Posted by Marti Weston on May 18, 2012
Check out 10 Simple Steps to Internet Safety over at the Common Sense Media website. Actually it looks like there are eleven items for parents to review at the page.
As always, Common Sense Media hits the nail on the head with clear, well written, and to-the-point parenting information. I’ve inserted a list of the questions.
Pay special attention to the two questions that I’ve listed below:
Posted in acceptable use, digital citizenship, digital parenting, online safety, parents and technology | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital citizenship, digital kids, digital parenting, digital safety, digital security | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on May 6, 2012
Visit the U.S. Capitol — a symbol of our democracy.
Read Social Media — The Public Space on Steroids, a May 4, 2012 opinion piece in the Seattle Times.
Today, as everyone is talks about the public stock offering and it’s worth, writer Taso Legos examines the value of Facebook as a societal public space that enables people to share ideas and speak up. Without a doubt, face-to-face communication is occurring less and less in coffee houses and community centers, but we are all aware of that aspect of our 21st Century virtual world communication bargain.
I wonder, though, about what is the best balance between face-to-face and electronic communication — the best to ensure a vibrant democratic process. It’s up to parents and teachers of digital kids to help identify the right balance.
Most Interesting Quotes
We engage more in the public sphere because it has never been easier to do so.
… the new electronic public sphere offers instantaneous dialogue with little time for reflection. Democracy is thus now on steroids and this speeding up affects how we make decisions.
If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read, Conversations on Commenting.
Posted in commenting, conversations on commenting, digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, parents and technology | Tagged: democracy, digital kids, digital parenting, Facebook, public sphere, Seattle Times, sharing ideas, Social media | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on May 4, 2012
Check out my post, Are You Thinking About Giving Younger Kids E-mail this Summer, a piece that I wrote about a year ago.
Summer is the time when many digital children start using e-mail accounts – and often the laid back summer lifestyle means that parents spend less time helping their children develop strong and collaborative digital habits.
Last year’s post offers parents some ideas and suggestions for getting started and setting limits.
Hundreds of digital options — e-mail is only one of them — are available and waiting for your child to discover them, so in the final analysis you cannot prevent digital access. You can, however, make decisions help you focus on educating your child about digital citizenship.
Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology | Tagged: age appropriate, digital kids, digital parenting, e-mail, online activities | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 24, 2012
I’ve embedded an interesting presentation by Lessig about reforming the United States Congress! Highlights are from a much longer presentation at the MIT MediaLab Conversation series.
Very much 21st Century Learning! And a great opportunity for a civics lesson.
Howard Rheingold presents on May 10th and you can even Tweet in with your questions.
Posted in 21st Century Learning, digital citizenship, digital world conversations, parents and technology | Tagged: Congress, elections, Lawrence Lessig, Media Lab, MIT MediaLab | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 20, 2012
Read my original post on digital citizenship minutes.
Each time teachers comment on digital citizenship issues in the context of daily lessons and classroom life, they model, as all adults should, a digital intelligence — just what we want our students to embrace, whether they are working or playing in the today’s world.
As educators pay increasing attention to these digital digressions throughout the school day, they demonstrate critical values of 21st Century learning — and life — in a networked world. But more importantly, our students observe that just about every learning activity these days, whether digital or not so digital, incorporates time-tested values such as thoughtful evaluation, respect, collaboration, inclusiveness, and acceptance.
Five Digital Citizenship Minutes to Incorporate into Any Lesson
1. Pause for a moment whenever you use a web site, and explain one or two things that you like about it (or don’t like). Or explain just how you found the website
2. Share an irritating or inconsiderate e-mail or cell phone moment — telling your students how it feels and why.
Posted in acceptable use, digital citizenship, digital footprints, kids changing lives, online communication, teaching digital kids | Tagged: digital citizenship, digital citizenship minutes, digital kids, online behavior, teaching moments | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 9, 2012
Visit Teaching Tolerance!
It’s a privilege for me to write occasional posts for the Teaching Tolerance blog. However, years before I ever wrote a word for the Tolerance website, I used it as a reference and information source to develop my teaching skills and expand my understanding of the world.
You should too.
If you don’t know about Teaching Tolerance, an arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center, or if you don’t visit the website on a regular basis, you are missing an ever-expanding information universe focused on human rights, diversity, anti-racism, community-building, acceptance, tolerance, inclusion, and much more. In the digital age, with information and misinformation moving at lightning speed, we cannot learn too much about these topics.
Posted in 21st Century Learning, Bookmark It!, cyber-bullying, digital citizenship, digital learning, hate groups on the web, information freedom, parent child conversations, parents and technology | Tagged: acceptance, Bookmark It, digital kids, diversity, education, Mix-it-Up Day, Southern Poverty Law Center, teacher resources, Teaching Tolerance | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on March 16, 2012
Click to hear Tyler's dad reading a statement after the jury returned its verdict.
After the jury announced its verdict in New Jersey I watched Associated Press video statement read by Tyler Clementi’s father. Sad and clearly with a heavy heart, he nevertheless looked to the future in a way that most of us could not have done had we lost a child the way he lost Tyler. Then I glanced down at the YouTube comments — just about every one included a gay slur or offensive language, and I was disgusted. The comments were not relevant.
Racist and hateful online comments demean writers, video-makers, and people who thoughtfully share digital content. It’s becoming tiresome. Masquerading as run-of-the-mill responses at the end of articles and videos – they are actually cyber-bullies’ remarks left here and there with the goal of offending and hurting others. The time has long past for comment and blog editors everywhere – but especially at Google’s YouTube — to set up and enforce guidelines.
I know that the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech; however, it’s not freedom of speech we are observing but freedom to run off at the mouth and bully others in ways that are not relevant to the content. As a result we are teaching all sorts of silent lessons — the kind we don’t really intend to teach to young people as they grow up.
Posted in 21st Century Learning, commenting, conversations on commenting, cyber-bullying, digital citizenship, digital parenting, family conversations, parent education, parents and technology | Tagged: comments, cyber-bullying, cyberbullying, digital kids, digital parenting, editors, freedom of speech, Google, hate speech, obscenity, ProJo, Tyler Clementi, websites, YouTube | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on March 12, 2012
Sherry Turkle's 2012 TED Talk
NPR’s All Tech Considered blog has posted a thought-provoking piece on privacy (February 29, 2012).
In New Ways to Think About Online Privacy, Nina Gregory shares what she heard at TED Long Beach where some major technology thinkers and innovators (some speakers, some attenders) shared their thoughts about what Gregory calls “privacy hygiene” (and about what they might be teaching their kids about the subject).
You may not have heard of some of the companies represented, but the thoughts about privacy are worth reading.
In Gregory’s article read about the thoughts of: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy | Tagged: All Tech Considered, digital parenting, Nina Gregory, privacy, Sherry Turkle, TED Long Beach, Wired Magazine | Leave a Comment »
Online Etiquette Not the Greatest
Posted by Marti Weston on May 14, 2012
Writer Christina DesMarais describes a study that identifies irritating digital world behaviors such as communicating at inappropriate times, sharing too much information, and highly negative commenting — all related to our increasing use of 21st Century social media.
This article is filled with digital world conversation starters that parents and teachers can use to begin discussions about ethics, privacy, and security.
Also, you can check out my related post, Conversations About Commenting.
Posted in 21st Century Learning, acceptable use, conversations on commenting, digital citizenship, electronic communication, interesting research, parents and technology, social media, social networking, teaching digital kids | Tagged: 21st century learning, digital kids, digital parenting, etiquette, Social media, social networking, Techlicious | Leave a Comment »