Technology has been a part of my education plan since I began teaching 16 years ago. In the beginning, it was simple. Each teacher booked the lab for one block a week where students would use word processing software to type their essays or paragraphs. Eventually, students began to create powerpoint presentations and maybe added clip art too. Over time, I began to explore alternate modes of representation. I used videos and animations to enhance instruction which in turn increased student interest and engagement. Within the last 7 years, I really began to look at the potential that technology offered students to both create and consume. I empowered my students to find digital resources related to the subjects we were learning to share with the class. Unlike Ohler’s (2011) suggestion that students lead two different lives when it comes to the approach many school’s take in regards to using technology, my students were plugged in both at school and at home. Yet, among this usage and exploration there was little digital citizenship instruction. Aside from my daily speech, “Only go to websites I had approved” and “The district can see who is doing what”, further digital awareness was not provided. I think many teachers were and still are in the same boat I was - without direction or an implementation plan, teachers are left to implement technology as they see fit.
Instead a more proactive, in depth digital citizenship plan is needed for our students. One that includes all stakeholders in the development. Hollandsworth, Downey & Donovan (2011) propose that the responsibility to educate students on issues of digital citizenry includes the parents, teachers, administrators and media specialists. Each partner has a role and responsibility in preparing students for their involvement in a digital society.
As my role has changed in the last three years, I find teachers and parents look to me for support and guidance as they implement assistive technology in the classroom and at home. Does a formal plan need to be developed and added to the curriculum? Will this be the approach necessary to hold teachers accountable? What about the role of the parent? How do we provide parents with the necessary tools to help their children navigate the diversity of technology today?
References
Hollandsworth, R., Dowdy, L., & Donovan, J. (2011). Digital Citizenship in K-12: It Takes a Village. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 55(4), 37-47.
Ohler, J. (2011). Digital Citizenship Means Character Education for the Digital Age. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 48(1), 25-27
Great title you have chosen, Lindsay.
ReplyDeleteI've been teaching for around the same time as you, and I also can remember the shift in the increase of technology in education. As teachers, we have had to adapt our teaching styles, techniques, and methods.
I feel that digital citizenship and awareness is an area where schools and school districts are not all in the same place. And a plan is definitely needed. I agree that all stakeholders need to be included in the plan.
One question for me is what about the parents of ELLs? Will these parents be able to educate their children about digital citizenship? What can be done if they are unable to convey the ideas to their children?
I feel that a formal framework could be added to the curriculum, but then each individual teacher could teach digital citizenship according to their teaching style, classroom composition, etc. As all teachers know, there is not one correct way to teach a particular skill or concept. It depends on a lot of factors.
Thanks,
Terry
You bring up a good point about parents of ELL students. In fact, I don't think it is just these parents that may struggle with educating their children on digital citizenship. I know many parents who turn a blind I to their children's technology usage, including allowing them hours of time gaming with games that are recommended for a much older audience. If we have rating systems in place and they are being ignored, so too may instruction at home of digital citizenship.
DeleteI think you're quite right that we still live in a rather "ad hoc" world, Lindsay, where implementation is often at the discretion of individuals. That said, my own kids attend a school which has "always" provided each student with a device of some sort. (Currently, students in grades 4-6 get iPads and those in grades 7-9 get MacBooks.) The school has many pages of "acceptable use policies". Parents are required to sign off on these. At least once, parents also have to attend some sort of "technology orientation seminar".
ReplyDeleteThe GREAT irony of this is that the students are required to create an Apple ID. But in order to do so, they have to lie about their age! The school provides specific instructions about how to do so, and claims it is done with the awareness and endorsement of Apple, but it still seems highly ironic to me. (And as a sidebar, students thereby learn that it is incredibly easy to create an ID on all sorts of other platforms which supposedly have an age limit. My own kids created Gmail accounts for themselves. They were proud of their achievement, and came to my ex-wife and I to show us what they had done. They were entirely prepared to share their usernames and passwords with us. My ex got very angry and made them delete the accounts. I suggested that all she was doing was teaching them to be surreptitious about any such thing in the future. This became a rather large bone of contention. But I digress...)
But I would argue that students STILL live "two lives". They just do it in a more sophisticated/subtle way. They're very careful what they do on or with their school-supplied devices. And then they do what they really want to on other devices (including lying about their age to create accounts if they need to).
Perhaps part of the problem is that educators, by and large, still see "technology" as an "add-on"...an enhancement to teaching "traditional" content. I have long advocated that "technology" be made a subject in its own right...but maybe that's another story.
As far as ELL/ESL students/parents go, I think it is somewhat troubling to think that simply because someone comes from a different language background, they may have lesser digital "competency". I teach (admittedly adult) ESL learners, and many of them run rings around what English speakers can do! (I've taught several "network administrators", "systems engineers", graphic designers, and so on!)
Bottom line...kids (even young ones) are WAY more savvy than people seem to understand or give them credit for. If there are "hacks" or "workarounds", they will find them! We need to stop being some strange combination of puritanical/authoritarian and naive/condescending in our approach to technology...both as parents and as educators.