In the wake of social media and dawn of the digital age...we truly need to teach our students the importance of "digital etiquette and responsible social interactions" related to the use of all of these websites. Young people are so accustomed to using these sites but are they trained to use them properly?
At our graduation baccalaureate last week, the key note speaker was a former Nebraska football player, Aaron Davis. He made an outstanding point to our students in regards to using Facebook and Twitter. He spoke about the sensitivity of one's reputation. People are creating their own reputation by what they post on these sites and he said "Not everything is a Kodak Moment".
Last week in a job interview I was asked "What will we find if we Google your name?"
Standard 4 talks about digital citizenship and responsibility. We need to teach our students that what they do on the internet leaves an imprint. It also affects others' lives. We need to teach them to be responsible with their Facebook pages, Youtube videos, Tweets, and any other traces of themselves.
There are many activities we could do in class to demonstrate this importance. There are many stories of on-line bullying leading to suicides and legislative changes being made. A class could research the laws in their state and compare the laws with other states. These classes could debate on the laws if they feel they should be changed/stronger/weaker/etc.
Another aspect of digital responsiblity is respecting copyright and documenting sources.
While it may seem funny to do all you can to get free music, this is not actually good ethical behavior. I am sure most of us remember the landmark Napster case that protected intellectual property. The internet is a vast directory of other people's intellectual property. We need to teach our students that when we use information from the internet we need to correctly document sources or purchase the information if required.
In class students need to be taught to respect others' intellectual property. In class students could talk about how important their own property is. Maybe they could do a research activity about general plagairism compared to internet plagairism, stealing vs. stealing music etc.
Hey Mary. Nice post. I agree that we need to teach our students the proper use of this technology. Many times it seems like there is too much technology too fast. People including students use the technology before fully understanding its uses and consequences. I teach about intellectual property in my law class and students are usually stunned to hear things like this. Some even look guilty. I also teach about cyber bullying and the infliction of emotional distress that goes along with it. Loved the post.
ReplyDeleteWow Mary, in a sense taking free music from internet sources or other technological avenues is stealing or like plagarism. I never quite looked at it that way before. I also was quite uneasy when you said at your last interview, you were asked what they would find if they googled you. Holy cow! I always tell my students to be careful of what they put on public forums, but I never thought of me with that warning as an adult professional. Although I am very careful of what I post and engage in on facebook, twitter, blogs, emails, and texting; I really don't know or have any control over what other people put on about me or what photos they have of me. Scary because although my adult professional life is pretty clean...hee hee...the pre-mommy days might be a little sketchy. For example, we've all been to someone's 21st birthday party, hate for those photos to show up. Don't judge, you were all there too. My point, teaching kids and our peers the importance of reputation especially in our profession or a media profession is of upmost importance. Never know what will show up on the internet when your not looking.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mary! I really liked your format and how you changed up the colors. The content was also compelling. It is frightening to think how damaged a reputation can become by a thoughtless posting. Kids especially don't tend to think very far ahead, or sometimes don't think at all. I think that digital responsibility should be taught at every grade level and reinforced often. I think parents also have a great responsibility to monitor their children's on-line behavior just as they would their physical behavior. Life just gets more complicated all the time!!
ReplyDeleteNot to long and yet very captivating. Just curious as to where you located your first image,or did you create it yourself? Your blog led me to have my sixteen year old read it and he said "I already knew that" I'm sure your not surprised with that response. The part about being mindful of what you put on Facebook and other networks can make or brake the possibilities to be hired really rang loudly in his mind. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis was great! so were the comments every else has already put here. I had a student a few years ago with a volume issue and I know way to much about what she did with whom and how and OMG can you say TMI! I tried to talk with her several times about her need to monitor what she said and at what volume in public places, to no avail the girl was impossible. One day she and others in class were discussing their myspace or facebook pages and I mentioned that they should be cautious about what they post, and they generally felt like it was their personal property like a scrapbook stored in their home. They had no sense of the public domain and how potential employers could view it and decide not to hire them based on what they see, or how posts of them smoking weed could have legal ramifications.
ReplyDeleteLinnetta - I got the image from Google - I simply searched "social media"
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mary. So I Googled myself and in the first 20 listing only found four that were linked to me. Of course facebook was number one, but I almost never post there or even check there. The third was something called RateMyTeacher.com where students or anybody could rate your performance as a teacher. I thought it was interesting to see what my name would bring up. I can only imagine what would come up for some of our students today. They have no idea of the problems this could cause in their future. I wonder if in generations to come their previous history will be less significant because of the accessability of one's private life. I know I have done some less then admirable things in the past and there may be pictures of them, but I do not feel the need to show them off to the world. What happens to us if someone else chooses to post unwanted pictures of us? Once it hits the web it is there forever. Now, more then ever we have to be aware of our lifestyle and the choices we make.
ReplyDeleteThe funny part about googling me is the first thing that comes up is my obituary!! I died October of 2010! I had actually done an activity in class recently where we all Googled ourselves so when I was asked this question I told them about it. Crazy!
ReplyDeleteMary,very interesting post. Because of cyber bullying in my own classroom I have had to chat frequently with my students about what they are portraying online and how dangerous it is to put those thoughts and words into a world that can always recall their words. We talk a lot about how we want others to view us and what our reputation can mean to us. We have had some interesting discussions about copyright and why it is so important to purchase music, videos, and ideas legally. Most kids never connected that "stealing" online work is no different then having their own personal items stolen. I used to own a printing business and copyright was pretty big deal so I am very conscious of what I do in my classroom. Great post Mary!!
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