Safe and healthy uses of digital information and technology - Reflective Post #5

Digital Citizenship in Schools

In Mike Ribble's article, he discusses the what creates a digital citizen. The excerpt doesn't actually explain what digital citizenship means, however Ribble created a site where he defines digital citizenship as "a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately." Ribble also describes how this subject makes it's way into schools and the issues it creates as digital citizenship affects:

• student learning and academic performance (e.g. texting, social networking)
• the school environment and student behavior (e.g. cyber bullying)
• student life outside of the school environment (e.g. debt, copyright, health)

To break digital citizenship down even further, Ribble suggests that there are nine elements that make up this topic. Each element was composed of potential concerns and included scenarios that featured an appropriate and inappropriate reason. The nine elements that create a digital citizen are:

1. Digital Access - full electronic participation in society
2. Digital Commerce - electronic buying and selling of goods
3. Digital Communication - electronic exchange of information
4. Digital Literacy - process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology
5. Digital Etiquette - electronic standards of conduct or procedure
6. Digital Law - electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities - requirements and freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
8. Digital Health and Wellness - physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world
9. Digital Security - electronic precautions to guarantee safety

Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying has become somewhat of an epidemic as more and more students use technology. The concern is so great that the Federal Government created www.stopbullying.gov to provide an awareness as well as ways to prevent or report incidents. The website explains cyber bullying as the latest ways students harass others through electronic technology by spreading rumors, sharing embarrassing photos/videos or even creating fake profiles. The site also pointed out the unfortunate fact that cyber bullying is harder to avoid, as it can happen at anytime, and is harder to correct, as posts can be created anonymously and quickly distributed to a large audience. To prevent such behavior, the site offers tips and strategies for parents dealing with this topic as well as suggesting ways to report cyber bullying.

Technology / Internet Addiction

"All addictions have certain characteristics in common, whether they're behavioral or chemical. And it has to do with engaging with the chemical or the behavior, to find either a high or relief, and doing it to such an extent that it begins to control you rather than you being able to control it," says Hilarie Cash in National Public Radio's podcast, hosted by Rachel Martin, concerning technology and internet addictions. This podcast focused on a rehab facility, outside of Seattle, for technology addicts. The men featured in this podcast all shared a common addiction, video games. Each of them have struggled with other problems and used video games and technology as an escape. Cash explains that addictions do have similarities, an addiction to technology comes from spending too time online and developing unhealthy habits instead of learning life skills as well as interacting and creating relationships with other people in real life. For anyone struggling with addiction, Cash states that recovery takes about two years as the brain needs to heal itself and setting boundaries, or creating a plan, will help with recovery but seeking help is the most important step to take.

I found this week's readings to be very interesting. At first it may appear ironic that we need to teach digital citizenship to today's students then prevent technology issues such as cyber bullying or technology addiction. However, the irony will fade once you realize that cyber bullying may be suppressed by properly informing students the dangers of their actions especially with the things they post or share with others. As the stopbullying.gov site suggests, parents need to take an active role in those critical years rather than providing resources without supervision. With that said, parents and teachers must share the responsibility for digital citizenship. With most things learned in school, you learn the theory but application is not, and in some instances cannot be experienced in a classroom which is where parents need to step in. For example, math and economics classes can teach students about digital commerce on the surface level but parents can monitor and inform their children about the dangers of purchasing items online and the dangers of credit card debt.

Lastly, as someone who is a video game enthusiast, I was taken back a bit by the video game addiction podcast title. I first thought, "great what are video games being blamed for now?" However, this was not the case, these were guys seeking relief from a crippling struggle. Video games for me have been a social event for the most part but there came a time where I did have to make a choice to ween myself off them to spend time with friends and family. It is amazing that a hobby can turn into a serious problem that steals time from your life. As technology creeps into our life, it's easy to let text messages, likes, tweets and other notifications ruin our time spent with each other in real life. Watch the following video, and see if you can take the challenge to be present with those you are with instead of adding to the four years of your life spent looking at a meaningless device.

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For those visitors who may read this, that are not my classmates, the following section of this post is a self assessment (see rubric) which part of the assignment for writing this post.

Scoring based on the rubric:

Summary paragraphs: 5 pts. There is at least one paragraph per reading. Each paragraph is substantial, relating to the readings, and is well developed.

Reflection paragraphs: 5 pts. There are two reflection paragraphs that are substantial, well-developed and go deeper into the subjects presented in the readings.

Quality of writing: 5 pts. I have proof-read and used spell-check to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes. I used subheading classes and additional line breaks to provide a visual separation to organize the post and make it easier to read.

Connection to readings 5 pts. I have connections to each reading in the reflection paragraphs by either using a paraphrase, keywords or additional anecdotes from the readings.