Category Archives: EC&I 830
Who is Responsible for Our Student’s Digital Citizenship?
This week I decided to draw a bit of attention to each of the prompts we were given. To begin, I wanted to fully understand and define ‘digital citizenship’. MediaSmarts define it as the,
“ability to navigate our digital environments in a way that’s safe and responsible and to actively and respectfully engage in these spaces.”
I feel that since children nowadays are exposed to technology at such a young age and don’t really know a world without it, they aren’t fully aware of all the negative aspects and danger that can come with it. Technology has provided us with incredible opportunities and advanced ways of interaction and learning, but it comes with a lot of responsibility. Responsibility that has to be learned at a young age in order for students to not take advantage of it or use it in a negative way.
In Kristen Mattson’s book, Digital Citizenship in Action, she does an excellent job of bringing awareness to how students can learn how to positively and appropriately interact in online communities. Her book guides educators through the process of supporting students to creating a safe space, acknowledging their online voices, becoming aware of their roles in these online communities, participate in a responsible and respectful manner, how to make connections and engagement, along with using the internet in a meaningful way. Helping our students to better understand their role within a digital community holds great value, especially for educators who are new to implementing this into their classroom.
Although I think this book has great resources and there are many things I will put into my own teaching practice. I do think digital citizenship should be having a stronger influence from the parenting side of things, rather than the classroom setting. Reminders of how to interact online and what is acceptable and appropriate should come from the parents. In a way, it is like reminding your child to be respectful and kind citizens in the real world. Of course it is good to be discussed and addressed in the classroom, especially when technology is being used as a tool in our education. However, I personally believe the way your child behaves on the internet is a direct reflection on what the parent has educated them on, including their own approach of how they interact on these online communities. All of us adults are influencing our younger generations, so let’s all make sure we are being the best examples for them & their learning!
Talking to friend….Feels Great
You are what you eat… not anymore… you are what you post!
Digital Citizenship: A cautionary tale
Grade 10_11 BC Curriculum
AI Technology: Cheating tool or my new personal assistant?
Artificial Intelligence, Actually Indisposed
Continue reading Artificial Intelligence, Actually Indisposed
You Mean We’re in The Future?
To put it simply, I was absolutely speechless & mind blown. I honestly hadn’t heard about ChatGPT or AI before last class and it definitely came as a shock. After I was finally able to process what I was being told, I was quite intrigued. I wanted to know more! I definitely enjoyed the class and all that Alec shared with us, it was more than I had imagined.
That was my initial reaction, but now I’m trying to sort through my reaction and decide how I feel about it. I’m happy to come to the conclusion that I wasn’t completely terrified for our future. Technology seems to have that impact on me, especially when it is something new & exciting and I can’t keep up with learning all the ins and outs. I was still intimidated by it and a little scared of the negative impact it could potentially leave on our society and all our future learners.
On that note, I was relieved to feel something more than just fear. A side of excitement, wonder, and curiosity. A side I rarely experience when it comes to technology. I was intrigued by everything being shared with us and the way this could also have positive impacts on our classroom and our student’s learning. I honestly believe it can help to push us to new levels of learning and understanding. I think this can help our students to learn and explore on their own and has potential to be helpful in areas of inquiry based learning as well .
This excitement is not something I thought I would feel this quickly in the course. I imagined it being a struggle of pushing away my fears and doubts. Yet here I am, being told there is this new, fancy aspect of technology that can create anything you could possibly think of (and more) and here I am excited for its potential. I hope I’m not jumping the gun and it ends up back firing. I hope this excitement sticks around and I’m able to properly and professionally implement this into the classroom; and as quoted from Star Wars, “You can’t stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting”, isn’t that the truth!
