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Digital & Social Equity

In the video, "Incubate a Better World in the Minds and Hearts of Students,” Ruha Benjamin discusses digital equity as an extension of social equity. Teachers “incubate a better world in the hearts and mind of students” and therefore it is important to take imagination seriously. Equity in education requires rethinking access to technology, but also the design of the technology. Equity must not only be considered for those that already have easy access, but for those that need more accessible data and tech. Youth living in San Francisco will have a very different idea of what ‘better’ tech would look like compared to youth in Southeast Oklahoma, where even cell service can be hard to come by. When decision makers determine who will get to participate in creating the technology of the future, it should be made with social and digital equity in mind, empowering people of all backgrounds and regions to participate and grow. “Classrooms must be laboratories for social change,” Benjamin stated. I think that this implies that teachers must use formal and informal means, inside the classroom to engage imagination and encourage students to use their creativity to build something unique, even if it sounds like science fiction. Educators, community leaders, economic developers and those interested in seeing the youth of their towns succeed should be concerned with integrating technology inside and outside of the classroom. Hot spot programs, public computer access, small competitions for entrepreneurs and young scientists, and other creative ways to involve youth will make a difference and give them a voice and a chance to grow.

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Digital Equity & BYOD Classrooms

Workforce needs are ever-changing and public schools must ensure that they are preparing students for a world where computer science is more than just a skill. Public schools are also a place where students of all races, socioeconomic status, and genders may learn equitably, with the same opportunities provided to all. Schools support all student’s digital literacy development by providing learning opportunities in computer labs and with portable devices like tablets. Students will use the Internet and other resources for multiple subjects throughout school and teachers will show them how to complete their work using safe sites and applications.

I found an example of an Internet Use Policy for Virgina, Minnesota Public School. (See http://www.vmps.org/technology-services/internet-use-policy/) The policy goes into detail on acceptable uses, the privilege of internet access, unacceptable uses, filters, privacy, etc. There is also a document available on the use of iPads with their digital learning program. “The focus of the Digital Learning program at Virginia Public Schools is to provide tools and resources to the digital learner. Excellence in education requires that technology is seamlessly integrated throughout educational programs. Providing access to technology is essential for that future and one of the learning tools of these digital learners is the iPad. The interactive use of iPads is a way to empower students to maximize their full potential and to prepare them for college and the workplace.” Each student ‘checks out’ an iPad at the beginning of the year, with signed documents from parents, and they check them back in the last week of school. Digital learning specialists and administrators are available to assist students with iPad and other technology use. I believe that this kind of program enhances digital equity and content understanding because each student is responsible for the device, their learning with the device, and is given the opportunity to learn more at home at their speed. I wish this was available for every school!

When it comes to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classrooms, teachers must first learn about the current device usage of their students. While it is assumed that most students today have phones, many might, but only some may have access to the Internet. Teachers must ensure equity when choosing lessons that involve student’s personal devices. Texting features are available on basically every phone, so this will be an easy way to communicate and ensure equitability. Text alerts can go to an entire group, subgroup, or individuals and can be used for many things. Reminders, polling, text pals, assessments, and small group projects can be set up and enhanced with these alerts. Teachers can use apps like Remind, Joopz, and ClassPager to set these up. These tools can support lessons by allowing students to be creative and collaborate wherever they are. Perhaps while on a field trip the teacher sends out an alert to pay close attention to a specific exhibit in a museum. On the way home, the teacher sends an assessment that asks questions about the specific exhibit and students can answer via text. This makes testing less stressful, maybe even fun.

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Lesson Plans on Digital Citizenship

This week I took a look at some of the lesson plans on digital citizenship available for free on commonsense.org! I decided to check out the lesson plans for 8th grade and found a couple of very interesting topics and plans that will be incredibly easy to use in the future.

The first lesson is titled Sexting and Relationships: What are the risks and potential consequences of sexting? As you probably know by now, I am a Health & Physical Education major, so I thought this would correlate to my field of study two-fold. All of these lessons include a warm up and wrap up, which I really like. You begin by discussing self-disclosure, secret-sharing and the like, and explain why this is a sensitive topic, how you will navigate through the lesson, and that maturity is needed for discussion.  You would summarize the key reasons and risks associated with sexting, distribute the Late Night Texting Handbook, and talk about red flag feelings. You would discuss how it is never okay to pressure someone and share or forward a sext. The wrap up includes a writing prompt for journaling and a take home family activity, and a quiz. This is a 55-minute lesson. I think that this lesson would be one that requires sensitivity and delicate speaking tones, a non-judgemental attitude, and an understanding of how to discuss the information properly. It’s one of those topics that needs to be discussed but perhaps no one wants to be the one to do it.

