After taking some time to reflect on the wonderful presentation by Mary Beth Hertz, I came to the realization that even though I've been teaching digital citizenship for the majority of my career, there is still so much I don't know. Throughout the presentation, I furiously jotted down notes of different approaches, ideas and resources that were shared by Mary Beth and other members of my EC&I 832 class. I can honestly say that after our session, I walked away with a plethora of new ideas that will not only be utilized in the classroom, but also my personal life as well! Is There More To Being Digitally Literate?At the beginning of her presentation, Mary Beth touched on a course that she teaches every year to the Grade 9's at her High School, which focuses on the introduction to the internet as well as the devices the students will be utilizing throughout their time in the building. She explained that this course is important because using technology is only one part of being digitally literate; the other part is understanding the functionality/capabilities of the technology. This notion is something that really resonated with me, as I am very fortunate to be a Connected Educator in my division, and teach in an environment that is full of technology. Each year I do spend some time during the first few weeks of school teaching my students the basics for using their laptops and the different technology that we will be utilizing throughout the year. This typically involves crash courses for using Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft One Drive, Kidblog, Adobe Spark, and Outlook. However, the more I think about it, the majority of my time is spent educating my students how to use the technology, with no time dedicated to teaching about the functionality of the technology, and the implications it may have. This is such an important realization for me professionally, as I'm currently only teaching my students to be partially digitally literate. By teaching only one side of the technology, I'm essentially encouraging my students to hop in the driver seat, without fully understanding how to use the car. Something as simple as "cookies", could be a powerful lesson for students when I'm teaching them how to use online programs such as Onedrive or Adobe Spark. Explorations into how these programs will utilize their personal information could lead to meaningful discussions about privacy, and what happens to their data online when using some of the other technology or apps that they currently engage in outside of school. Dedicating time to this aspect of digital citizenship provides students with more tools to help them investigate and explore the backside of technology before deciding if they will use it or not - rather than the old way of simply "signing up" going into it blindly. The Need for Self RegulationIn her presentation, Mary Beth also touched on something that is incredibly relevant for our students (and just about anyone nowadays) - self-regulation in regards to technology. With the accessibility of technology being at an all-time high, it becomes very easy to be consumed by it. As an educator, I've witnessed the effects that over-consumption of technology can have on the lives of my students, and simply taking the devices away is not a solution to the problem, but rather a band-aid fix of a much larger issue. As Mary Beth and Alec explained, self-regulation is something that students both want and need, and as teachers, we play a large role in making this happen. We need to understand (and not judge) the world our students are living in and provide them with strategies on how to manage their time with technology. Many teachers are already educating their students on how to regulate themselves from a young age, and adding a technological component to his would be a relatively simple way to combat this issue as a whole.
When discussing self-regulation, Mary Beth also offered one idea for an activity that she had utilized in the past with her students that I'm particularly interested in trying out. She explained that as part of the course, she tasks students with deleting one app off their device or go without using a specific piece of technology for 24 hours. As students participate in this activity, she asks them to vlog about their experience and reflect on how they feel. Mary Beth explained that oftentimes with this activity, students realized that they weren't missing out on much, and many did not re-install the app after the activity was completed. This is something that I have personally experienced as last year I gave up Facebook for Lent and quickly realized that I wasn't missing it, as I was no longer spending hours scrolling through my newsfeed each week. After Lent, I was in no rush to re-install it, and while I did eventually get it back, it made me more cognizant of how I utilize the time spent on my phone. This realization, coupled with Mary Beth's project makes me wonder if my students would have a similar experience/epiphany in regards to their own technology usage if I were to attempt this in my classroom. Even if they don't, I'm willing to bet this would be an excellent exercise to start the discussion around using technology in moderation, which would still lead students in the right direction.
2 Comments
1/27/2020 07:39:49 pm
I'm really glad that your learning is being extended beyond what you've done yourself in the classroom. Digital citizenship is a wide-ranging umbrella of concepts and ideas, and in the classroom, it's likely only taken up in ways that complement the existing knowledge of a teacher. That's why I think it's great to hear as many viewpoints as possible. We take for granted things such as cookies (as you point out) and may spend more time on a more familiar topic such as being respectful online. Important, but even in that example, we set our sights on the concept of good behaviour vs. some of the corporate manipulation that students face on a daily basis.
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Dean Vendramin
1/28/2020 01:50:54 pm
I can totally appreciate one of your first points. I have been working with / teaching with technology since back in the day of Netscape (look it up haha) and there is still so much to learn and understand which for me also makes it exciting and makes me want to stay current. I have similar experiences when setting up tools and not really getting into how they 'work' behind the scene.
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AuthorI'm a middle years teacher in Regina, Saskatchewan, working towards a Masters Degree in Education. Archives
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