Digital Citizenship Inside Fourth Grade

          Digital citizenship is defined as “the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use” (Ribble).  As the layers of that definition are peeled back, one will find that "digital citizenship is how you participate in the cyber community, and is quite similar to how you should behave in the community you reside in" (Watson).  You should treat others with kindness and respect, behave honestly and responsibly, and follow the rules and laws set forth to protect the safety and privacy of yourself and others.  So, as we dig a little deeper into the topic we realize that it is not that complicated, nor is it far from how you should  behave on a day to day basis.  

Digital citizenship in the fourth grade is more than teaching “internet safety”, it is about introducing students to the idea of a "digital tattoo" or a "digital footprint".  Students in my community are allowed cellphones, iPods, and iPads at very young ages.  They are allowed social network accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  With this type of cyber access just a fingertip away, students deserve to be taught what it means to be digitally responsible and how to protect their digital footprint.

This access also brings to light some of the issues regarding internet safety, and responsible cyber activity in early elementary.   The typical fourth grader is 10 years old.  At this age students are not completely aware of what is defined as appropriate and inappropriate.  For example, imagine this scenario:  A sibling thinks it is hilarious that their little brother or sister is running around the house dressed up as captain underpants, wearing nothing but their underpants and a cape?  Let’s say that older sibling takes a picture of this funny scene and posts it on a social network site.  There you have a photo that will forever be floating around in the cyber world.  Another scenario may be that a group of friends all go to the movies together.  They post pictures of themselves at the event making other friends feel bad for not being invited.  This is a form of cyber bullying that occurs frequently and is often overlooked.  Students need to know that everything they post and every website they visit becomes part of their digital footprint.  Educators need to take on the responsibility of promoting digital citizenship to protect students from damaging their digital profile early on. 

There are a variety of ways that educators can teach students about digital citizenship. Teachers may have their students create blog posts where they reach out to other students for advice or questions about how to handle cyber bullying.  Activities like these may be implemented during English to cover Common Core Standards: writing for a purpose. Students may also create digital passports or digital toolkits that help to promote digital citizenship.

**Please take time to check out my Prezi for more resources!!

**To evaluate where you stand on digital citizenship take a moment  to complete this survey!

For a list of the resources please check out my works cited page.

Thank You for Visiting!!

Learning is evolutionary. The way in which we learn is evolutionary and adapts to our environment. As educators it is vital that we harness technology and adapt it for educational purposes. For many this will require unlearning our traditional perception of how we approach learning in our classroom, and also as learners ourselves.

Educators begin the unlearning process by the how they construct knowledge.  typically this is done through professional development, and then apply it through practice. Application is the most important step in knowledge construction.  It is the time when you are able to be to take risks and be brave in our practice.  Humans learn from their mistakes, and it is ok to let our students watch us make mistakes.  In fact, it is great to model that you are willing to try something new and see if it works, if not, how can we improve it or make it better? Involve them in the process!! 
Ok, I got little overheated, but the challenge is, in my opinion, educators not willing to take risks.  The lack of technology in some districts is an obvious barrier, but if you are really passionate, you find ways around it.  Cynicism and fear hold back educators from providing effective, engaging, and current practices. 

 

Experience The Flip

My Tech for Ed class recently experimented with flipped lessons, and I have to say they were pretty amazing!  After everyone made the mental transition from the traditional lesson plan, we were able have fun and get creative. 

The idea and practice of flipped are lessons are making their way into local classrooms; as future educators I think it is important that we experience a variety of teaching strategies that we could offer our students. Flipped lessons are a great way to make the most out of classroom time.  It allows for students to spend more time actually doing activities and application in the classroom, rather than at home. 

 

 

This Week

I am currently enrolled in an Environmental Biology class.  My professor encourages great discussions that require us to dig a little deeper, and consider information that is presented to us by media and technology. She pushes us to think critically and ask questions.  This is one of my favorite classes this semester because my professor does a great job at getting our wheels to spin.

During one of our discussions we watched a video from the NASA website. This video of solar eruptions is so beautiful, and absolutely amazing to watch. A solar eruption, also known as a solar flare, is a buildup of magnetic energy in the atmosphere that is suddenly released. The amount of radiation released from these flares is comparable to one hundred million hydrogen bombs!



Think Critcally!

Behind The Green Mask is a supplemental read required for this class.  We just started this book, and so far it is very interesting to say the least.  I recommend taking the time to check it out.  Its definatlry worth considering.

Wordle Schmordle

A Twitter Find

I thought this was something fun and relevant for our Creative Play Class! There are a lot of great ideas that you could use for your warm-up or calendar time. Enjoy...

Shake off the mid-winter blues & have a little dance party! Here are some fun educational tunes to get you started: bit.ly/Y693Nq
— We Are Teachers (@WeAreTeachers) February 19, 2013

Welcome to Our Classroom

Hi everyone! Here is my latest assignment for my Tech for Ed class. This is a short power point created as a quick introduction to my future students and their parents. I did run into a few problems getting some of the creative elements of ppt to transfer to Google Drive, but with a little tweaking I was able to uphold the visual integrity of the presentation. I hope you take a moment to leave feedback by filling out the form embedded. Thanks for visiting, Mrs. Clark