Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Chapter 8 - Digital Citizenship n a Dangerous World

What are the Dangers?


  • Misinformation
  • Malinformation
  • Messed-up Information
  • Mostly useless information

The author talks about a balanced solutions....


I equate it to Drivers Ed.   We expect our students to learn how to drive... we do not only allow them to drive in a closed parking lot without anyone else around.   We don't let a student drive until a certain age and then we make them take a class and help them practice.   Even after that they have to drive on the "live" road with "live" traffic with experienced driver beside them.


This is how we need to do this for the internet.    You can't block everything.

The running joke at any school is that Facebook is blocked.... only for teachers but no student.


Scare Factors do not work.   I have found when I tell students that if they tell me when something comes up inappropriate that they will get into MORE trouble if they DON'T tell me then if they tell me.

I give them a place to practice in.   We also need to understand students that are at risk online are usually at risk offline.


Just as bullying, cheating, fighting and writing notes occurred before the internet it occurs after it regardless of the technology.

This is why we still need to teach proper behavior regardless of the technology.


I would also point out that this new generations live in this world.  We tend to think cyber presence has a higher value and consequences in a kids everyday world.   I recently saw this when my wife's niece announced on Facebook she was pregnant.   She had no concept that this wasn't the first place she should have gone (her parents, grandparents, and other family member had no idea) through other channels first.

All schools need a CIPA (AUP) policy does yours have it?

Do you Teach Digital Citizenship?
Does your school hide behind the "Filter"?

Does your school teach difference between a public and private internet presence?



7 comments:

  1. In this chapter, Marcovitz points out that if you want your classroom to come alive and dynamic with the use of technology, you have to be willing to give learners some freedom with that technology. I'm on the side of loosening up digital restrictions because as Keith said, all of our students are capable of bypassing the filters anyways. Thus, we (teachers, tech-teams, administrators) are spending a lot of time policing computer usage instead of using their talents to teach our kids appropriate use.

    If we use any technology in our classrooms, we are technology teachers. Just like I would show a student if they were using a compass or a protractor incorrectly, I need to model to students how to use the internet and whatever device they are using correctly and appropriately. One of my pet peeves is the amount of time taken up by our assistant principal dealing with issues that occurred outside of school via social media and have carried over to school. I feel like this should be a giant red flag that our school needs to to do some consistent training with students about interment safety and usage both for school and personal use.

    My school does have an acceptable use policy that all students and parents sign. I just went over it with my homeroom yesterday as it was in their welcome packet. A copy of the policy is also in their student handbook.

    Unfortunately, my school does not teach digital citizenship. Our tech teacher doesn't see all students in the Unified Arts rotation so she doesn't think she should teach it unless all students get it. Which means, it's even more imperative that we're discussing digital citizenship in our classrooms. I've found articles before that I've read with my advisory group to get them thinking about their digital footprint and the potential dangers of technology.

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  2. Last year, my class had one small session on Digital Citizenship. I have only heard of two incidences last year where students were not using the internet appropriately and making others feel badly. My students do not have one to one access, so these problems show me that kids really need to be taught about their presence on the internet.

    M school has filters. So many filters that I can't get on Facebook, set up a blogger with my school gmail, or print from my own printer. Once I get re-imaged, I think I will have more administrative privileges, but I think they were even trying to keep teachers "safe" by blocking everything. I hope this is a sign that the district is focusing more on teaching how to be safe and make safe choices on the internet rather than using filters. Most students have no filters on their home computers and phones...

    The internet is too valuable. We need to teach our students to be responsible on the internet. The skills they learn in school will stay with them when we are not there.

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  3. this what we make all our 8th grades do before they move their accounts from our closed Google apps domain to the open one

    https://sites.google.com/a/rsu19.net/learningmodule/

    ReplyDelete
  4. this what we make all our 8th grades do before they move their accounts from our closed Google apps domain to the open one

    https://sites.google.com/a/rsu19.net/learningmodule/

    ReplyDelete
  5. this what we make all our 8th grades do before they move their accounts from our closed Google apps domain to the open one

    https://sites.google.com/a/rsu19.net/learningmodule/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree, that these are not new issues, just new ways to do what's been done for years - bullying, cheating, passing notes, etc. It just comes back to teaching kids how to be responsible citizens, on and offline.

    My school hides behind many, many, many filters. It's extremely tough because many times I've found a great site or YouTube video that I want to share with my class, but I can't because it's blocked. It is possible to get something unblocked but that too is a process. (On this topic, can you remind me of the simple change to make to a YouTube url so that I can download the video? Thanks!) I also believe that our 7th/8th graders have limited access on their computers at home (is that possible?). And maybe they even turn off at a certain time (is that possible too?).

    Our district does have an AUP. It is more extensive for the middle school students because of their 1-to-1 access, but even my 5th graders have to sign off on the internet policy. In 7th/8th grade, parents must attend a meeting before students are allowed to take their laptops home.

    Our kids don't get a specific "digital citizenship" class, however I bring up topics as they arise. I know when I taught 6th grade for a year, during the library period students had one quarter they did some work with digital citizenship and being aware of what they're reading on the internet. This is wonderful, but some students didn't get this class until the end of the school year, but they got their laptops in October...

    Reading about www.whitehouse.com reminds me of being in 8th grade and while doing a presidents project, someone going to that site, but really intending to go to www.whitehouse.gov. On the same topic, I've gone to www.dicks.com with the thought that I was going to Dick's Sporting Goods website (no one ever calls it by it's full name)! That's a mistake I'll NEVER make again - no Northface fleeces there!

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  7. in firefox (or Google Chrome you add a gadget so you can grab the video.

    actually if it is a video you are going to use I recommend getting it off youtube so you don't a bad one pop up on you. I use Camtasia, Quicktime, or jing to screen capture it so I can embed it into my blog.

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