I really like the links that were shared in ICare document. The first link did not work for me but the rest were good. I have been looking for ways to help my students have a better digital footprint. The resources were also really good edutopia, I actually was suppose to go to something a few years ago in SF and Google through edutopia but I wasn't able to make the event.
First and foremost, I love my students. I feel that we have open honest relationship that can only come at this point in the year. We have had computers since the beginning of school and the novelty has worn off them a bit (although some students do try and still play games). So, about two weeks before the Christmas break I had a new student join my class. Let’s call him Bill (name has been changed). Since Bill has started school I have seen him maybe 10 times. So he hasn’t really been integrated into the culture of my classroom and doesn't really know the norms, etiquette and the nuances that have been established. He decided that when he got his computer he wanted to change the browser to something he wanted, like a “cool” Michael Jordan skin that matched his shoes. I kindly asked him to not to change it and waited patiently for him to reset it to the “boring” screen it is suppose to be. Well, he didn’t. So, I gave him some options. One being he can change it back and live life like a happy student the other involved going up to the vp and discussing how he wanted violate our computer vandalizing rule. This story leads me to my first example of how to make learning digital citizenship personal for my students. So, I want to teach them that there are laws and/or rules that are to be followed when handling things online. There are places they can go and there are places they should not go. The whole don’t talk to strangers thing except for digitally. There are things they can do and there are things they can’t. The second lesson has to do with what they actually put out there online. They need to understand that it is (now picture the Sandlot gang saying) F O R E V E R ! Once they put something out there it is out there. It is really hard to take it back. To do this I had an example from my college years of some of the fake profiles I knew of that got some of my friends in some trouble. So, I would share their stories with them and I also have some news stories of some girl that tweeted something about their job and how they didn’t do something they were suppose to and her boss saw the tweet and fired her. When it comes down to it people should not put private stuff in the public eye. The Common Sense Media site has some good lessons to help with this too. The third way I would make learning digital citizenship personal for my students comes directly from the Digital Citizenship website. It states, learners “must be taught how to learn in a digital society. In other words, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.” This is has been my focus for the year. I have been helping my students learn how to have an online presence that helps them with their future employment. We have been working on their typing skills through edutyping and we have been practicing their grammar through Quill.org. Honestly, people at school have noticed as well. We have had comments made by other teachers and administrators saying that my students are able and capable to do things online that no other teachers can do. I use Google Classroom and all the g suite applications. They must copy and paste screenshots, use their email and they write in their digital journal that they must turn in weekly. They are constantly helping one another. I teach them how to do something and then they have to teach their partners. I strive to make them self-sufficient learners. I believe the more knowledge they gain now the better they will be in the future. So, in short I really want them to be able to take what they have learned in my class and apply it to their lives and this in turn will help them be able to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.
3 Comments
Jennifer Wade
2/12/2017 04:02:14 pm
Man, I wish I shared the same confidence you have in teaching computers & technology. I am always feeling out of my element. I know that I need to begin to feel more comfortable struggling through with the students and this could be the paradigm shift that needs to happen. Unfortunately, like most things, I feel caught up in the constraints of time. That said, I think your focus to get the students to see their remarks as permanent and having serious consequences as spot on. We have always instructed our students to see that everything they say and do matters and this is even more true when made public beyond measure and FOREVER! My grade level has yet to deal with this important issue, but I think teachers need to start preparing students in the younger grades now so that they are better prepared to tackle these issues when they need to.
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Becky
2/13/2017 11:12:13 am
Adam,
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Zack
2/14/2017 06:57:55 pm
Adam, I also enjoyed all the different lessons you presented, specifically the quote you shared, "learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere". This is certainly our greatest challenge as teachers; to give discretion. Students have access to every topic at anytime. The time of 'I wonder what..' is over, now the phone can inform on anything. With all the sources of information, students need to know the tools to triangulate information for validity and learn about credible sources. I think that has just as much to do with educating, as it does with navigating the world without falling victim to pool ignorance.
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Adam Vedomske father of Danger Archives
May 2017
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