Tag Archives: digital citizenship

DigCit Toronto 18

As excitement builds for first Digital Citizenship Summit Toronto on Saturday October 27th, I look forward to participating, sharing and networking at the event.

Digital Citizenship is an ‘old‘ but important concept –  brought to life at the birth of social media.  Areas of consideration and discussion included your digital footprint, staying safe online, building and participating in online communications etc.  Educators shared ideas and resources regarding approaches to embed Digital Citizenship into the classroom. In the educational context, current work expands to digital leadership, using digital tools to solve problems, expanding understanding (global perspectives) and to move society forward in positive ways.

Context: 

I can remember the early adopter days 10-12 years ago.  Everyone, at least in my mainly educators circle,  was focusing on the potential – new connections, sharing blog posts and resources, kicking the tires on new ideas and approaches, developing your PLN etc.  The future looked bright and rosy.

When you consider how things have evolved,  the complexity is overwhelming! While I do think the ‘solid base’ I described above is still there, one must contend with Influencers, bots, fake news, the far left,  the far right, alternative agendas, promotion of “the negative”, privacy challenges etc.  We owe it to today’s youth, our students, to learn to navigate this digital landscape safely and positively with an eye for opportunity and “doing good”.

Check out related blog posts by other conference organizers Jennifer Casa Todd and Tina Zita

If this topic interests you, consider attending the first Digital Citizenship Summit Toronto,   this Saturday (October 27th, 2018). I hope to see you there!

~Mark

 

 

English Association Presentation Resources

This post combines the slide decks and resources from the 2 English Association sessions on the April 17th professional learning session into one presentation.

~Mark

Your choice?

I often listen to the morning CBC KW broadcast hosted by Craig Norris on the way into work.  Recently Craig had a piece on the show about an app called Yik Yak that caught my attention.

Wikipedia describes Yik Yak as an app that “allows people to anonymously create and view “Yaks” within a 10 mile radius …. for sharing primarily with those in close proximity to the user, potentially making it more intimate and relevant for people reading the posts.  All users have the ability to contribute to the stream by writing, responding, and liking or disliking yaks.” Read more detail [here] .

yak2

      Image from http://services.flikie.com/

Hmmm … location based,  anonymous,  instant messaging … It doesn’t take much pondering to recognize the huge potential for misuse.

But,  it doesn’t have to be that way.  Each of us has choices to make, personal responsibility and accountability for our actions.  One could choose to share positive thoughts, ideas, comments, compliments etc.  through this type of service.   Why not?

What choice would you make when using this service?

Other Resources

The CBC article and interviews.

10 things to know about Yik Yak

Digital Citizenship resources developed by OSAPAC.

30 Days of THINK.

~Mark

OSAPAC: Four GREAT Resources

There is lots of exciting news on the OSAPAC front. The new OSAPAC website  was launched at the recent  Bring IT Together  conference.   In this post, I am highlighting four newsworthy items.

One of the new exciting Ontario provincial licenses is for Mindomo, web based mind mapping software for all educators in Ontario publicly funded schools. Have a look at the handy “get started” poster.

mindomo

You should also check out the new Ontario developed  resources: the SAMR model,  digital citizenship  and  OSSEMOOC,  the  Connected Leadership opportunity.

Enjoy the new digital resources!  Grow your mindset!

Check  [here]  for more details.

~Mark

Meet the Teacher Night Tech Slam

At this point in my life I find myself with one university graduate and one in first year and on the way.  It has certainly been a long time since I attended an elementary school meet the teacher night.

In a  recent summer conversation with WRDSB teacher  Alison Bullock,  my interest in the parent  aspect of  school year startup was rekindled.  Alison was enthusiastically sharing about her plans to provide parents attending with a fast paced “tech slam” – a quick tour through many of the different online services students would be using in their learning journey with her.  I approached Alison about attending meet the teacher night,  and I was thrilled that she readily agreed.

On parent night evening, I arrived at portable 4 to find an energized room of parents and students.  Students were eagerly leading parents to their seating area.

QRdesk

On the top of each desk was a  QR Code  that linked to a personalized welcome video for each parent.  Students were visibly excited to show their parent(s) how to access the video and have them watch it.

Now it was time for the tech slam.

Wow – actioned packed, filled with key learning statements and clearly highlighted  the connected learner robust technology enabled approach to be used in the classroom.

Casual conversation with parents afterwords showed excitement and interest  about the  approach to learning their child would participate in.

If I had elementary school aged children,  this is the type of classroom learning experience I would want them to have.

Related Resources:

Follow Alison’s class on Twitter: ESTP4.

~Mark

Digital Citizenship meets SAMR

Setting aside the debate of whether “digital citizenship” should just be “citizenship”,  I think there continues to be a need for  focus on the digital aspect of citizenship as people learn the in and outs of our rapidly evolving digital world.

