Students shall be provided instruction about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking sites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response.
My guess is that we will be log-jammed on how specific we need to be, how we need to document that we are meeting this requirement and how we are reviewing our success at this endeavor. My hope is that we will come to a consensus in the fact that these teachings are nothing new. They just wear new clothes.
In our state (and in the nation) we have used the term "digital citizenship" as an all-encompassing term to address online behavior as opposed to the, well, non-online. There are many elements to this term: safety, rights and responsibilities, health, legal concerns, digital literacy... the list goes on.
Yet, it is nothing new. Perhaps the newest part of it is that our teachers aren't comfortable teaching these lessons. I'd like us to think a little outside the box so that we can help our teachers connect the old with the new. Some connections are a little more obvious than others, such as bullying. However, some still elude us. For instance:
- If we are teaching children to write an opinion or a persuasive piece, which years ago might be viewed by the community members that read the local newspaper, what would be different today if their opinion were posted on their blog for all to read? (And all to respond?)
- If we are teaching children to protect their reputation, what does that mean in the online world? Does it matter?
- If we are teaching children that it is not okay to steal, are we also teaching them that it is not okay to copy music, movies and software under current law (depending on the license)?
My friend Marty had the following to say about this blog entry. He said I could repost his thoughts.
ReplyDeleteReally good capture Nikkol! You are spot on with a ton of guesses. AND "beyond cats" is perfect in this conversation for the proverbial "herding of cats." Everyone is trying to figure this out. But really, spending most of the time on trying to figure out the logistics.
For me...
What we really want is integration of these skills into everyday conversations. We want users that get it, adults and students, to model the really good actions and beliefs that make our participatory digital world so nice to be in. That is the only way our collective whole will continue to improve and increase in positive ways.
You state: "Perhaps the newest part of it is that our teachers aren't comfortable teaching these lessons."
It is new. People don't get a lot of things. I hear people often talking negatively about young people disclosing so much of their lives on social networks like Facebook, etc.. contrasting that behavior with their own "we didn't bahve like that when we were your age!" ... this conveniently ignores the fact that we didn't behave that way because no one offered us the opportunity (and from what I remember, growing up, I think we would have happily behaved that way if we'd had the chance). So I agree with you in full, it's NOT new behavior... it's just new and different opportunities and on a new and different stage. A much bigger stage, with more lights and sound....
Clay Sherky, in Cognitive Surplus - which all about how technology makes consumers into collaborators, dives into self governance structures of communal or public interacting social groups. We can help create our own guard rails (driving metaphor) so to speak while on the road.
There is a difference between being a jerk online and doing something illegal online. A good citizen can recognize both and help others do the right thing.
Planning can NOT always substitute for experiences. No matter what we plan for in terms of Digital Citizenship teaching and learning... For me, the best thing is to get people doing, making, creating, interacting and participating online in new ways. Connecting together and learning together. Really having the opportunity to put into practice what we planned for them to learn.
I believe we CAN and SHOULD lay the ground work, the base layer, for DC concepts. We should teach this base layer to all - as if it were totally new. Check for some level of exposure and understanding from our users on occasion, and hold everyone (including us) accountable. THEN help each other learn together through new experiences online. I think we need to teach teachers how to get into conversations, speak the same DC language (Digital commerce, digital law - rights - and responsibilities), and have the NEW skills to recognize scenarios and be a part of the solution. By doing so, students will also help take up the torch to better the group.
I kind of rambled here, but if we only boil the ocean down to what we know and do now, without the NEW experiences and opportunities, we may miss the boat again. We will see different flavors of the new regulation. We will see all points on the spectrum from ignoring it - to full fledged in your face hyper digital citizenship implementation... What we can do is figure out what will be successful in our own leadership role, try some things, fail a bit, fix it, get others on board and push the gas petal down. Great post and great conversation with the masses! I've written about some of this here: http://kyedtech.com/blog/archives/1099