Digital Citizenship and Character Development

Earlier this summer, discussions surrounding granting email to our MS boys proved to be fruitful. There was sufficient interest and a desire by the faculty that the new incoming MS Head, Phil Spears, decided it was time to provide our boys with this tool. We spoke about this a number of times before the start of school, but we couldn't find the right time or place to introduce the boys to this form of communication within their academic experience. We didn't want to throw up a bunch of rules but we did want to connect this new responsibility to character development. So we looked at the calendar and found just the right spot-right after a series of presentations involving Honor.

Honor at St. Christopher's School: A brief digression
At St.Christopher's School, we have an Honor Code that is deeply rooted into the fiber of our school's persona. So much so, that when asked, alums always mention the importance of Honor at St. Christopher's and later in life.

After a chapel session on the topic of Honor and nominations and voting of our student representatives to the honor council, our school had a ceremony in which all of the students and faculty signed the Honor Pledge. So the stage was set for our middle school boys to learn about digital citizenship as it relates to having access to email.

Digital Citizenship

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To summarize, I started by introducing the value of a signature-"your signature" because your signature is as important as your word. Our boys sign an Acceptable Use Policy over the summer but this venue reminded them how they should behave as it relates to technology while connecting it to the signing the honor pledge.

Because our teachers requested email for their students, a request becomes an opportunity.

A brief presentation surrounding one's digital footprint follows with questions about do you Google well, because your footprints don't wash away as easily as they do on the beach.

The last question posed to the boys was What kind of footprint do you have? Are you the same person online as you are offline? And, How does your footprint make you feel?

At this point, Phil Spears, the MS Head, adapts a presentation that will be given later in chapel regarding First, Second, and Third class citizens by our MS Asst Head, Ken Miller.

Here are Phil's words:

Email is a wonderful avenue for communication when used well.

Primary means for teachers here.

What kind of cyber-citizen are you and will you show in your use of email?



3 classes.

3rd class cyber-citizen, as he chats, facebook/my-spaces/tweet/texts AND emails…

·Is mean
·Gossips/rumors
·Hides behind cloak of anonymity
·Acts like a different person
·Writes things he wouldn’t say in person or on the phone
·Goes hunting for things on-line he knows in his heart he’s not ready for and/or aren’t healthy for him

2nd class…

·Most people here – adults and kids
·Follows rules
·Communicates clearly and in a friendly way
·Doesn’t mistreat others
·Does pass along or participate in 3rd class activity
·Does lie on-line or about what he’s done there

1st class…

·Does what a 2nd class citizen does, but also
·Actively seeks to make cyberspace a safe, fun place for all
·Challenges a 3rd class citizen to cut out poor behaviors
·Considers HONOR a code of conduct applicable to the digital world

So what kind of citizen are you?

Don't waste a crisis-the Obama Speech

With the start of the school year upon us, I have spent the bulk of my time getting things ready for my teachers and students. The mundane duties of resetting passwords, getting our new students and teachers up to speed on how to use the network and SIS have prevented me from keeping up to date on day to day issues in the news.

Now I've heard inklings about Obama's speech here and there but I have been amazed as to how heated discussions have become. That said, the extended labor day weekend has given me the opportunity to play catch up. So while reviewing my tweets, I came across Will Richardson's latest blog post The Obama Speech. He states, "It would seem to me that there should be no better place for my children to watch that speech (or any other, for that matter) than in a place where ideas are encouraged, where critical thinking about those ideas is a natural part of the conversation, and where appropriate response and debate can flourish."

Well that passage from his latest blog post tugged at me while making pancakes this morning and it prompted me to head to my netbook and start writing. I agree with Will 100%. What better place to scrutinize, discuss, and debate than in schools.

But I would like to take it to the next level. I want teachers to act on it, to reach out beyond their classrooms and expose their students to a variety of perspectives. Utilize your personal learning network(PLN) to discuss and debate with students from across the states or abroad. Expose your students to regional perceptions from across the the USA but don't stop there. The global community is clearly interested in what President Obama has to say, so why not ask interntational members of your PLN to contribute too.

Clearly, there is much more to gain from President Obama's speech than lose. Take advantage of the teachable moment. Start an etherpad doc, a voicethread, write a blog post, do a podcast or video editorial just do something but don't waste a good "crisis".

Fostering a love of learning

How many times have you found yourself being sucked into reading hours of information about a topic just because you stumbled upon it? Or maybe you intentionally sought out information that had little or nothing to do with what you teach but you needed it solely for personal reasons.

Well, it is the second example which is the impetus for this post. Within the past few months, I've acquired information on how to repair my mountain bike through bicycletutor.com, determined the location of the cabin filter on the family van through wikianswers.com, watched a video on how to install a 3 way dimmer switch at easy2diy.com, and most recently, I was able to correctly insulate the pipe leaving the central air unit using yahoo answers. Can you tell I am a new home owner?

In each of those instances, I was hoping to be an informed consumer and save a few bucks but ultimately it was my passion knowing for how stuff works(great site) and a love of learning that drives me.

So how can we foster a love of learning? With respects to the curriculum, often times, too much emphasis is placed on content objectives when it is the affective component of the curriculum that is deficient. Please note, that I am not advocating abandoning content because having a foundation is indeed important in creating interest and passion.

What I am advocating, however,is balance on a sliding scale. Provide the foundation, check for understanding, and then allow your students to discover, apply, and create. And as the content becomes more complex, allow that scale to slide some, perhaps in favor of content, so the affective component can grab hold.

