The Lamppost Blog

Wesley Fryer has given me somewhere to start working out these questions surrounding technology, education, and safety. Rather than focusing on online dangers and how to stay safe, he advocates for a more holistic, and in my mind healthier, approach. In “What is digital citizenship?” he says:

We hear a fair bit about “Internet safety” in educational technology circles today, and more schools are starting to address online safety issues with students. Many of these presentations do not delve into the rights and responsibilities which accompany technology use, however, as discussions about digital citizenship naturally invite. Rather than simply tell students “don’t talk to strangers” and “don’t reveal personal information” online, educators need to be discussing … issues surrounding the ethical uses of digital technologies and the impacts those uses can have not only at a personal level, but also on larger scales.

Thinking positively about fostering good citizenship is a step in the right direction for me. It’s a lesson that I have to re-learn often in life: instead of expending energy and effort on staying out of harm’s way, it’s better to throw oneself into making the world a place where fewer bad things happen. Recasting online safety as digital citizenship is going to help me do that.

The Digital Citzenship site has lots of resources to help me explore this much further. One of the things I am pleased to see in the DC space was the concept of “Technology License,” which is something I’ve been toying with implementing with at least some of my younger students.

I feel like I’m making progress here.

I’ve been using blogs and a website in the classroom for a couple of years now and thought it high time I started tracking what I’m learning through this.

Tonight the issue of online security is foremost on my mind. I want to support my students in being literate online, and I believe this means actually letting them work online. However, there is some nervous reaction to this; some students, parents, and colleagues wonder whether or not it is safe.

Making the wired environment a safe one for teens should always be a priority in any classroom, but I don’t think that keeping students in a bubble is the best way to keep them safe. It’s a bit like driving — even though it’s dangerous when you look at the accident statistics, the accepted solution has been to educate teens in how to drive safely. Preventing teens from driving hasn’t really been an option. So with online work in the classroom. Educating them on protecting identity, citing reliable sources, and avoiding all cyberbullying gives them tools to thrive and survive in their future.

We fail our kids with denied access. Let’s cruise the information highway safely … using traffic signals and safety belts.

Tags: class blog