Digital Citizenship in Schools

For the tweens and from observations at a few K-6 schools, Instagram seems to have become the new Facebook. This is a simple, easy-to read article about what exactly Instagram is all about.

Another post about letting the students access their tools of communication. The website this is attached to is well worth a look as it links to the Australian Curriculum.

"In all of our efforts to teach students safe, appropriate, and responsible technology use, are we forgetting the more important job of teaching our students empowered use?" A collection of links that aim to encourage a discussion in schools about the purpose of AUPs.

device, I'm concerned that most one-to-one implementation strategies are based on the new tool as the focus of the program. Unless we break out of this limited vision that one-to-one computing is about the device, we are doomed to waste our resources.

While 'the internet' and 'manners' don't tend to pop up in the same sentence very often (at least not in the positive sense), there are a number of ways that manners really do matter when you're interacting online.

"We've all endured "death by PowerPoint." It's a painful experience for the audience and probably not all that fun for the presenter either. To help my students deliver effective presentations-free of those deadly bullet points-I have my go-to applications."

there are now guidelines on how to cite social media using the MLA and APA standards.

"The most time-consuming part of evaluating web tools for educational use has got to be looking at the Terms of Service (also know as Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions). They can go on for pages, and are so often wrapped up in so much legalese that even if you manage to read to the end, there is no guarantee you will be any wiser. And yet we can't just ignore them; it is our duty as educators and as digital citizens to protect rights and understand responsibilities online."

"Whether you're a lurker, a power-user, or middle of the road catch-as-catch-can user of technology, there may be some surprising inferences to be made about your teaching style. These online habits are as much the product of your personality as your habits as an educator."

"Online reputation management now accounts for 95% of his business. Initially, he worked exclusively with firms and brands, but these days 60-70% of Wadsworth's clients are individuals. "I did not anticipate that," he says."

"We now live in a world where the topics of technology and privacy seem to work hand-in-hand. Gone are the days of buying a brand new TV or video game console where concerns of surveillance never existed. Now, our smart phones and tablets can act as TVs while tracking our location via GPS or wi-fi. The new batch of consoles set to come out later this year are both going to come with high definition cameras, with one of them confirmed to be active 24/7. Not only that, but now people are concerned about other possible emerging technologies such as facial recognition and thumbprint scanning. But are these fears warranted? Or are we simply becoming too paranoid and suspicious of companies and the technology they hand us?"

Just when I thought I was getting an understanding of copyright. Interesting article.

The best way to get young users thinking about the risks of sharing sensitive information online, he says, is through horror stories. "There are so many stories of kids posting something embarrassing on Facebook and then not getting accepted to college. You always think, 'it's not going to happen to me"

There are lots of ways to find out about useful apps. for use in schools with ipads and other tablets. The OZTL-Net is one. Here's a website from the Victorian Education Dept. that provides lots of evidence-based information and recommendations about using ipads in schools and useful apps.

Some of you may have seen this item discussed on the OZTL_Net. The edudemic page is about motivation but it explains how technology such as ipads can be used as an extension of Bloom's Taxonomy to provide choice and challenge for your students. The page has links to a Ted talk that explains the "padagogy" at the heart of this program.

"Schoolchildren are at risk of having their online activity tracked and monitored for targeted advertising by internet firms through free cloud based education services. A survey has found that many parents do not know about data mining - the process of tracking email and web browsing habits in order to target advertising - but once they do they have grave concerns for their kids' online privacy, and believe schools need to do more to protect it. The survey commissioned by American IT industry group SafeGov asked 1000 Australian parents about their knowledge of data mining."

"Ever wondered how students really act online? What they're actually sharing with their friends? Heck, if they're even using their real name and other information? Chances are good about 1 of every 4 teens seem to have a 'fake' social media account with false information. There's a lot more to this new privacy study on what teens actually share by the Pew Research Center that you should check out too."

"Kate Crawford of the MIT Centre for Civic Media goes behind the numbers to debunk five myths about big data."