Digital Citizenship and Flaming

Dear Readers,
     I've recently been informed on a new topic of discussion: "flaming". With technology use being so prevalent and readily available, it's sometimes easy for people to not think about what they're saying on the internet. By reading the informative New York Times article, "Flame First, Think Later: New Clues to E-Mail Misbehavior" I was able to better understand why flaming occurs on the internet. The article defines flaming  other wise known as “online disinhibition effect,” is the term used by psychologists for the many ways people behave with less restraint in cyberspace. The article goes on to explain how certain parts of the brain are used whenever someone has a face-to-face conversation that help people understand how we should conduct ourselves and "inhibits impulses for actions that would upset the other person or otherwise throw the interaction off." The problem is with these virtual interactions we have a lack of these facial and verbal cues which help with our empathetic responses to others. So next time you get upset, take a breath and think before you act. Understand the consequences of your response and think of how you would feel if you received the response you're thinking about sending. In Bambi, there's a word of advice we all should take to heart: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!"

To read more about the topic consult the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20070222thursday.html

Education Needs a Digital Update

Dear Readers, 
     I've recently read an article that intrigued me quite a bit. It raised the question of whether we, as educators are doing justice by our students teaching them in the manners which students were taught in the past, while they are growing up in this technologically advanced society. It makes teachers wonder if perhaps by not making our students more savvy with technology, we are doing them an in justice by preventing them from future careers they may have which we have not even seen yet, but may develop in this technological age, along side a few more technological advancements.
     The speaker also raised the question: Since we've changed the way in which we instruct our classrooms in the past as the times changed then and the society advanced, why are we not better aiding our pupils for their future in this new world? I believe the speaker is right in this regard, we need to better prepare our pupils for the future. After all, if we don't prepare them for this future and their forced interaction with their technologically advanced society, have wee really done our jobs as educators? As educators, we're supposed to prepare our pupils for their future, even if that involves more technology being integrated into the classrooms than we're used to, or even simply having our students learn how to better use the technology around them. Just as the speaker cited in her article with changing times in the past, the classroom changed for the industrial age; so must we do now n this technologically advanced society. The image below shows us an idea of how our relationship with technology in the class room should change. We need to have our students collaborating and learning how to better use technology. Lastly, by collaborating and working in groups, students are able to learn, I believe quite effectively, the technology around them by having exposure to multiple learning approaches from different minds both: yours and their peers.

Texting in Schools

Welcome Back Readers, 

     I recently have done some research on texting and it's involvement in our language development skills. After considering both sides and the argumentation of each, I must say for many reasons, I agree that texting is not killing our language.I do think it may add a stigma to our relationships, but of course that is an entirely different post. First of all, kids are having to think more about how words sound when creating abbreviations. Secondly, when texting most kids have auto-correct, allowing them to having repeated exposure to how words are correctly spelled. This is something that we would not have, if we were writing notes to pass in class, something that we did before texting came to be so popular. Writing notes in class leads me to my next point: even before texting children found "forbidden" ways to communicate during class. How do I know I'm right? I don't. I do see studies supporting my argument. Furthermore, I know I myself have passed notes in class. Let's be honest, kids love to communicate with each other and have always found ways to do so; the only difference now is that it's involving more advanced technology. 

This is a test. Have a great day today! :)