This is hardly a new concept, but imagine the time and energy our students would spend given the opportunity to engage in meaningful learning. For some teachers, this is a radical shift in pedagogy but our teachers need models too. If we model this approach within our professional development days or classes, we can take advantage of the innate curiosity within educators. Spread the seeds of curiosity(change) and watch the learning take hold.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spursfan_ace/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Streaming Dilemma-a good problem to have

With the explosion of online media, many schools and institutions have started to stream events from their venues using web apps like uStream and fliqz.

This is certainly a convenient format for parents and friends that are unable to come to the event but it is also a wonderful opportunity to share your institution's story.

This past academic year, St. Christopher's School streamed the homecoming football game, the Virginia State Indoor Track and Field Championships, a Basketball and Lacrosse game with our rival school, and Lower and Middle School graduation(Upper School will occur in 2010).

The new online presence was received very well but then the questions and requests started to pour in.

Here are a few of the questions:
-Can we stream all athletic events?
-How about the arts?
-Can we stream chapel talks?
-Will athletic events be limited to varsity sports?
-Which varsity sports will be streamed?

Those are only a few questions but it did prompt us to consider developing some sort of protocol or at least a consistent response to streaming requests.

Ultimately however, it comes down to few basic issues.

Manpower: Does your school have the manpower to stream some/all of the requests? Will your school use student help? Who will supervise students?
Access: Is internet access readily available at the location of the event? This is particularly problematic for away games, off campus events, or even outdoor events if your institutions wireless access is spotty.
Equipment: We have yet to stream more than one event at a time, but I can already anticipate the requests. Whose camera will be used? How about spare laptops? Spare cables? High capacity batteries? Can I stream with cellular broadband card? How much does a cellular broadband card cost?

Streaming media can and will enhance your school's online presence but be ready for the requests. I would encourage you to be proactive and develop a protocol or consider how you will respond to certain questions.

But ultimately, it is a good problem to have.

Powerful Learning Practice Reflections

On May 1, the St. Christopher's team traveled up to Fredericksburg Academy to participate in the concluding face 2 face session for the PLP's international cohort. It was a meeting full of energy, creativity, a sense of purpose, and belonging.

Personal reflections:

A wise man once told me that when working in groups it's all about the people. If you have the wrong people, the best intentions will fall by the wayside. I have a great team and I'm eternally grateful for all of their hard work and willingness to take risks, share, and offer constructive criticism. I am looking forward to working with them as we start to develop our wiki full of tech tips.

Presentation tennis is a wonderful way to learn how others perceive a certain concept, theme, or idea.

Teachers learn and adopt strategies at different rates. Our team certainly illustrated this and we are all moving forward and sharing.

It's not about the technology it's about the learning.

Leverage technology to cater to various learning styles and provide differentiated instruction.

It's ok to lurk but don't make a habit of doing so or there will be missed opportunities.

Develop a strong PLN. It will be one of your greatest resources.

Lead and model by example.

Take advantage of teachable moments in the classroom and in meetings.

Some of your best meetings can occur virtually while you're at home in your pjs.

Special Thanks:

Thank you to Susan Carter Morgan, Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, and the members of the international cohort for providing our team and school with such a wonderful opportunity to participate in this journey.

Cell Phones in Education?!

I came across a tweet from @lkolb(Liz Kolb) regarding Poll Everywhere so I decided to do a little exploring. Essentially, one can collect data with a live audience and display the results on the spot. So on a whim, I emailed a few people, tweeted about it, and asked my students to participate in my beta test of poll everywhere.

Results:
The directions were tough to follow for nontexters but after I talked them through it, it made sense.
American Idol fans don't seem to have a problem. :-)
Students w/o phones can respond via a pc for open ended questions.
I was impressed by how fast the information appeared on the website.
My students were excited because I allowed them to use their cell phones in class.
One can export the results in a .csv file

See clip of results:



Potential:
This technology certainly has a great deal of potential. I may introduce it during student elections or perhaps for an alumni function but for the time being it will be for nonacademic purposes until I have additional time to explore its capabilities.
Also, as a recent Blackberry adopter, it has become clear to me that the smartphone will continue to grow in market share which will only increase and improve the capabilities of these devices.

Good Timing:
This article came out today from the Daily Press: Cell Phones get top marks in education

And yes, I read it on my phone.

Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

A few months ago Darren Kuropatwa suggested an activity as part of the Powerful Learning Practice. In his words, the activity was going to be "something along the lines of" Presentation Tennis.

Specifically, here is what Darren asked us to do.

We will collaboratively create a 20 slide presentation (not counting the title slide) called "Teaching Well". 20 slides in 10 pairs of contrasts: "Teaching well is more like < slide 1 > than it is like < slide 2 >." or however else you want to create contrast.

Each day one slide is added to the deck that builds on those that came before. The final 4-6 slides must bring the presentation to some sort of close.

The collaboration continues after the deck is done. The completed slide deck will be uploaded to SlideShare.net as a "Master Deck". To view our final project, click here

Time to Model

I was so impressed by the results of that activity that I decided to adopt the strategy and use it in my 8th grade computer class. The goal of the activity was to have each student develop a slide(a few made 2)that depicts what it means to be a creative problem solver. They were required to have an image and a quote that would assist them in depicting what constitutes creative thinking and problem solving. To view the slideshow, please click here.

I hope you enjoy my students' perceptions on this topic.