Hello Everyone,
I
found an interesting site from the Lester B. Pearson school board based in
Quebec, Canada. http://dcp.lbpsb.qc.ca/resources/page/3/. The site has links to numerous resources regarding
netiquette, online safety, cyberbullying, sexting and pornography. It is
intended as a resource for educators of high school aged students and includes links
to detailed lesson plans and learning materials which help the educator in
approaching numerous sensitive topics related to internet communication.
Another site which I
explored is a digital citizenship policy development guide from the province of
Alberta Canada, (education.alberta.ca/.../digital%20citizenship%20policy%20development).
This is a set of guidelines designed for teachers who are responsible for
teaching digital citizenship and netiquette for the ministry of education in
the province of Alberta. The recommendations are based on the results of a
literature review of a number of studies. After the traditional lengthy definitions,
which most government documents seem to include, there are recommendations for
practice. The nine elements of digital citizenship are also included within.
I
find netiquette of particular interest as netiquette, although having a
positive impact on online, collaborative learning in the initial stages (Bradley, S., 2009, p. 163),
netiquette would seem to have a negative impact on the group process in the
longer term (Bradley,
S., 2009, p. 160). The superficial congeniality of netiquette
blocks the development of cognitive skills as it avoids the articulation of
difference (Bradley,
S., 2009, p. 160). Conflict, if creative, can be much more educative
than polite agreement (Bradley,
S., 2009, p. 158). It would seem that while disagreement is
acceptable a certain code of conduct is required, such as refraining from the
use of rancorous language, deliberately offensive comments and acknowledging and
returning messages promptly (Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H., 2010).
Digital Citizenship must become a
priority in public education. However, technology misuse/abuse is a societal
problem as much as it is a school problem (Ribble M. & Bailey, G., 2004).
If we are to continue to be a civil society it is important that we as teachers
educate our students in the correct use of technology, while disagreement is acceptable,
online communication must be conducted in accordance with acceptable use
policies (education.alberta.ca).
If
anyone is interested I watched an excellent documentary this week on the use of
social media by adolescents and their targeting by large corporations. It was
entitled Generation Like and can be seen online at: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/.
References
Bradley,
S. (2009). The impact of netiquette on online group work: A study of UK
Open University students. In O. Kallioinen (Ed.), Learning by
developing—New ways to learn 2009
conference
proceedings (pp. 152–167).
Espoo, Finland: Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
Digital
citizenship policy development guide, Alberta education
education.alberta.ca/.../digital%20citizenship%20policy%20development...
Ribble M. & Bailey, G. (2004) Digital
citizenship: When will it become a priority for 21st
century schools? Website: http://coe.ksu.edu/ribble
Website: http: www.educ.ksu.edu/go/bailey
Roblyer,
M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010). Netiquette: Rules of behavior on the
Internet
Gordon-This is interesting information for educators. Teenagers seem to be the one's who use texting most often and need to be taught the important aspects of technology. Younger children are using technology as well and we need to teach them. Bullying occurs in our schools and in online sites. Proper etiquette should be taught when a child is given his/her first computer/telephone.
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