LOL...OMG Thoughts

This week I also read the first few chapters of LOL...OMG! I agree that this is a book all high school, college students and adults should read. While I am finding the book very engaging I also feel much of the info is commonsense, which I guess is not really criticism since the author Ivester states this in his introduction. Maybe that is what digital citizenship really is, a new form of commonsense which sets the norms for online use. I think we all would agree that the world of social interaction is changing, possibly we are at a cross roads and there is currently an incredible amount of culture lag in our world today. I think the bottom line is people need to think things through. A good commonsense approach would be, if you would not say it or show others in person then you might want to think twice before posting it. There is no doubt that communication and sharing is the most convenient it has ever been in human history but I often question at what cost does this convenience come at? This book made me think about the 24 hour news media which has made print basically obsolete, the slang which dominates our students conversations, and the impatience many feel when they have to wait 10 seconds for a page to load never mind 5 minutes for something. Is this instant world we live in all positive? We live in a world now where news agencies post rumors of what the story may be because people cannot wait long enough for the confirmed facts, a world where student research is often considered the first site that pops up, and where a 5 word text has replaced a meaningful, enriching conversation. I think the game is changing and while there is much technology in our lives right now that we would not give up, it likely does come at a cost.

On another note about the first few chapters, I am not sure if anyone else agrees but I find it very naive of Ivester to think that 'juicycampus' would not become a dumping grounds for college students. This site came out when myspace and facebook were go to social networking sites and these sites produced a lot of negative interactions amongst people. I feel Ivester was looking for the next big cash cow and just thought it a little odd how he seemed to feel the site would be so innocent. That's just my take on it. This book does a great job pointing out how people lack the commonsense which the digital world requires, maybe there are a lot of naive people out there who just don't yet have this sense, or maybe people just need to think a bit before engaging in the new 21st Century norm of instant communication. Whichever it is this book certainly addresses the problem well.

A lesson which would help students explore the pros and cons of technology in the 21st Century would be to have students use technology to research advancements in technology throughout the 20 and 21st Centuries. After researching students can collaborate and use a current tech presentation tool to display their information. In this lesson students would be collaborating to learn about how technology has impacted human behavior over the last two centuries. The objective of this lesson is to have students think critically about the advantages and pitfalls of 21st Century communication. This lesson correlates with NETS Students standard #5 "Digital Citizenship"  B. "Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity". Students should learn that we live in a changing world where the speed of information can be a very powerful tool, but a tool which is still controlled by the user.