We viewed a Webinar for Technology class last night about digital citizenship with lessons and information from the Common Sense Media website. Digital citizenship is an important topic and it definitely seems more important to me that more I learn about situations concerning prospective or current employers, college acceptance boards, and instances of cyberbullying. Currently war crimes being committed in Syria and posted on YouTube add to the need for public awareness about internet use (veering from digital citizenship in education) for the fact that any child on the internet can come across these. I think it's definitely very important that we teach about the internet safety and citizenship in schools just like in social studies we teach early on about the importance of traffic signs and signals and walking home safely. The creation of new technology throughout history seems to also create the need to police it, but the Common Sense Media website states: "We believe in media sanity, not censorship" and focuses on educating kids and their parents about making responsible decisions with internet use.
I liked the lesson discussed in the webinar using the quote from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility," something students would relate to to illustrate the importance of acting responsibly on the internet, as well as other lessons created to help the students relate to issues with being on the internet to other media they are exposed to.
I liked the lesson discussed in the webinar using the quote from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility," something students would relate to to illustrate the importance of acting responsibly on the internet, as well as other lessons created to help the students relate to issues with being on the internet to other media they are exposed to.
For our class viewing of the webinar we were able to see comments being made during it and be able to comment ourselves and ask questions. I felt more engaged with being able to participate in a discussion while the webinar was taking place because I'm one of those people who find it hard to concentrate on just one thing for an hour.
From a Parent's Point of View:
In reviewing the Common Sense Media website as a parent I thought the "About Us" button should go on the left next to the Home icon, instead of on the right, minor detail, but I didn't know much about the site and found it would have been clearer if I read "About Us" first.
I found the "Digital Fun for Creative Kids" page to be useful with different apps for kids and their descriptions, categorized by interest area, appropriate age groups, and rated by learning potential. It is kind of like an Amazon for online computer apps. I would, and probably will, search this page for engaging and education apps that my son may enjoy using over the summer. He is very into Minecraft right now, which I am ok with but I think both broadening his exposure to other kinds of games/apps as well as setting limits of computer use is a good idea. I think he would like CoasterVille, which I learned about just now by looking at this site.
On the Educators page there's a link to a Parent Education Program. I think it would be good to have a "Parent" button in the navigation bar in addition to an "Educators" button. Some of the links might overlap and be on both pages - it makes sense that parents and teachers would collaborate in the education of both kids and their families so it would be good for parents to be directed to those links as well. On the "About Us" page, one of Common Sense Media's 10 Beliefs is: #2 "We believe that media has truly become the 'other parent' in our kids lives, powerfully affecting their mental, physical, and social development." Scary. What do you think?
Common Sense Media has taken a proactive stance against Belief #2 by advising us on how to regulate our kids' use of the internet and directing us to healthy choices to use as entertainment, edutainment, and education online.
On the Educators page there's a link to a Parent Education Program. I think it would be good to have a "Parent" button in the navigation bar in addition to an "Educators" button. Some of the links might overlap and be on both pages - it makes sense that parents and teachers would collaborate in the education of both kids and their families so it would be good for parents to be directed to those links as well. On the "About Us" page, one of Common Sense Media's 10 Beliefs is: #2 "We believe that media has truly become the 'other parent' in our kids lives, powerfully affecting their mental, physical, and social development." Scary. What do you think?
Common Sense Media has taken a proactive stance against Belief #2 by advising us on how to regulate our kids' use of the internet and directing us to healthy choices to use as entertainment, edutainment, and education online.
Laura these are two well thought-out posts (even though they are lumped together). It's clear that you gave a great deal of time and attention to both the webinar and the website. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteP.S. My twins are heavy "Minecraft"-ers too!