Digital Citizenship in Schools

"That was the question I asked my students this fall and the answer I got surprised me. Students increasingly aren't going to the premium information services we've set up for them through our school library. They might not even be inclined to go elsewhere on the Web. Instead they often turn to Apps for their information. From The Elements to NASA, from National Geographic to the National Science Foundation there is a wealth of credible content in the App Store, but if students are using this information in an academic setting how do we help them correctly document and cite these sources? "This is a case of technology being ahead of the Modern Language Association," said my colleague Stephen Freeborn, longtime English teacher, but together with our school librarian we found a work-around hack that gets the job done."

"This report is designed to give an accessible overview of media literacy among UK children and young people aged 5-15 and their parents/ carers (-1-). The purpose of this report is to support people working in this area to develop and promote media literacy among these groups. This report is the third full report since our survey began in 2005. It is therefore able to show trends over time for many of the questions asked. Due to different survey periods and focus, some comparisons are made with 2005 and 2007 data, and others with 2007 and 2008, and change over time is highlighted against either 2007 or 2008 accordingly. "

"Using social and digital media, teachers are reaching past the classroom in unprecedented ways." Here are the most important things we, as teachers, should integrate into our practice so we can help this generation learn

Presentation to Middle School, and introducing Digital Citizenship.

Dr danah boyd speaks at RMIT about 'Networked Publics' Hear the introduction, full lecture and Q and A session and other Talking Technology podcasts at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/news/talkingtechnology

"Privacy issues are a very hot topic for anyone using social media. As educators, I believe it is our responsibility to teach our students the ins and outs of how to responsibly use social media. ...... I believe social media is important for educators and students. But I also believe it must be used responsibly and that cannot be accomplished without knowing the intricacies of social media privacy. Take a look at this infographic from MDG about the sad state of social media privacy."

Recently, two teenage girls in Gainesville, Florida made a video (note: NSFW) in which they spewed a truckload of racist comments. They posted the video on YouTube and subsequently ruined their lives. It took all of fourteen minutes. (Actually, probably twenty, if you account for the time it took to upload the video.) When the video went viral, these girls' lives changed radically -- and not for the better. They have received numerous death threats, have been forced to drop out of the high school they'd been attending, and have become the latest poster children for social media stupidity. (As of this writing, at least one of the girls has publicly apologized for her remarks.) These are just the immediate repercussions. What consequences they will face in the future remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: it will be a long time before these girls can escape the shadow cast by this regrettable and truly disastrous #socialmediafail.

"Despite the fact that I know many teachers who would rank Twitter as the most valuable and powerful networking tool they have access to, there are still many more who simply don't "get" the value of Twitter. I've been to lots of conferences over the last few years where the enormous value of belonging to a Personal Learning Network was being touted, and Twitter is nearly always being suggested as the ideal tool for building that network. At one recent conference I asked for a show of hands for who was not yet on Twitter, and many hands went up... my response was "Why not? What are you waiting for? How many times do you need to hear people say that Twitter is the most valuable tool they have, before you actually try it for yourself?""

A read through most online privacy policies is enough to make your stomach acid curdle. And social media companies have more access to personal data than most. Some collect information you expressly give them, like your credit card and telephone numbers. Others gather data based on how and where you use their services. This might include anything from device and browser information to location intel. And some of it gets really specific - think about your last search query or ad click. It's probably all "fair" game. Depending on the type gathered, social networks use data to enhance location services and target advertising (now you know why that sunglasses website you visited three months ago follows you all over the web). A few social sites even share certain information with marketers and/or third-party partners - in that case, you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with those other companies' policies as they apply to you and your information.

'Teenagers, legal risks and social networking sites' [PDF], a 109 page report by Melissa de Zwart, David Lindsay, Michael Henderson & Michael Phillips, investigates the legal risks of social networking as experienced by Victorian secondary school students, teachers and parents.

I came across this through a comment posting on another site. Catherine Cronin runs parent awareness workshops on interent safety and digital citizenship. This is page of links from her wiki. The rest of the site is worth exploring as well.

"After discussing and examining their media lives, students were asked to use a simile to explain their media lives. For example, one could say, "My media life is like a young puppy... it's full of life, friendly, hyper, and hard to calm down.""

This is a general library resource and most may have seen it on the OZTL_Net but I'm sharing it just in case.

"Mobile devices are now found in the hands of most children, and school leaders are using that to their advantage by incorporating devices that students already own into classroom lessons and projects. Concerns remain about students who are unable to purchase or borrow a device for use in the classroom, but districts might find creative ways-such as asking local businesses or community organizations for help-to provide devices in such instances, advocates of the trend say. With access issues in mind, allowing students to bring their own devices from home can offer educational benefits, as well as some surprisingly positive results when it comes to creative thinking and classroom behavior."

It's interesting that the school districts mentioned in this article are embracing "BYOT", while other schools around the world continue to clamp down on students' tech use, banning devices instead of educating about ethical use.

The school's goal is to prepare its members for life in a digital global community.

An article discussing the positives and negatives of Google+. (The author is somewhat biased, which is is acknowledged)

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.

"Social media and online communication opportunities are important and can have a positive impact on all elements of the teaching and learning process, the school and learning community. We see teachers and other professionals creating networks to share ideas and resources, children and young people crowd source ideas and information. They seek and receive feedback on their work while parents engage more fully with teachers, their children and the school. Furthermore, even if we feel too old or too busy to engage with social media ourselves then we, as teachers, must still be able to model appropriate, safe and positive use of social technology for our learners and the wider learning community."