| What is it that our students need to know about the Internet to be informed and safe? I believe our students need to know both the implications (short-term and long-term) of using the Internet, how to keep themselves safe (privacy settings, what kind of information to never post online, etc.), but also the benefits of the Internet. Do we really know the long-term implications of increased access to the Internet? Stereotypically, I think that many people see increased access to the Internet as dependence, and as lacking traditional skills such as hand-writing, dictionary use, patience, and conversational skills. I think the movement toward digital citizenship isn't that we're losing these traditional skills so much as we're upgrading these skills to meet the requirements of our upgraded society. Are we educating our students to work, live and play in a digital world? The digital citizenship initiatives are moving toward this kind of an education. As our world/society does become more digital and globally connected through technology, the importance of digital education and digital citizenship increases. Are we offering the education that teaches good digital citizenship? I think we are. The only digital citizenship education I received in high school was about typing: how to type with all fingers using programs like "All The Right Type". Considering my high school was a pilot school for a one-to-one laptop program (unique to all of the schools in my area), I think we should have been taught more. We had rules to follow, and certain sites (like Facebook) were blocked when under the school's wifi. But I don't feel that I was taught to be "informed and safe" like we're teaching students today. Is it necessary for the teachers to understand the ethics behind being a good digital citizen and does education have a role to play in teaching cyber morality? Definitely! If the teacher doesn't fully understand how to be an ethical and 'good' digital citizen, how will they accurately teach their students? This is just one of the reasons that my goal is to stay as current and updated as I can when it comes to technology. I remember in PS2 my English students had the option to create a plot diagram using Tweets. As I was explaining this activity, I completely forgot what the twitter "handle" was called, and had to consult the students. We all had a good chuckle at my attempts to remember ("that name", "the @ sign is at the front"), and that's just a silly example. But in order to take digital citizenship seriously, it's important that the teacher fully understands the impact. Do we need to teach ethical decision-making and the impact that actions and statements have on others in social networking sites? Completely! Cyber-bullying is such a problem in today's schools. I think it's challenging for the teenage brain to understand long-term implications past tomorrow. That's part of their brain development, and not all teenagers are at the point where they fully grasp the idea that "once it's out there, it's out there forever". If we could somehow make that real and tangible, we could make the point. It's easy to type something without thinking about the consequences. Being ethical means thinking two steps ahead and realizing the implications of our words. Do we need to discuss with students the value and downside of text messaging? This is an interesting question, because I, too, rely very heavily on text messaging, which I'm sure has its implications. I think it's important not to be bias, and to teach both sides. Just like we should teach the benefits/consequences of the Internet, we should teach the benefits/consequences of texting. However, who does this fall on? In junior high and high school, when teachers teach their subject areas, is it the homeroom teacher's responsibility? Is there a tech teacher that this falls to? What type of consequences are there for students who make the wrong choices? If any? I vaguely remember that, in my high school, the administration took on the responsibility of disciplining cyber-bullying. I'm not sure if that was because of our one-to-one laptop program, and if the cyber-bullying was done on the school computers, it was the school's responsibility to take action. I think this brings up an interesting line that schools are still trying to figure out where to draw. If the cyber-bullying happens at home, but the effects are seen at the school, does the school take action? Is it the parents' responsibility? I'm not sure what the expectations are in this regard. What is the role of the school in developing character in students? I find this question very interesting! I'm currently in a C&I for Social Studies course, and we've talked a lot about what it means to be an "active and responsible citizen", and what that looks like in regards to our teaching. Does that mean we should be pushing students to vote? To protest? To be informed and take a stance on current issues? At what point are our own biases displayed when we're encouraging students to take actions on current issues? For example, if students approached me because they wanted to start an LGBTQ club, I'd encourage them and support them wholeheartedly. But does that display my own bias because I think it's important? With that being said, I think there are certain values and characteristics that I consider to be universal, and that I'd be confident in developing in my students: acceptance, empathy, work ethic, integrity, honesty, respect, resilience, teamwork, courage, responsibility. How important is it that teachers model the expected behaviour for students? Very important! For example, I can't expect my students to be respectful and to accept one another if I clearly have biases/favourites among the students. If I am developing and encouraging the above list of traits, I should model those traits to the best of my ability so students know what it looks like in action. However, it's also important to let students know that we're not perfect either! Mistakes are okay, so long as we learn from them. Does 'no cell phone use' in the classroom mean 'no cell phone use' for teachers? This is a hard one for me to answer, because in PS2, our clock sometimes didn't work! So I'd use my phone. Or I'd set timers for activities on my phone, and students would know to listen for the ring. Furthermore, students were allowed to listen to music or google things on their phones. I think if music helps a student to concentrate, then all the power to them. However, I did have a strict rule that if they were using it when they weren't supposed to, it went on my desk for the rest of the period, which I believe was very fair! Should teachers be checking personal email in school or surfing pages unrelated to work during class? Definitely not during class! However, teachers need breaks and brain breaks too! If it's on a lunch break, I think that's fine. More importantly, what is your position on the filtering of Internet content within the school? Should filters be placed on some content or should schools depend on the development of ethical digital citizens? Do the standards differ for each Division? As I mentioned above, my high school's one-to-one laptop program had filtering when under the school's wifi. No one at that time had a smart phone where you could access Facebook or other social media sites from anywhere but your computer, so it was a way to keep students on task. However, if we're teaching digital citizenship in its entirety, maybe that means removing those filtering (or having just low-level filters like Google's Safe Search) because students need to know what responsibility looks like. This is a hard question! I think that the standards do need to differ depending on grade level. By the time students have reached high school, if they want to search something on the Internet, they've probably already done so. I honestly am unsure where I stand on this issue. I think that once I have my own classroom and students, it'll be easier to judge what my expectations are for them. Significant Comments:
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