Thursday, July 24, 2014

ORMS: engaging students as digital citizens

As children progress through the grades the ability to collaborate becomes more and more important.  When I taught 4th grade I integrated as many kinesthetic, creative, collaborative processes of learning as I could (get away with.)  We once created a solar system across the ceiling (to scale) with paper mache’ planets.  Everyone got to choose who they wanted to work with, which planet they wanted to research and create, and how they would report back their findings.  Two boys came to me and asked if they could research and create a constellation instead.  I asked how they would represent it.  They had an idea that involved a black box, pin holes and a flashlight.  I let them run with it. There was never an issue with this unit.  Every student was engaged, excited, involved in the research and creative aspects.  They quickly learned each other’s strengths and assigned responsibilities based on those strengths. Teachers from other classrooms came to see our project, and even brought their students (in school field trip!)

I strongly believe if the teacher has planned well, and the assignment is engaging and creative, the students will step up.  There are those times when students don’t get along. This is why I let students choose their groups. The: If I chose to work with you I will not disrespect your ideas concept.  Unfortunately, when I was teaching elementary school, we did not have technology readily available in the classroom.  There was a computer lab, which I scheduled time for regularly so the students could do their research at school, and print it out for their collaborative sessions. I found if I kept their printed research in folders in the classroom there were no excuses for not being ready, and even if a child was absent their work was still there and was represented in the final project.
In a former life I was a radio DJ on WPLR for 8 years, and I brought my love and skills for broadcasting to life through teaching.  Every year students had to do a certain number of book reports.  I allowed two written but the rest had to be oral reports with visuals.  One project the kids loved the most was the TV commercial.  They were all told to create a 60 second commercial to sell their book to the rest of the class.  They read their books eagerly to allow more time to work on the commercial aspect.  They recorded each other (often other teams taping so all of the featured team members could be “on camera.” ) We edited all of the commercials together and had a premiere.  It was fun to watch the creative process, to see their excitement and silliness, but most importantly, how impassioned they became about reading and selling the literature!
Now teachers are in the age of technology and must scaffold children’s learning accordingly.  The articles in Module two really bring up very important concepts for consideration when students work online. It often seems in education that the cart comes before the horse, and technology is probably the best example of this phenomenon. Most every school these days have computers, wifi, laptops, ipads and/or hand held devices for students to use.  But all of this was implemented before the citizenship aspect of online learning was considered.
William M. Ferriter’s article, “Digitally Speaking / Positive Digital Footprints” he brings up the point that we have to be cognizant of our online activities as they create a “digital footprint” that follows us.  We need to guide students to create the digital footprint they want representing them.  Ian O’Byrne’s article, “Creating and Curating your Online Brand” follows up this concept with more deatail, and offers sites that help one create their own positive branding.  This is especially serendipitous, because two weeks ago my daughter Emma and I attended her Freshman Orientation at Endicott College where Janet P. Judge, president of Sports Law Associates, LLC where she concentrates her practice on intercollegiate sports and employment law counseling.  She advises and represents colleges and universities on a wide variety of sports-related issues, including strategic program development, NCAA eligibility, infractions and certification, EADA compliance, contracts, pay equity, Title IX, harassment, hazing, academic fraud and athlete misconduct.  She has presented at more than 200 colleges and universities educating student-athletes on the risks associated with irresponsible use of social networking, alcohol and behavior akin to hazing.  She gave a very intense and entertaining presentation on Social Media use and it’s implications on college students, especially athletes.  Judge gave real examples of students who lost college scholarships, were kicked of their teams, were expelled and some even imprisoned for what the students perceived as pranks they posted on Facebook.  She spoke directly about creating one’s online brand; about Googling oneself to see what is online, and to delete posts that could be damaging. She spoke at some length about how to create your personal brand that reflects who you want college admissions officers, coaches and future employers to see when they look on your social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, etc.  Judge explained that everything you post remains public no matter what your privacy settings are, because the information is out there in cyber space, or on your device, and someone will know how to access it. I went through all 2348 pictures on my daughter’s FB page trying to find an example of a proud moment as a parent.  It is a picture of a group of college guys around a keg holding a girl upside down over it, while she is drinking from the keg hose.  I am proud to say it was not my daughter.  My daughter was in the periphery of the picture talking to someone with a cup in her hand.  OK …bad solo cup/underage situation.  But I was so dang proud that it was not MY daughter upside down over the keg, that I even sent her a message thanking her for not being the upside down keg girl.
All of the articles we read in this module are very important for students of all ages to be made aware of.  By 5th grade students should be taught that everything they post is public, can be accessed by anyone and used against them; that pictures they post create a digital footprint that teachers, principals, colleges, coaches and future employers look at to see who you are.  Students need to be instructed in how to make a positive brand for themselves, and take control of what Google says about them.
At a minimum, Junior High and High Schools should focus on teaching the concept of digital citizenship. Often times in education we find the cart before the horse.  Technology is a perfect example. Schools provide computer labs, ipads, classroom computers, and allow use of handheld devices, but for the most part do not offer guidelines and rules for use as citizens beyond plagiarism rules.
Attending the Endicott presentation on Social media, reading the assigned articles and watching the videos in this module have really raised my awareness as a parent and educator.  I will share this information with the administrators at the 7 schools I work in and hope to affect change, if even on a small scale, until program wide guidelines and a social media policy is written.


I love the creative project ideas from your 4th grade class. Thanks for sharing the information from the freshman orientation. That is very powerful. I’m beginning to see how important it is for schools to teach students how to leave a positive digital footprint. (I wonder if I ever heard you on WPLR; used to listen to it all the time when I lived in New Haven.)

No comments:

Post a Comment