"This emergence of video as a high-stakes media form requires a rethinking of what we mean by digital citizenship. We need to move from a conflation of digital citizenship with internet safety and protectionism to a view of digital citizenship that's pro-active and prioritizes media literacy and savvy. A good digital citizen doesn't just dodge safety and privacy pitfalls, but works to remake the world, aided by digital technology like video, so it's more thoughtful, inclusive and just."
A DLC blog post sumarrsing the content of 'The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)' report on video game violence in the UK. A document reviewing official government recommendations to improve children's digital and video game safety.
Kids are growing up in a digital world. They connect, share, learn, explore, and play in way unimaginable just a
generation ago. This is the only world they know and their parents, teachers, political leaders and even the media
are all doing what they can to catch up. The emergence of social media, in all its extraordinary forms, is pushing the
boundaries of what we think of as private while giving us all, and our children, a platform to express ourselves anytime,
anywhere.
It can be an unnerving prospect to a parent or teacher to see their kids pack so much processing power in their
pockets. The media have played on these fears with screaming headlines and nightly news leads about cases of
online predators, pornography, cyberbullying and sexting. Some lawmakers have proposed online safety legislation
based on a single event, such as a suicide that had an online component to it. At least RQHVtate Dttorney
Jeneral suggested raising the age limit for kids accessing social media to 16 years.
While understandable, these reactions are not always helpful or healthy
online etiquette, privacy and safety, permanence, digital citizenship, texting and messaging basics, tech isn't everything, addiction, when mistakes are made, tech as a teaching tool, the value of tech
Learning objective: A renewed focus on the choices we make and how they affect us, specifically about balance, responsibility and safety.
Guiding Question: How are you a responsible digital citizen?
Somewhere between kids' intuitive social savvy and their online behavior lies an opportunity for both parents and educators to teach responsible digital citizenship, and there are plenty of organizations dedicated to this task alone. Define the Line, a project of McGill University in Canada, was recently awarded a digital citizenship grant by Facebook to help further its work in creating materials to open dialogue about finding the line where joking crosses into negative or criminal behavior. The site includes videos and scenarios designed to enhance discussion of real-world digital topics.
Common Sense Media recently launched a free digital citizenship curriculum categorized by age. The curriculum includes both paper-based and digital activities and teaches online safety and Internet research skills in combination with ethics.
We want to ensure student safety as well as monitor and filter their online behavior. As Web 2.0 becomes more popular and educational technology online sites replace desktop software, this has become more of an issue. A lot of subscription-based or ed tech sites require a student email address to create an account which can become a BIG issue when dealing with CIPA compliance, because a majority of students to not have a school email account. Here are 20 Web 2.0 sites that do not require a student email address to create an account. This list is in alphabetical order.
Going deeper into the education sphere, YouTube has just launched a digital citizenship curriculum for teachers, which includes training in things like how to report content, cyberbullying, safety modes, and copyright. In order to be more easily accessed in schools, last year YouTube started offering a service that redirects all YouTube links to its Education channel, YouTube.com/Education. Check out the new digital citizenship curriculum
A nicely designed site about thinking before you post. Would be good for some students at school to have a look through. G3 maybe for their safety unit?
These coaches understand that their peers need a
colleague who provides a safety net, the kind of support
that encourages innovation. Instead of playing the role of
expert too often, successful coaches call on strategies that
ensure that their peers develop the capacity to improve their
practice.
"This is a world in which public is the new default. Thought leader Michael Schrage (2010) notes that "the traditional two-page résumé has been turned into a 'personal productivity portal' that empowers prospective employers to quite literally interact with their candidate's work." The rules for building your personal brand are changing at light speed. It's not enough to suggest that we have those admirable skills of creativity, initiative, and entrepreneurship; now we have to show them in action online.
In short, our résumé is becoming a Google search result, one that we build with the help of others and that requires our participation. Most students are beginning to face this reality without much assistance from the schools charged with preparing them for the world beyond school. That has to change. We need to help students understand more than just the safety and ethics of participating online; we also have to give them opportunities throughout the curriculum to find and follow their passions and publish meaningful, quality work for real global audiences to interact with." Article by Will RIchardson