DC_Web_cube

I enjoyed an opportunity to have an in depth conversation with the WRDSB student senate and trustee  Kathi Smith  last night on this very topic.  The discussion was lively, and a number of important points were made through the evening.

In the end, we landed on digital citizenship (or D.C. as we ended up abbreviating it):

  • is not a “check box” or single event
  • be  embraced and lived
  • must be relevant
  • role modelled by staff and students
  • experienced with real life tools and contexts

There was agreement that action is needed to continue to raise awareness among students in terms of managing your digital profile, understanding what online information about you is actually ‘out there’  and understanding the impact of your choices and actions.

I look forward to meeting with next year’s senate members to explore options to bring the ideas and action items identified into play.

On the drive home,  I was wondering what approaches to teaching, coaching,  mentoring and role modelling digital citizenship would look like if you applied the 4 stages of the SAMR model.   Hmmm.

SAMRgraphic

There it is:  Digital Citizenship meets the SAMR model.

What do you think this might look like?   Wonder with me and share your ideas.

~Mark

Digital Citizenship Through Connected Learning

This tweet from  @ScottMcKenzie27  caught my attention this week.

The approach Scott is taking with digital citizenship in his classroom really brings it to life through relationships,  conversation, collaboration and a real world connected learning experience.

screen_cap_1

Thank you for sharing your work and learning openly Scott.

~Mark

Note: Cross post to OSSEMOOC

On or Off Line: a Perspective

I happened to come across  Aviva’s  post yesterday, titled
online-offline-where-to-draw-the-line.  Aviva makes that point that “students need a safe place to make mistakes, and I don’t know that social media provides this safe place.”  Check out  the comments from some of the readers  [here].

We do live in interesting times for sure.  Perhaps this is all a lesson in media literacy (& life).   From my perspective,  there are a few important points in the mix.

In my view blogs are indeed a social media tool.  In today’s world, you DO have a voice through a variety of social media tools.  One’s actions in a social media environment have reach and impact.  This begs responsible and ethical use: do good, ask good questions, ‘poke’ at things in a respectful manner.   It is likely safe to say that not all real life experiences  will have these characteristics, and from this perspective,  Aviva’s blog post raises a great point when considering the learning environment.

blog

In response to Aviva’s post,  Doug Peterson wrote a great blog post this morning  called  Learning about Social Media  in which he  makes a strong case for using blogs as an excellent entry point into this world.  I certainly support Doug’s view that blogs are indeed an excellent starting point.  I also think that  the K12 educational experience needs to move beyond this.  Our  students live in a world where new online tools and platforms are ‘born’ all the time and having some appropriate experiences  in new arenas is also important.  I like the idea of gradual release of responsibility (age appropriate), and I am excited about the positive experiences I am seeing WRDSB students having within programs such as the Futures Forum Project (FFP).

I don’t think one can underestimate the power of positive role modelling.  Do you see this as an opportunity for educators? or perhaps a responsibility?  Either way, social media is here to stay.  Reach, impact, connections, relationship building and establishing trust are all important aspects of this digital world in which we live, and important areas to develop in young people.

Great topic.  Please weigh in.  I welcome your thoughts on this discussion.  Leave a comment or connect in some other way.

~Mark

Digital Citizenship Remix

Over the last few months, I have had the chance to participate in, listen to, and record a variety of discussions on digital citizenship.  In each case, the discussion was rich and though provoking.

On Monday March 3rd,  I am pulling 3 of these discussions together into a ‘remix’ for an internet radio broadcast  6:30 to 8:00  p.m.  EST.

Why not sit down after dinner with a warm cup of coffee or tea, relax and listen to the conversation.

Join the radio broadcast  [here] .

~Mark

QueST Radio 1-24C

CEA Presentation Resources

CEA1to1-2

Social Media in the Classroom and School Community

CEA International 1:1 Computing Conference

Slide Deck

Contact info
Ed Doadt
Mark W. Carbone

Videos

Corbett Ball:  Change Perspective

Joe Cvetish on  Blogging

Jane Mitchinson-Schwartz on  Google Docs

Aaron: student voice

Andrew: student voice

Teacher  Andrew Bieronski

Teacher  Gavin Albrecht

Additional Resources:

Waterloo Region District School Board  Responsible Use Procedure

 WRDSB  Digital Literacies Pathway

Q & A from the  Today’s Meet back channel:

Facebook training around privacy, security and appropriate use of groups and teacher fan pages was provided through after school workshops, online workshops via Adobe Connect at a variety of times after school and evening, as well as site based workshops arranged through our instructional technology consultants.

Edmodo  is also used by many teachers.

Internet radio re-broadcasts of the session, advertised on Twitter and G+, will be available via QueST Radio 1-24 .

~Mark & Ed