This quote comes from a blogger I've been following, Ana Cristina (check out her blog CristinaSkyBox), in her post titled Shackled to the Web. I found this post to be extremely relevant to topics we've discussed in our "Teaching with Technology" class about digital natives and our role as teachers to help students understand their digital responsibilities. I felt that this quote adequately summed up one of the major themes that comes with a lesson of this type and that is to remember that whatever you post online is available to everyone, all the time, basically forever.
Within her post, she talks about how students don't always remember this and they end up saying or publishing things that they believe to be okay in their "digital world" but that everyone knows is something you would never do in person. The challenge for us as teachers who teach digital responsibility is then to help the students understand, that even though these interactions are occurring face to face, they are still coming from the same origin-you! And the digital world is less forgiving than the so-called "real word" because what happens there could be tied to you forever.
I found it really interesting that she also talked about this generation of students as the generation of learners. She made the point that although students may have made mistakes, she would hope that people in the future wouldn't hold it against them as a person, but understand that they were involved in this learning process of managing their etiquette in two worlds. I had never thought of it this way before. I think I grew up somewhat during the begininng of the popularity of the digital world (instant messaging, email, myspace, Facebook, etc.), my parents always telling me to never put any important information on the web, no pictures, nothing that would have people knowing anything about me. I actually never had a myspace, had limited time allotted to use instant messaging, and didn't have a Facebook until college because of this skepticism. I feel like I am still very reluctant to create accounts or profiles online and I acknowledge the fact that online image is an important part of what people see about you. But since this is so much a part of our world now, and students younger and younger have technology, when students don't know their responsibilities and things end up online, will people view this as a negative part of their history, or part of the learning process of our society in the digital world we are now adapting to?
Either way, I think her post brought up great points about the continued need to help students understand that although they live in essentially two worlds (the "real" world and the "digital" ones), it is necessarily to incorporate it into our classrooms but also to make sure students understand how they exists in both worlds.
I really enjoyed this insightful post Megan! I would agree that this is something that has never crossed my mind before. I had a similar experience growing up where my parents were super cautious about my online presence especially since it was all still so new to everyone. This makes me wonder what parents are teaching their kids in terms of their online presence in the year 2013. Are they just as cautious as ours might have been or since technology and the internet aren't new things anymore, perhaps this gets overlooked to some extent because almost everyone is online in some form or another? I remember the Twitter messages Rory showed us from a student earlier in the summer and how those messages are out on the inter-webs for forever now (I think at least). I believe that just being honest with our students about their digital personas is key, particularly if we want them to publish their school work online in some form or another. Once they post something online, the world now becomes their audience and their readers. This is something I want to continually think about as I work with my students in the future.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post, especially the quote that you opened with! I think it really sums up what our students are going though today. I agree with Kelsey - this made me think about the story that Rory told us over the summer about the Twitter posts. It is amazing to me that students do not realize how public their online life is and this is because we grew up in a very different time. While I did have a myspace and facebook in high school, my parents were very careful about how I used them (and made me delete the myspace). Today, students are growing up in a world where their parents have been posting pictures of them since they were born. I appreciate that you pointed out the idea of not holding this against students in this age because they are part of a learning process. I think our job as teachers then is to facilitate this learning process and ensure that students are equipped to manage their online life in a professional and representative way.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteIt was pleasure reading your post because I enjoy hearing people's perspectives on this topic. It was just last week when I found myself saying to my thirteen year old brother to be careful with what he posts on "Instagram". He shrugged off my words with a laugh. I don't think he disregarded my message entirely, but I'm also not sure whether he understood the gravity of the topic. I explained to him "whatever he posts is privy to everyone in the general public" and "to be careful that he doesn't post things he'll regret". It is interesting to compare our middle school and high school years with our current students. To me, it feels like the pace in which kids today digitally interact is much quicker. What do you think?
Regardless of the pace of digital interaction, however, I agree with you that it is within our "job" responsibilities as professionals to help students navigate these two seemingly co-existing worlds. Managing one's online life is important. I think it is important that we help our students represent themselves in a positive light.
Megan I really enjoyed reading your post! I agree with Kelsey and Rachael, the first thing that I thought of was the story and example Rory gave us in class. More often than not kids and teenagers do not understand the implications that can arise when they post something personal or inappropriate. With so many forums for social media-Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, Instagram, Vine, Myspace, and much more there is a lot of room for error. Just a couple weeks ago my teacher at my placement took 20 minutes in each of her U.S. history classes to discuss the importance of being smart and safe on all social media sites. She gave some good stories of students who didn't get into their desired college or a job they wanted because of content that they had posted. As educators it is our job to inform our students of the responsibility they must exercise in using social media.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteGreat post here. I'm interested in the extent to which educators are expected to teach some of these lessons, especially because they are not tied to standards . It naturally comes up in, say, and English class, but how could we build it into other disciplines without sacrificing the content? What would a principal say if he/she walked into your classroom and your were teaching kids about using Twitter properly? I completely see the value, but part of our job as teachers is finding way to justify teaching these important lessons that fall outside the curriculum.