Digital Citizenship in Schools

A blog post discussing Internet access in Australian schools.

Smokescreen is a game about life online. Promo: We all use Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and MSN to keep up with our mates - and we've all heard the stories about parties on Facebook being mobbed, or people getting stalked on MSN. The question is, what would you do if it happened to you? Over 13 missions, Smokescreen follows the story of Max Winston and Cal Godfrey, two mates who've set up an exclusive social network called White Smoke. After Cal's involved in a car accident and falls into a coma, White Smoke becomes huge - and starts attracting huge problems. Each mission explores the world of White Smoke, and players find out who they can trust - and who they can't.

A kiwicommons meeting place for the discussion of online safety.

Google touts its new social network as having better privacy controls than others, yet as Audrey Watters reports, they could be doing more. 

Video and Resources coming Sept 2011.

This binder is an attempt to collect and organize Digital Citizenship resources by age (grade level). Often when we think of Digital Citizenship, we only think about the safety aspects of it but being a digital citizen is much more than just being safe. The nine elements of Digital Citizenship as outlined in the book Digital Citizenship in Schools by Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey

In her new book "Now You See It" to be released August 18, Duke University Professor Cathy N. Davidson explores how the advent of the Internet is changing what we see. Learn more at http://www.nowyouseeit.net.

"Over the last few months, Facebook has launched several initiatives and features to help you keep your account and data secure. Back in May, the company revealed it was switching over to the secure HTTPS protocol and announced details of its login approvals feature. Facebook has also teamed up with Web of Trust to help protect you from scam websites and recently added its social reporting tool to its mobile website. In addition, the company has launched a bug bounty program that rewards security researchers for finding flaws in the social network's security systems. To help you understand the social network's security features and how to protect your account, a Guide To Facebook Security has been launched. The guide, which you can download from Facebook, is 14 pages long and offers all kinds of tips on how to protect your account, including how to spot and avoid scam apps and clickjacking."

"NSW Police have been made aware of a Facebook page that has allegedly made disturbing death threats against baby-faced singer Jack Vidgen. Telephones don't stalk children, Social Media doesn't intimidate them either. People do. Investigate People. Don't blame the online community tools. Thank the tools - they shine a spotlight on all that is horrid in our society. We cannot heal until we know what is wrong with us and acknowledge and address it. And newspapers are not here to heal us, believe me!"

Joyce Valenza's presentations

Lots of people are a-buzz about the things Joyce Valenza has to say. This wiki has her presentations in slideshare format - brings back memories (of ETL523), but also contains some really useful info and resources.

"Inspired by an article about cyberbullying I asked my fifth-graders to write podcast scripts. They wrote about teasing, cyberbullying, gossip, intention vs. consequence, advertising, digital footprints and the lack of facial cues in electronic communication. Working mostly in collaborative groups, my students recorded complete "'casts" on our informal laptop studio."

"Now is the time to start thinking about what *you* are going to do to educate your students about cyberbullying, digital citizenship, online responsibility, and overall safety. A key to any educational effort is consistent reinforcement of the messages you want students to incorporate into their daily lives. Convening an all-school assembly on these topics once each schoolyear is not sufficient. But bringing up online issues even for just a few minutes regularly (daily!) can be very effective. No matter what your area of teaching expertise is, you can talk about digital citizenship. When it comes to educating your students about online issues, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. There are tons of great resources freely available on the web. You already know about our site, but in case you haven't explored it fully, below are just a couple of examples of activities you can incorporate into your classes. "

This article mainly uses data from the ABS 2009 and 2006 Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities Survey (CPCLA) and the household use of information technology topic in the ABS 2008-09 Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS). Both the CPCLA and MPHS exclude people living in Very Remote Areas of Australia.

Kathy Shrock is a well-known commentator on Web 2.0. Here she has assembled various ipad applications that support each of the levels in Bloom's Taxonomy.

What a handy place to start your search. You can ensure you are using the search engine that will best suit your needs.

In fact there are only five positive and five negative points. Nothing really new and written by a marketer, but if you're looking for a quick summary of the main points, this is a handy list.

This is a blog entry report of a webinar in which the presenters discussed using technology to transform learning. "It empowers students to use the tool to access information and engage in the creation of a new product. Fisher emphasized the need to shift to student-centered work; the student is the producer rather than consumer. To make this happen learners need ample opportunities with authentic tasks in alternative instructional contexts." There are lots of suggestions for hardware and apps, with links to the ideas and resources discussed.

"Companies have long used criminal background checks, credit reports and even searches on Google and LinkedIn to probe the previous lives of prospective employees. Now, some companies are requiring job candidates to also pass a social media background check."