Thing 5

Select and watch at least one of the videos linked below (flash player required). Create a new posting for Thing 5 in your blog and write a review of the video. How does the video relate to one (or more) of the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship? How could you use the video in your classroom?

Part 1

I watched three of the videos.  The first video I watched was Amy's Choice.  It is a video about a girl who is lonely and feels she has no one to talk to and meets a "friend" on the Internet who ends up being a predator. In today's age this is a very sickening and scary video. This video exhibits elements of Digital Security. The second video I watched was You Can't Take it Back. This is a video about a student who ends up on a website created by his friend Pat and they "rate" the girls in the school.  It was humorous to him until he goes to school the next day and sees the girls that were on the website upset about their "score".  It really becomes personal to him when he realizes his sister is on this list. This video touches on Digital Law and Digital Etiquette. And Finally since my daughters initials are K.B., the third video I watched was the video about K.B's day.  It is about a girl and her first day of school.  At the dinner table her mother asks her about her first day at school. K.B. tells her mother that the day was fine. Then K.B. reflects on all the bullying that occurred throughout the day. Some mean girls posted a picture of KB sitting on ketchup packets online. This videos show the Digital  Etiquette, Digital Communication and Digital Law of the nine citizenship's. It would be very simple to use these videos in my classroom.  I teach K through 12th  grade students. We discuss dangers of predators, strangers and the real threat of them out in the world.  This is something that needs to be covered at every age group in school.   "You can't take it back"  would be very beneficial for the middle/high school crowd.  Students need to realize that once you send a text or email,  it is gone.  All the information that you wrote about someone else is now going to be read.  In health class we cover personal responsibility with emails and texts.  This would fit in great here. KB's day is good for all grade levels.  It shows how bullying can be on all different levels, cyber, phones, in person. Great lessons to be taught. 

Part 2

Reynolds, Gretchen. "How Exercise Fuels the Brain." New York times 22 Feb. 2012: Web. 1 Jan. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/how-exercise-fuels-the-brain/>.

Part 3

Write a blog post that reflects your thoughts on Digital Citizenship. Who should be teaching this? What should students know and be able to do? What should teachers know and do? What should parents know and do? 

My thoughts on digital citizenship are pretty simple.  The technology is here in our world, so we need to inform the children how to act responsibly with this technology.  To them it is every day life.  My daughter will never know what it means to have to wait until she gets home to receive that call or call someone. For the older people like myself who have not embraced the technology fully, it now becomes a chore to keep up with it.   
I  believe that it is a joint responsibility of the parents at home and the teachers at school to teach digital citizenship.  For most students they are using some sort of technology at some point of each day. So to have just the parents or just the teachers shoulder the burden of teaching this responsibility is foolish. 
If you are a teacher that allows students to use technology as a resource, then I think it is your responsibility to teach them guidelines of etiquette regarding that technology. It is difficult for us as teachers to decide what parents should teach their children regarding digital citizenship. I feel it is our responsibility to "fill in the gaps" of what the parents miss.  I mean if we said hey that is not my responsibility then who is going to educate the youth of today? They are our future and we have a vested interest in these students.