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Many educators reiterated ideas that I mentioned or embrace: respectful interactions online of the same caliber that digital users would express face-to-face with the recipient. Bill Mueller and Heidi Nicholson believe that students should be counseled to avoid any talk online that they would not say face-to-face and Janell ZW endorsed actions that “treat others with respect and dignity.” Sara Swanson wants students to “traverse the digital highway in a socially responsible and respectful manner.”
I learned new information from some of the posts. Jason Reyerson filled me in on the Digital Citizenship statement that is present in the Iowa Core (“Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology at an age-appropriate level.”-21.grade.TL.5). Substitute Lisa Schmitz talked about loss of learning opportunities for a day if the technology is not functioning properly and suggested that it would be helpful is alternatives were available. This could be a departure from having the assigned readings on the digital device entirely or it could be the provision of a few hard copies of the reading in case there is a temporary computer malfunction with a few computers in the classroom. Back up plans are very helpful to substitute teachers.
More than one teacher whose posts I read talked about modeling appropriate “digital behavior” and several educators also believe---as I do---that computer use is a privilege that needs to be respected by learning proper “netiquette” to avoid problems for ourselves and for other people.
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5. Does everyone in your school have equal access to technology and digital resources?
There was not equal access to technology and digital resources for teachers or students when I was teaching at either the high school or elementary level in my district. This inequity resulted from differences in funding from the school budget and from grant writing activities.
6. For those that do not, what changes can be made to ensure more equal access?
Administrators should attempt to make sure that all teachers and students have technology available to them.
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7. Do YOU use email, cell phones, texting and social networking resources appropriately when you communicate with others?
I do use email, cell phones, texting and social networking resources appropriately when I communicate with other people. I do recall when my phone was new and I would use the phone microphone for texting occasionally messages that were highly inappropriate would sometimes appear on my phone. I almost always fixed them before they were sent.
8. Do you change how you communicate with those professionally vs personally?
I do communicate somewhat differently professionally than I do personally, but when using digital media, the two are very similar. I have never signed off to any of my administrators, “Love and kisses, Margaret” Occasionally this is how I finish my texts to close girlfriends. When I am speaking to a close friend or family member, I sometimes use familiar language---even failing to delete an expletive on occasion.
9. In your experience with students, what do they need to know more about in regards to Digital Communication?
Students need to know that Digital Communications tell a great deal about their character and thought processes and that they may be archived and accessible to future employers and other important people for a long time.
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10. Share a time when you or someone you know was the recipient of an inappropriate use of digital media or when you might have used digital media in an inappropriate manner. How did this make you or others feel? What might have been done differently? A few months ago I was serving on a committee and a friend who was also on the committee sent me a strange text. I had mentioned that a mutual friend had been selected to fill a board vacancy and my friend’s reply was “She would.” That doesn’t sound particularly derrogatory, but it was so unlike my friend to say anything even slightly unkind, that it really bothered me. Come to find out that she hadn’t replied at all---another strange little glitch in the technology. If a comment as small as that could bother me, imagine what would happen with a bona fide negative comment!
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