[digitally literate students = teachers' worst nightmare]

PAUL SHUKOVSKY AND NINA AKHMETELI at Seattle PI report how a student is battling a 40 day suspension from school because he posted a youtube video of his teacher. Not only was the video made without the knowledge of the teacher but the content is extremely inflammatory. The video libelliously raises various questions about the teacher including her hygeine habits (or lack of) while casting aspersions on her professional merit. While people watching the video (parents, students, etc...) might feel the video is warranted - is this really the "due course" for such complaints? The student has gone to court to appeal his suspension citing the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.



Hot on the heels of this youtube video kafafel the bbc reports that Keele University has threatened all students with disciplinary action if any of them post defamatory comments on the internet on sites like Facebook and MySpace. The University says: "Students may face legal action from the members of staff concerned for defamation and harassment."

While students are becoming more digitally literate - using digital cameras, creating and manipulating videos, uploading them, sharing them - teachers must remain extra vigilant (while not quite becoming paranoid!) in the classroom unless they want to become the lastest teacher "forcibly retired" (as the youtube video claims is the case with Joyce Mong). Is this cyberbulling? The online harassment of teachers is causing some to consider leaving the profession because of the defamation and humiliation they are forced to suffer," the UK Education Secretary Alan Johnson says.