Digital Citizenship in Schools

"The most obvious is that social networks are simply tools: when used for activities of which we approve - like riot cleanup, or the Arab spring - their power seems unambiguously positive. When used for other causes, it is portrayed as sinister. There's no way to embrace the immense good such tools can use without learning to live with, and mitigate, their downsides."

The official YouTube Copyright School has a movie and accompanying quiz

"More and more, social media is becoming a part of our daily lives. Just today, Mashable is out with a report that says Pintrest (which is less than a year old) is the #3 social network in the U.S. This report mentions that the amount of monthly traffic Facebook receives is seven billion page views, and Twitter receives 182. Again, these are just U.S. statistics. If we were to look at the numbers worldwide, I would guess they would be much, much higher. But it isn't just adults who are moving more of their lives to online spaces. In a recent Pew Internet survey, 73 percent of all teens used social networks daily. The most popular of these is Facebook; however, Twitter, Myspace and even LinkedIn are not far behind. And it isn't just teens. The #1 social network for kids under the age of 13 is Club Penguin. It is visited more times each day than the New York Times. "

People are trading their privacy for influence! This irreversible global trend is shaping a communication battleground that will impact on every aspect of our future. The concept of relinquishing privacy is a scary proposition for many people, generally in loose correlation to their age. Similarly the idea of a profound change in societal influence is generating resistance and fear in traditional power centres and institutional mediators of meaning. Governments, corporations, media empires and a host of heritage institutions and their practices will change dramatically as contemporary forces shift the nature of influence.

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Sam Gliksman writes about building a "bring your own device" plan for schools.

Sam Gliksman writes about building a "bring your own device" plan for schools.

The device in your purse or jeans that you think is a cellphone - guess again. It is a tracking device that happens to make calls. Let's stop calling them phones. They are trackers.

This YouTube video on Creative Commons licensing was recommended on the OZTL_Net. It's from New Zealand. It explains the different types of Creative Commons Licenses in a clear manner with excellent animation.

"A growing number of educators and advocates in the online safety field are now embracing the term 'digital citizenship' to describe education about privacy, safety, security and responsible use of information and communication technologies (ICT). There is also a growing understanding of the importance of beginning this education when a child first starts their use of ICT. "

The full version of this does not seem to exist :(

"The St. Thomas Aquinas School digital pilot project has opened the door to allow students to use personal electronic devices throughout Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools." "Before we turn the switch to allow students to access the network with their devices, schools need to take that time to work with students on responsible digital citizenship," said Mason. Teachers, as well, could need more professional development to allow for incorporating the devices in the classroom."

A useful set of resources on Social Media Policy

K-12 Wiki: Social Networking Acceptable Use

"I. Lesson Objective: This is an information gathering/awareness session for parents. All participants will learn about digital citizenship. Participants will see a video, read an article, view a slide show, and participate in a discussion. II. Assessment: Participants will fill out an exit ticket. This will provide us information on how they have met the session goals."

"The following parent's "pledge" was originally written for and posted on SafetyWeb.com. SafetyWeb is a thoughtfully designed tool that provides parents with a means and a context for ongoing family conversations about safety, friendship and how the choices we make, online and off, have consequences."

"Essential Question: What are the norms of appropriate, responsible, ethical behavior with regards to technology use?"

"YouTube recently posted a video and short quiz designed to help young people better understand use of intellectual property relating to reposting and remixing."

This is a disturbing story. While the comments of PhD researcher, Ninia Funnell, make sense on one level, her comments about age and the law don't match the child protection law in NSW. As Michael Flood points out childhood curiosity can lead to unplanned consequences, which is one reason legislation seeks to protect children.

Gives you current statistic on internet usage which could be handy for 'selling' your case to your school to promote policy development on digital citizenship. Also useful for assignments 1 & 2 if you need figures to support SNS usage etc.

"Facebook takes safety very seriously and strives to create an environment where everyone can connect and share comfortably. Find answers to a variety of safety questions here."