ETL 523 Assessment 3, Part B: Critical Reflection Blog Post or Learning about digital citizenship is like putting together a complicated forever changing, jigsaw puzzle

                         
                                            ( Puzzle Krypt by Schlucher from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Puzzle_Krypt-2.jpg)
What have  I learned  by examining the concept of digital citizenship and its applications in preparing a school digital environment?

Learning about digital citizenship and the digital learning environment has been like putting together a jigsaw. Prior to undertaking this subject I thought that digital citizenship (DC) would not be interesting and that it pertained to keeping safe online. As the time came closer to the beginning of the semester, I came to look forward to learning about DC. This is reflective of my maturing attitude to my studies and to my work as a teacher librarian. Learning about DC has taught me that it is not just cyber safety and that it is actually highly interesting and relevant to my school digital learning environment. I have learned, among many other things,  that it has  Nine Elements  not one. The lectures have started me thinking about and experimenting with, embedding  it in my teaching and learning across K-6 (Ramrakha, 2014). I understand that to be a good digital citizen one must not just consume but contribute. In a small way, I have started doing this by blogging on my school library website (21clibrary ) and by expanding my personalized learning network (PLN). I feel my understanding of this is in its infancy but I am starting to put the pieces together of the jigsaw. 



   How has this subject extended my knowledge and understanding of the role of digital learning environments?

Although, DLE, is at times, organic in nature, this subject has shown me that this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case in its entirety. At school, so far, the DLE, has been managed by the DEC, however, in recent times the staff have been thinking about how we can manage it more ourselves, within the DEC firewall. This subject has given me some tools to structure this intervention around. For example, I found the lecture on Designing the Digital Learning Environment opened my mind to the possibilities when I read the Digital Learning Environment for Scottish Schools.  What I mean is that it made me see what could be possible and to what extent the DEC is failing to support schooling in the digital age. Such as when website filtering controls what images and what websites the students have access to. This is a double edged sword as the children need to be protected but when they are home the digital divide comes in to play as their internet access is unfiltered when they leave school. So, at school by limiting their access we are not teaching them how to cope with the real digital world as it is an artificial one.  

 The role of the library and the Teacher Librarian

 Since beginning my Master of Education I have been pondering this question. I always thought it was my job to support teaching and learning by resourcing the curriculum, encourage the enjoyment of reading, teaching information literacy and so forth. I know am beginning to see that I can use my knowledge to inform practice at my school. Now, I understand that I can stretch my professional wings, so to speak. For example, I have talked to the leadership team about making time in our already scheduled planning week at the end of term, to write a vision statement and strategic plan for this shift to a twenty-century school that they are excited about making. I will be helping write this document, as well as, a scope and sequence document for ICT. The latter will incorporate DC so that it can be taught to every Stage at school. Through this subject I am developing a PLN. It is my ambition to use this PLN to share with the staff at my school where we should be headed and why we should be going there through differentiated professional development Most of all, however, I want to use my new knowledge and enthusiasm for DC and how it interacts with the DLE to enhance the twenty first century  learning outcomes of my students. I want my knowledge of DC to inform not only policy but practice at school, not only of myself or in the library but to have it transfer throughout the staff at school and across the boundaries of my school to the outside world. I want to use my knowledge to expand my classes’ horizons. I want to use it so that when the students leave school they have DC embedded in their thinking and their actions.


 References Ramrakha, S. (2014, May 9). Module 5.3: Creating a digital citizenship program [Online forum comment}. Retrieved from http://digital.csu.edu.au/groups/etl523-digital-citizenship-in-schools/forum/topic/module-5-3-creating-a-digital-citizenship-program/

Powtoon

This is the Powtoon I created as part of our Future Schools night at school. It is my first Powtoon. I found the platform easy to use.  The idea of the presentation is to explain what I am trying to achieve in the library so that I can raise funds to replace the shelves and  the furniture.

Jigsaw Pieces

Now I understand why it is that the elective subject needs to be done later in the Masters course. As I am writing the framework for my second assessment task for ETL523 Digital Citizenship for Schools, it feels like the other subjects I have studied are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and this one is the board holding it all together.

I am starting to understand, at a deeper level what 21st century education is and how it fits with other elements such as the NSW Syllabus, the global environment and the Quality Teaching Framework.The aim of 21st century education is to equip teachers and students to function creatively and collaboratively at a high level. The nature of the work place is changing in Australia. Manufacturing is dying in this country so Australians need to provide the world with an alternative reason to "buy Australian". The answer to this is in education, not only of the foundation skills of Literacy and Mathematics but also to be creative and collaborative.

 Australians need to see themselves on the world stage because the problems we are facing are so vast and complicated that a team of minds is required to solve them. We are more interconnected with the world than ever before. The changing nature of the image economy has made this so.

Change, of course, is the only certainty. If we don't equip our students to be efficient learners then they will be left behind. How then, are we to do this? On a small scale, creating and teaching children and educators how to establish a PLN is one way of achieving this. If we can all learn from each other then the huge amount of information available becomes more manageable. We don't need to reinvent the wheel so to speak, as someone somewhere will be willing to share how they did it themselves. Of course we need to mindful that we must share our learning too if we are to be honourable global citizens.

How Do I Get a PLN? | Edutopia

How Do I Get a PLN? | Edutopia



This post by Edutopia provides a succinct and easily understood method for establishing a PLN. I think it is the best  I have come across. I would like to share it with my staff.

ETL523 

Module 4.2 

Social, cultural and global perspectives

Activity #7: Social media and educational networking - finding the evidence to support this.

