digital citizenship – Page 7 – Media! Tech! Parenting!

commenting, conversations on commenting, digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, parents and technology

The Public Forum, Facebook, and Democracy

Posted on May 6, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

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 talking 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.

digital citizenship, digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology

To Give Kids E-mail or Not — A Decision in Summer 2012?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Marti Weston

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.

21st Century Learning, digital citizenship, digital world conversations, parents and technology

Lawrence Lessig-MIT Media Lab Talk on Reforming US Congress

Posted on April 24, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

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.

acceptable use, digital citizenship, digital footprints, kids changing lives, online communication, teaching digital kids

5 Digital Citizenship Moments for Your Classroom

Posted on April 20, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

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.

Continue reading “5 Digital Citizenship Moments for Your Classroom” →

21st Century Learning, Bookmark It!, cyber-bullying, digital citizenship, digital learning, hate groups on the web, information freedom, parent child conversations, parents and technology

The Teaching Tolerance Website: Use It-BookMark It!

Posted on April 9, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

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.

Continue reading “The Teaching Tolerance Website: Use It-BookMark It!” →

21st Century Learning, commenting, conversations on commenting, cyber-bullying, digital citizenship, digital parenting, family conversations, parent education, parents and technology

Removing Racist and Hateful Comments: A Simple Relevancy Test

Posted on March 16, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

tyler's dad — 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 the 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.

Continue reading “Removing Racist and Hateful Comments: A Simple Relevancy Test” →

digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy

Big Tech Thinkers Talk About Privacy

Posted on March 12, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

Turkle Ted — 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: Continue reading “Big Tech Thinkers Talk About Privacy” →