I am so excited to introduce two
great resources related to Digital Citizenship, ethics and netiquette this
week. I feel that these two resources
are excellent finds and a wonderful resource, especially for adult learners.
It is mindboggling to learn that 62
million Americans do not use the Internet, or it translates to 1 in 5 American
not using the Internet according to www.everyoneon.org. This is a shame because there are 4 million
jobs that can be found online. Luckily,
it is not all in vein! Adults and
seniors who have no digital literacy can now turn to the following organization
to get started and cash in on the job market.
DigitalLearn.org
DigitalLearn is an online hub for
digital literacy support and learning, which has been created by the Public
Library Association’s grant, made possible by the Institute of Museum and
Library Services. This service was
launched in June 2013 to help libraries across the nation to provide better
service to digital immigrants.
DigitalLearn has a collection of self-directed tutorials for users to
increase their digital literacy. Through
this hub, trainers and community service providers can share resources, tools
and best practices. Participants can
learn how to use a computer (using the mouse and a keyboard), do a basic search
(learn about search engines), navigate a website and learn how to set up and
use email (reply and send) for correspondences.
Each tutorial is presented as a short video presentation with short,
segmented lessons that are very easy to follow.
Learners can watch these videos over and over again until they
understand the concepts clearly. After
completing each tutorial, the participant can even earn a certificate.
At DigitalLearn, even proficient
users can contribute by sharing ideas and best practices or volunteering to
become an online tutor. The website will
match the volunteer tutor with an organization in the volunteer’s zip code
area. All patrons can also join an
online community to collaborate through interest grouping or state grouping.
Five-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship
Edutopia (www.edutopia.org) has a
wonderful page devoted to digital citizenship in the form of short video clips
on its video playlist, to convey the following:
1. What is digital
citizenship – a video from BeCyberWise (www.becyberwise.org) that also includes
a clip of Howard Gardner (a prominent education psychologist form Harvard) and
Common Sense Media’s comprehensive Digital Citizenship curriculum.
2. Be a Digital
Citizen – a quick introduction to digital citizenship and how technology affects
us on a daily basis.
3. Go Figure 2 –
Online Safety Version – great conversation starter produced by the
international, Family Online Safety Institute.
4. Out of your
hands – this short one-minute video very poignantly describes how a picture
posted gets to the hands of a stalker in just one minute!
5. Digital
Citizenship Curriculum Training – a great resource for K-12 audience in safety,
security and digital citizenship produced by Good Sense Media.
6. TEDxUIUC – Alone
Together – a Ted Talk series featuring MIT professor Sherry Turkle on how we
function in this culture of connectivity.
7. Digital Dossier
– tracks “Andy’s” digital footprints from pre-birth to adulthood. The Digital Natives Project presents this
dossier.
8. You Tube
Citizenship curriculum – developed by Google and You Tube for creating tech
savvy users.
9. Invasion of the
Data Snatchers: How To Protect Your Online Privacy – geared towards adults on
protecting online privacy issues.
10. Our Kids’
Connected Culture – Overview for Parents and Teachers – a video from Common
Sense Media, where a girl explains issues faced on social media.
11. Digital Citizen
– talks about copyright and usage issues while exploring the topic of Digital
Citizenship.
12. Netiquette –
Playing Nice on the Internet – outlines the basics of good net/online
etiquette.
I strongly believe that the two
resources given above are excellent digital citizenship references for adult
learners. In order for adult learners to
be successful in their learning endeavor and using technology to enhance
learning, they need to have a good foundation on digital literacy and also
learn the various aspects of digital citizenship.
References:
Edutopia,
(2012). Five Minute Film Festival :
Teaching Digital Citizenship. Retrieved
from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship
Public Library Association,
(2013). Digital Learn. Retrieved from: http://www.digitallearn.org
There were so many great resources here, but the one that captured my interest was Digital Dossier. I am working on a program that connects high school students with retired seniors and it would be very interesting to do a side project based upon Andy, the fictional character’s life.
ReplyDeleteI would propose that the seniors group together and create a timeline project focusing on the benefits of a digital footprint and the alternative high school group create an oppositional timeline focusing on digital privacy intrusion. I expect that be taking the contrasting point in debate both groups would understand digital citizenship from an alternative angle than they may profess to view.
Bonk (2009) points out that in the Web 2.0 environment anyone can become a teacher. As a result of the assignment, perhaps the final assessment would be how the friends of the students reacted to the insight learned from the exercise. That’s what is so great about shared information…the ripple effect.
Yes, the Digital Dossier is definitely an interesting project. This is one projects where the user can actually see how events fold out. It is hard to imagine the unknown effectively, but this program helps learners do just that - imagine the footprints. The way you intend to use it sounds very interesting and engaging.
DeleteThanks for both of these leads. I particularly enjoyed the The Five Minute Film Festival. What a great idea! Presenting digital citizenship via videos is an entertaining way to illustrate the concepts. For language learners, it would also be helpful in improving their listening comprehension.
ReplyDeleteVideos are always popular among learners. So, it is a wonderful medium to teach a difficult subject. As you suggest, it is also a great listening activity for ELLs.
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