"Social media used for educational networking helps to connect learners in exciting ways and  therefore should be considered as a vital part of the DLE" (Lindsay, 2014, Module 4.2).

What are your thoughts about this? What is your position on the use of social media for learning locally as well as globally?

 I can see many advantages for learning using social media.. These can be looked at in terms of what teachers learn and what students learn. 

For teachers, there are so many advantages in learning locally and globally. Locally, it allows teachers within a school or a school system to swap ideas, resources and solutions to problems. It also, helps to broaden the technological teaching tools that educators are using. Also, for teachers, it helps them map student progression. This can be done by using blogging by the children as a teaching tool. The blog can act as a digital portfolio of their work. It allows the teacher and the student to see how their work is progressing over time. 

In my classroom, this week the children wrote a plan for their comment on my blog post  in their books. The following week they wrote a short comment using their plan. I did not edit it, instead I allowed it to be published as they wrote it. I am hoping to re-examine these posts next term to talk to them about being careful  about how they post and what they write from a digital citizenship filter. It is my hope that it will act as a base point from which they can see how their writing can be improved and how it has improved. Or am I wrong in approaching it this way? Should we just be focusing on the content of what they wrote and the fact that they are just learning to type and to express themselves online?

For students, there are a number of issues regarding social media. Primarily, is that if they use social media locally for learning there many ways in which this benefits their progress. It allows for feedback from teachers on their work, it means that they can access resources they need to work at home and school, it improves their problem solving skills as they begin to help each other and it improves their typing skills. The latter is a definite issues for  primary students.

My position regarding the global use of social media by students is that they are always in the global world whenever they interact digitally. Having said that, I think we can do more for our students than that. Using the protective nature of a wiki, for example, we can invite and allow other students and teachers from around the globe to comment on their work.

Baby Steps

I teach at an inner west school in Sydney. We are currently undergoing a transformation. That is we are trying to become a 21st century school. Ironicaly, the building I teach in is heritage listed but I digress.
By studying digital citizenship this semester, I am becoming more familiar with what it means to be a digital citizen. My teaching practice is being changed in that I am seeing the activities that the children and I participate online through a different filter. That is, I see them through the filter of digital citizenship and its different aspects such as safety, netiquette, maintaining a digital reputation, global participation and respecting other people's property.
I now understand that to be an effective teacher one must establish a Personal Learning Network of educators and for me, teacher librarians, in other places.  I am still coming to terms with the practicalities of this and probably due to the changing nature of Web 2.0 tools this will be an ongoing process. For me personally, this is appealing because I like to experiment but I know for some teachers it is a frightening and threatening idea. I think if you think it is okay to make mistakes then it is okay to give something new a try.
We are rewriting our policies to do with this area at school. I am involved in rewriting the ICT policy in which we are including references to digital citizenship throughout the policy. I now realise that digital citizenship, starts from when the children start to consciously use a device. So for example, in Kindergarten that means teaching them to remember to log off and how to go about doing that. I have been stressing to my fellow policy authors that the policies and the scope and sequence we are writing will always be a draft because the nature of technology and education is that changes. I understand that this is a daunting prospect for many teachers but if we look at that it is okay to take baby steps then we will be able to transform the way we teach and learn.

Personal Branding ETL523 Module 4.1

1. Why is it important to foster a global approach to digital citizenship?
As Julie Lindsay pointed out, whenever we are on the net we are working in the global world (Lindsay, 2014, Module 4.1). Consequently, we are inviting the global world into our lives every time we use the internet. Additionally, and more importantly, it allows us to learn from what is happening in other countries and cultures. By doing this, if we keep an open mind, we are then able to see issues and ideas through a different cultural filter than our own.

2. What are the most important considerations when developing a professional personal brand?
I think the most important consideration is to keep one's personal life and one's professional life separate. This can be achieved by not using a real name in the personal world or a part of your name. Another consideration is not to post anything in either field that you would not want your boss or your grandparents to see.
The following infographic from Lisa Nielsen, (is an excellent summary of how to create a positive digital citizenship.


Here is an excerpt from it:




 Or supporting students to develop their personal brand?
I am working in a primary school and I think educating the children regarding their digital footprint is vital.  After surveying our children I have learnt that 70% are unaware of what a digital footprint is. This is their opportunity to ensure that they have a useful online presence that will help them get employment in the future.
Bearing this in mind, I think the most important considerations for the children is that they understand that whatever they put on the net is permanent and that it can be changed and stored on any computer. Furthermore, they should always make sure they log out when using a public computer or even at home. To help their parents guide them, they need to share their usernames and passwords with their parents. Having a phone or use of a computer at home is not a right, that is , if they don't include their parents with what they are doing online then they should not be  allowed to use ICT at home.

3.What is your school doing in this area?
We are teaching digital citizenship next term to the Stage 3 children. Furthermore, they are having a visiting speaker talk to them about this issue next term as well. I will be designing a unit of work for the library next term in which they will be asked to design resources for the Stage 2 children about various issues surrounding digital citizenship. It is going to be like the work we are doing but at a much simpler level.

References:
Lindsay,J. (2014).   Globalisation of information and learning. [ETL523 Module 4.1]. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from Charles Sturt University website: http://digital.csu.edu.au/etl523/module-4-supporting-the-digital-learner/4-1-globalisation-of-information-learning/.

Nielsen, L. (2012, October 29). 4 things you need to know to help your students manage their online reputation by [Blog post].
Retrieved from http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/4-things-you-need-to-know-to-help-your.html.