Take a look at this link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/pictures-that-prove-society-is-doomed
Even though I bring it to attention, I too am guilty of such actions at times. But to my credit, I'm a self diagnosed ADD person. My hands are always itching and looking for something to do. But then who am I to say that this isn't becoming the norm for most people?
Technology in the form of a smart phone puts a entire world of knowledge (and lack there of) at people's finger tips 24/7. I myself have finally found the wonders of a smartphone. I have simple games to play with at odd times of the day. I have a planner of all upcoming events and tasks to do. I have the internet and everything that goes with it. All of this in one somewhat bulky, fragile, and expensive thin box of technology and I really have yet to tap into the fullest potential of this thing.
Kids who grow up with these things, native speakers of the language of technology, should understand and become tech wizzes right? I was recently told a story about a high school teacher stumbling on his students' twitters full of inappropriate tweets about partying and drinking. Many of the students did not know that all their tweets were public. I can't imagine getting a glimpse of their Facebook page.
What I wonder is if these kids ever stopped to think about their privacy on social media. Did they even take a look at their privacy settings on Facebook? I don't have twitter so I don't know if there is a way to make tweets private or not. Did they take their privacy for granted?
It also brought up very interesting questions of what do I do if I was in that teacher's shoes? Does those online tweets count as confessions or do they not have enough evidence to take action? Even though technology will be amazing to work with in the classroom, it may be troublesome to deal with as an authority in the community. Not that I didn't already have enough trouble trying to figure out technology as it is. *mutter* stupid macs *
Vi, you frame the really important issue of what's frequently referred to as digital citizenship, and you also extend the thought to questions of whether dealing with such issues is part of the school's responsibility. It's becoming more and more clear that this IS in the portfolio of schools, especially as monitoring the online behavior of students is being seen as part of the school's responsibility. Here's our friend John Dewey speaking to us again, talking about the social dimension of schooling, and once again a dimension that doesn't really fit in any specific subject area.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you're thinking about such matters, Vi.