This week I finished up with LOL...OMG and as I reflect on the book I feel it is a valuable read and the numerous stories helped to bring the 'donts' of digital citizenship to life. While I still feel that much of this book worked to clarify what seems to be commonsense, I also realize that as our technology advances we may not yet have clear social norms created, as culture lag will probably always exist when it comes to technology. The most important message I think this book sends is to ask yourself 'how will my choices affect others'? I like how Ivester presents the golden rule, treat others how you would like to be treated. If everyone followed Ivester suggestions of digital citizenship the world would certainly be a better place, but of course we know that is not the reality. I cannot help but think about deviants in society, those who for one reason or another stray from the norms. I think deviant behavior will always exist online just as it continues to in face to face interactions. While efforts to teach digital citizenship will be well received by many there will be some who want to play by their own rules. So it seems that problems regarding technology will always exist, just as bullying continues in schools despite zero tolerance policies, cyber bullying and hateful posts are also unlikely to go away. Having said that, I think this reality makes our job as educators even more essential. We need to keep pace with our students and understand how they are using technology and try to educate them to the best of our abilities in the area of digital citizenship. Another realization I had in the later chapters of Ivester's book is that for some people being online changes them. Whether it is the anonymous poster or those who lose inhibitions online some people almost view online communities as a different universe, not thinking about the impact their online actions will have. Like so much in this world technology is what people make it. It can empower and teach or destroy and spread hate. It is our jobs as educators to do the best we can to encourage students to practice proper digital citizenship just as we encourage them to be good overall citizens.
An idea for a lesson that I have is to have students use technology to research cases (such as the ones Ivester presents) which show the misuse and hazards of technology. I could assign the students a various case and they can research and present their findings to the class. I can also have the students use the principles of digital citizenship to point out went went wrong and what can be done to work towards addressing the problem in the case. I think this would be a valuable lesson to help students understand that misuse of technology can have serious even tragic consequences. I know that for myself the cases Ivester presented worked to deepen my understanding of digital citizenship. This lesson would connect with NETS Standard #4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility.
LOL...OMG Final Post
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think your lesson idea for teaching students the dos and don’ts of being online does an excellent job of meeting your common core standard. At the same time, it would also highly engage, entertain, and influence students to learn from someone else’s mistakes. This would be a valuable lesson for all students to be able to partake in. The idea of a firsthand research approach where students learn from other students like them would have taught me a lot when I was a student. I feel that students have a hard time relating to adults when it comes to technology today. However, hearing and seeing that what they post can be a big deal, and has been for other students, will be just the insight they need to want to make a change in their own lives. I am now motivated to look into my own grade three common core technology standards to see how I can help my own students meet their technological needs. Thank you for the great idea Ken!
Ken, although I agree with the notion put forth that this book reflects an idea that seems common sense to us, I realize more and more that, for students, its not as common sense as we'd think. The reason we understand the proper way to act digitally is because WE'VE learned it, either through training, experience, or our own mistakes. Students don't have these same experiences and therefore need to be taught and guided towards understanding proper digital etiquette.
I think your lesson is great, as it not only fosters exploration of digital footprints, but also in that it fosters communication between students. Quite often I think we forget that some of a student's best learning can come from dialogue with other students.
Ken-As I was reading LOL…OMG, I, too, thought a lot of the information seemed to be common sense. However, I think as we read we realize, as Garret points out, that this is not common sense to high school and college students. This is the reason we as educators are responsible to teach students about digital citizenship and what is and is not appropriate to do or post online. Students do not realize how what they post online can or will impact them in the future. With the ease and immediacy of online posting and email, students do not always think about what they are posting and how it can affect themselves or others. I love your lesson ideas on how to show and "teach" students about online posting and how it can be problematic. I think assigning or even having students choose a real case to research is extremely beneficial and meaningful. They will read and learn about real people dealing with real situations relating to technology misuse. A lot of times when we try to lecture students about any types of issues, it goes in one ear and out the other. However, by having them research it for themselves, like you suggest, it might make it more meaningful for them. Also, since they will be researching actual cases, students will realize that these are indeed real and serious issues with real and serious consequences.
Post a Comment