Thing 5
Wow. I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information that I received after subscribing to only five feeds. Having Google Reader manage all this info helps, but I just don’t know if I will have the time to even skim over all these blogs, podcasts, etc. with any kind of regularity. I suppose that managing the sheer amount of information gets easier with some practice and that over time I will have a better idea of what I am looking for.
However, I did find a couple blogs that interested me on TechLearning Blog. One dealt with internet safety and the other with digital citizenship. In I Can’t Wait Until Thursday to Join Fifth Graders for Lunch! Cheryl Oakes talks about the Internet Safety Project that is being implemented in her school district. She shares some wonderful reasons for having the project and calls for parent support to reinforce the principles taught in school. Ms. Oakes also shares some suggestions for introducing the topic to students (links to some videos) and a link to a comic generator where students can create their own comic strips on internet safety.
In the article, What is Digital Citizenship? Wesley Fryer argues that while internet safety is receiving a fair amount of attention, digital citizenship is not. Fryer defines digital citizenship as the “rights and responsibilities which accompany technology use”. Through the ProTechT 2008 Project, he and eight other teachers are coming up with ways to help students be more ethically responsible for what they say and do through digital technology. I thought that the brainstorming activity that he initially did with the students generated a huge amount of interest on this topic (see the 27 questions). And as he points out, we as educators are not really prepared to answer all of these questions. that our students have. Fryer urges us to build upon the ProTechT project in our own schools and communicate openly with our local communities and school boards about the importance of digital citizenship.
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March 10th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
You are completely right that internet safety is a great conversation starter. I love having lunch with my 5th graders and hearing what they have to say. Just ask a few students you too will be surprised by what they say. Thanks for reading my blog post.
Cheryl