The next lesson I looked over was titled Digital Media and Your Brain: How does digital media try to hook you, and what can you do about it? The warm up activity is an attention-getter by asking the class what they like to do on their phones and if they think it is a good or bad habit. Students watch the video, Teen Voices: The Pressure to Stay Connected, and then discuss feedback loops and addictive design. Features on social media like ‘liking’, comments, sharing, video auto-play, and live streaming play a major factor. The lesson wraps up with a discussion on making health media choices, a family take home activity, and lesson quiz. This is a 45-minute lesson. This lesson would be a fun one to teach, I think. I would make sure and relate it to health as much as possible and discuss mental wellness, egos, and maybe even something on cyber bullying.

The final lesson I observed is called This Just In!: How should we react to breaking news? I chose this final lesson plan because even as adults it can be difficult to understand what is real and what is click-bait type news. You start by explaining what breaking news is, and explain the reasons why individuals or media outlets would want to be the first to share information first. Discuss the 24/7 news cycle caused by people being connected constantly. The lesson plan provides a handout and activity on breaking down breaking news. The students work through an activity in which they try to figure out if they’re getting the real story about a cancelled concert. You then wrap up by discussing trusted sources, hand out a family take home activity, and a lesson quiz. This is a 45-minute lesson. I really think this lesson would be fun to teach as well and would be interesting to see how the students develop their understanding and use of media outlets for news.

I loved reading through these lesson plans and all of the supporting reading materials, handouts, slides, and family tips. This site is a great resource for anyone looking to teach on the subject of digital citizenship. Each of these lesson plans also meet several content standards for Common Core, CASEL, AASL, and ISTE.

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Digital Citizenship: Don’t ban social media, teach students how to be digital citizens

As someone who is going to be a teacher in the near future, and who has grown up watching how technology has evolved so rapidly, it is important to me to be able to show my students how to be safe and proactive online. From the parents perspective, social media may be a scary things for their children. Parents, teachers, and media that kids watch should all be promoting safe practices on social media, rather than keeping them from it all together. Parents and teachers can be great role models for social media use. By posting appropriate photos, using proper language, and avoiding polarizing issues that may cause drama or cyber bullying, adults can show teens the best way to use social media. Parents and teachers can also teach students about privacy settings to make sure their information is shared only with friends.

Here is a great site about how parents can talk to their kids about social media use: https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/social-media-smarts.html

I think that making a contract is a great way to show your children that you respect and trust them. Parents should always have insight into their kid’s social media accounts and monitor their use closely for their safety. Teachers should use every opportunity when utilizing technology to help students understand digital citizenship. Students learn from one another so I think there could be a great lesson in helping each other fix their privacy settings and ensure that proper posting is going on.

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My First Lesson Plan: Sportsmanship

A. Lesson Plan

Health & Physical Education – 8th Grade Class

Instructor: Mr. Frazier

Subject of Lesson or Module: Sportsmanship

Oklahoma  Standard: S4.M4

ISTE  Student Standard: 7b

Your instructional plan: Merrill’s Principle of Instruction

Problem-Centered

What real-world, relevant problem or task will  the learner be able to perform when we finish this lesson or unit?

Students will  have a deeper understanding of how to work with others, building on their  knowledge of sportsmanship to solve conflicts or engage with others in a  respectful manner in competitive environments utilizing their understanding  of sports rules and regulations. (Knowing how to act when you win/lose,  treating others with respect and dignity, representing your team well, etc.)

Activation

How will you activate the learner’s prior  knowledge about this subject and prepare them to learn? How will your students preview what they will  learn?

The  instructor will activate prior knowledge about the subject and prepare  students to learn by purposefully creating a situation which would test  student’s real application of sportsmanship.

Once this  situation plays out, the instructor will point out what happened and begin a  dialogue to introduce the new content. The instructor will point out specific  points in the situation where good and bad sportsmanship were used.

Demonstration

How will you show the learner how to perform  the real-world problem or task? What various examples of the problem or task  will you give your students?

The instructor  will utilize a SmartBoard to show videos where athletes demonstrate good and  bad sportsmanship. The instructor will discuss having good sportsmanship in  physical activities and in the real-world.

Examples  will include sportsmanship in sports, in the workplace, in school, and at  home. For example, a husband and wife should have mutual respect and show  good sportsmanship in the home to understand how to work together during good  and bad times. They should be a team rather than competing against one  another.

