anonymous" blog is. Not assuming everyone can see what you send and do online is stupid.

I think that anyone who thinks that online communication is private is very stupid! You need to turn on your television or get a computer yourself if you believe this one!