Friday, July 23, 2010

Netiquette Thing #11

Wordle - Netiquette: "Wordle: Netiquette"

I become really involved when the topic surrounds etiquette and treating others with the proper respect but I'm also aware that there are a variety of examples that kids follow and education is imperative. After reading several articles on Digital Citizenship I am in agreement with many of the items expressed in Rhonda's article on "Digital Literacy and the Classroom". Sometimes our expectations exceed the quality of our teaching. The educational system like many systems have priorities and over the years those priorites have not changed as quickly as the times. Yes, respect and civility are extremely high on my list and I think it is still very high in the educational system but what do we teach and how are we setting the examples for our students. Digital literacy and citizenship are extremely important for students and teachers. We have to teach students how to move in the digital world and what the pros, cons and conseqences are based on certain behaviors in the digital world. Are we behind in education? Overall I would say yes; we can't teach the kids things that we don't have proper knowledge of ourselves. Again, what are the priorities.
The 5 things that I would teach students would be: Digital Literacy, Digital Security & Safety, Digital Law, Education and Access and Etiquette. I think students should know that there behavior online should not be any different than the expectations we have of them offline. We should explain that words are powerful in the negative and positive as well as the dangers of communicating information online. Treating others as we would like to be treated is simple but for some of our kids more is needed. I would add role play and explanations of the terms and examples of situations that they will encounter online and off. This is a really great topic that can help all of us.