Application

How will your learner practice solving the  problem or task? How will you give them feedback on their  performance?

The  learners will practice good sportsmanship during team practices by building  one another up and motivating their teammates. The learners will be  challenged to practice good sportsmanship in other environments by helping  others, avoiding arguments with siblings, congratulating peers when they  excel in the classroom, etc.

The  instructor will give feedback on student performance by being honest with  students on a group and individual level. The instructor will point out when  good and bad sportsmanship is used over the course of two weeks.

Integration

How will you encourage your learner to  integrate this new knowledge and skill into their life? How will they reflect on, discuss or debate  this new knowledge?

The  instructor will encourage the students to be a better communicator toward  parents, peers, future employers and working hard for teammates. The  instructor will point out the benefits of the integration of good  sportsmanship in everyday life. The instructor will also give examples of  consequences for using/not using good sportsmanship in the real world.

Students  will reflect on sportsmanship via a collaborative classroom blog online. The  instructor will bring in a local referee to discuss good and bad  sportsmanship during team sports and how rules and regulations during play  relate to the subject. There will be a question and answer period.

B. Alignment Narrative

             The Oklahoma Standards for Physical Education states, “Responds appropriately to participants’ ethical and unethical behavior during physical activity by using rules and guidelines for resolving conflicts.” (P.35) The ISTE Standard chosen states, “Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.” (7b) This lesson integrates real world applications, viewpoints from myself, the student’s peers, a sports referee, and others. These standards work together seamlessly to create a lesson suitable for students of this grade level. The ISTE Standard provides diverse opportunities for teaching/learning the Oklahoma Standard at hand. The ISTE Standard calls for students to work together to solve problems and learn, while using technology at the same time. All of my lessons for the future will integrate real-life scenarios because I feel it is part of my job to prepare students for the real world. They should also understand that there will always be multiple perspectives when it comes to any lesson or real-world problem that needs to be solved, and it is important to remember that varying opinions and feelings matter. The ISTE Standards could be applied to nearly any educational standard and create opportunities for more collaboration. Students need to learn to work together because there are no jobs where you make all the decisions, are the sole employee, and have zero competition. Teamwork and sportsmanship are important in every job and I would be thrilled to teach young people the correlation between these things in sports and in life. Oklahoma provides a framework of skills and techniques that they want students to understand before they graduate high school. ISTE Standards provide a way to teach these skills while preparing them for a future that will be very technology- and team-oriented. I feel it is the instructor’s job to create lessons that provide a learning environment for all types of learners. That is why group assignments can be so great – they not only teach skills about teamwork, but the students have the opportunity to learn from each other if they do not understand themselves.

             The technology integration model used to guide the development of the lesson plan is TPACK. TPACK utilizes my knowledge areas of teaching which include technology, content, and pedagogical. I have integrated this model because as someone who is passionate about sports and ethical behavior, it is easy to channel my knowledge to teach the subject. Utilizing blogs and SmartBoards, discussing my experiences in sports and in life, and integrating my philosophy of education are great ways to teach students and evaluate myself.

             I have incorporated equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use in this lesson. The skill being taught is a concept, rather than a physical skill and is one that can be learned if the student is open to learning.

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Is Twitter Dumb?

This week I have taken some time to engage and learn more about Twitter. As a future educator, I am trying to find every available resource to make me better at the job that I am so excited about taking on. I’ve learned that Twitter is fast-paced and that if you want to be successful with Twitter, you have to be intentional about the time spent there and commit to engaging and socializing with others - but that’s the point of ‘social’ media now isn’t it? I’ll be looking for Twitter chats to engage in, so feel free to send me any helpful advice or great groups to join at @Nichola56525641. So far, I’ve found https://twitter.com/games4ed?lang=en very interesting! Check it out for great ideas on how to implement gaming and VR in the classroom. Twitter is NOT dumb!

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The Importance of Media Literacy & Digital Citizenship (Parents & Students)

As technology becomes more and more important in the lives of everyday citizens, it is essential that parents understand how to teach their child to be media literate and a good digital citizen. It is a well known fact that children take on the traits and characteristics of their parents, most of the time even keeping those traits throughout adulthood, so start now by being a good role model. It is now more important than ever to teach children how to use the Internet properly and appropriately, for their safety and future in the workforce and society at-large. “How children will use media outside the family depends on how they have experienced media (usage) within it. Therefore, media education is more than ever a family affair.This belief is motivated in an article by Sara Pereira of the University of Minho in Portugal, where she explains the importance of parental mediation, one of the principal questions being how parents should attend to their children’s media use. The most important prerequisite for good mediation is that parents know what their children are doing with media, what they use media for, why they are attracted by media, etc., and that they are interested in and know the media worlds of their children.” (https://www.interaxiongroup.org/en/news/articles/responsibility-parents-media-literacy)

For parents on media literacy and why it is important: https://www.mobicip.com/blog/importance-media-literacy-parent%E2%80%99s-guide

For parents on media literacy, and a “How To” guide: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/news-and-media-literacy/how-do-i-teach-my-kids-media-literacy

Here are a few online (printer-friendly) games for kids that will teach them about media literacy!

