Anyone who attended gym with me in my youth can attest to the fact I have no talent for gymnastics-type tumbling, though I have at times been an accident prone tumbler. Quite often while twittering with members of my PLN (Personal Learning Network) I have been directed to personalized Tumblr accounts that included quotes, videos, images, etc. Naturally, I was intrigued…could this product be used by students for online presentations and research? I was hopeful.

Opening a tumbr account was fast and simple. An email was required, but verification was not. The application was very intuitive; I was up and running…so far, so good. I also really liked the fact that you could customize your tumbr website address…great for safe filtering, etc. Uploading videos, images, links, text … all so easy and intuitive. I found that I could even choose from a multitude of themes and automatically set up an RSS feed! Wow…what a great application (and FREE).

In my mind I was thinking ahead to teacher/student integration: portal sites, student generated blogs, mini electronic portfolios, research collaboration, etc. I was ready to recommend! Then, I noticed a search feature on my tumblr page. The search box allowed searches on my tumblr blog or other tumblr blogs. I thought to myself, “Hmmmmm…. let’s give this search option a spin…S-E-X”…(you know the kids are going to try that search criteria, let’s be honest). Oh my gosh….no way! Until I performed a search I though…wow, what a great find. Now, I know that there is absolutely no way I can recommend this application in a K-12 educational arena.

So, what is the lesson? And, why am I wasting space writing about this particular incident? I guess, it’s because I have a tendency to get excited by many of the opportunities that Web 2.0 applications offer in terms of personal and professional use. I have to check myself because it is easy to get caught up in my educator mode…thinking about the learning opportunities these types of applications open for our students. At the same time, I have to remind myself that even though many applications offer wonderful options and capabilities, I must be ever vigilant to research and check out every nuance of an application. Sometimes one little option opens a wide door to material and resources that we do not want students to access from school (or home).

This incident also highlights the fact that we cannot inoculate our students from inappropriate material no matter how vigilant we may be in our filtering procedure and policy….fodder for a future blog post.

By the way….Tumblr…if you ever want to talk, I have some great ideas I would love to share with you from an educator’s perspective.