1) This game teaches students how to be safe online including dealing with privacy and cyber bullying: http://mediasmarts.ca/game/passport-internet-student-tutorial-internet-literacy-grades-4-8

2) This game helps to teach students how to fact-check information to determine what is true and false in online media: http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/educational-games/reality-check-game

Digital citizenship is knowing how to interact with proper etiquette online, reporting and preventing cyber bullying, and knowing how to protect your own and other’s private information. These lessons should also be learned by students at a young age.

For parents, an interactive site that you and your child can look at together that will show you the digital traces you leave behind on the Internet: https://myshadow.org/trace-my-shadow

This is one of the coolest sites I’ve found that parents can go through with their child to learn about digital citizenship. Enjoy: https://www.brainpop.com/technology/digitalcitizenship/

Here is a link to a game for students who want to learn about digital citizenship: http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/

Here is a link to download an app for middle and high school students to learn about digital citizenship: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digitalcitizen/id867157206?mt=8

You and your child can learn about media literacy and digital citizenship together and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done your part to protect and educate them about the good and bad of the Internet. I hope this helps!

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Divergent Thinking & Modern Education

I've watched this video in a couple of other classes but I always re-watch it when I get the chance. There are so many a-ha moments that come from watching this video. For instance, I do think that Americans over-medicate their children because they don't want to deal with them being 'kids'. Kids are creative, they want to play, make friends, get dirty, and they have a ton of energy. It seems that many Americans wish to completely take that away from their children and teach them how to be boring, docile, small adults. The pressure of standardized testing has only made it harder for teacher and student - the teacher is forced to be less creative and stick to teaching from textbooks to get the students to pass the tests, and the students are forced to smother what makes them kids - their excitement, creativity, and playfulness - while they sit still in a classroom for hours on end staring at a screen or white board. If the student can't or doesn't like to do that, they must have ADHD or ADD. It's sad.

I get so annoyed that everything is so regulated. The way we think, act, and learn has been scrutinized and someone decided that everyone must learn the same things, in the same ways, or they will be less successful. It really is hard to find employment that can produce a livable income, with or without a degree. I think the only reason I'm not worried about finding a job after I graduate as a teacher is because I live in Oklahoma and understand the rough climate of education in this state. The shortage is a real problem, so finding a job close to home shouldn't be to difficult. That is a real shame too, as schools will be forced to hire potentially incompetent teachers just because they need someone to fill the position. I hope Oklahoma wakes up to understand that teachers truly create the people that will be leading and working in our region in the future and start to put some time, effort, and money into helping them succeed.

https://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U

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A response to the video, “ Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=y3jYVe1RGaU

What I learned from the video is that, the educational system is out dated in a way like the speaker says in the video. It was miraculous to see how quickly children in other countries were learning how to use technology. They helped each other while playing, and learned to speak English. I also believe it is important to challenge the status quo and seek new ideas and opportunities for learning. Technology is only going to expand what we can know and discover. Kids in America are already so tech savvy at such young ages. I think with my platform I would want to teach students to use technology safely. While technology and the internet provide opportunities for learning, we should always make sure they are viewing safe sites and interacting with integral and ethical people. I think I would also challenge students to go without technology. Learning how to not be so reliant and be okay without technology is just as important as showing students how to use tech. What happens when your phone dies or a solar flare it out for a period of time? Utilizing a library, knowing how to do basic math without a calculator, etc. are all things that we should be teaching young people. Using the Internet and technology is a privilege and should be treated as such. We should also allow students to teach each other, which is something the video discussed. Just as peer teachers can learn from one another, so can young students discovering technology, learning how to read graphs, and even a new language.

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Bio

My name is Nick Frazier and I love basketball, my wife, and family. I am a student at Southeastern Oklahoma State University studying health and physical education. I aspire to be a high school basketball coach and later a principal or athletic director. This is my first time to use Tumblr so I’m excited to see what I can do here!