Four Things the Net Generation Needs to Know

As we go through the school year, we are following a certain curriculum in our classes. Whether that curriculum is something that we have helped create, or something that was given to us to follow, we know the basic topics that we are covering in our subject area. Our curriculum map outlines what we are teaching...but was isn't in there that should be?

Upon reading the article Four things every student should learn...but not every school is teaching, I find myself agreeing with the four things that Alan November says we should make sure that our students, the "Net Generation," know--global empathy, social and ethical responsibility on the web, the permanence of information posted on the web, and critical thinking about the information found online.

When a new idea, theory, method, or resource appears on the educational landscape, it is often a good idea to take notice of it, but how much we address it will often depend upon its usefulness and longevity. In my opinion, technology and the internet have long since proven that they are becoming required and interwoven with our everyday personal and professional lives. As such, it really is a necessity for us, as teachers, to make sure that we are helping our students learn to navigate the web 2.0 world.

One comment that particularly struck me was when November referred to social networking sites such as FaceBook. Just because we block them at school does not mean the kids are not going to use them at home. Now, I don't think that means we need to open up any and every website for their unsupervised use at school. Yet, I often think that we should allow them more access in general while at school, so that we can help and guide them in responsible internet use. We shouldn't be banning everything in a preemptive strike to keep them safe. We should proactive showing them how to use it safely...and there is a difference!

The permanence of the information posted on the internet is still something that I find myself having to think about some days. I remember being surprised when I first learned that "the Internet" is being archived nearly continuously. It's similar to the tangible items of diaries and photographs. If you don't want someone to see it, don't write about it or provide evidence. The same is true of the internet. I can even see making the parallel with the tabloid magazines and TV shows. Those celebrities sure don't want all those personal photos and videos surfacing, but...if you make them, and leave them laying around, you never know who will find them and what they will do with them!

Critical thinking about the information on the internet is SO IMPORTANT! All through this class, we have been bringing up the idea of Wikipedia and how inaccurate it sometimes is. We OWE it to our students to emphasize the idea of checking their information, and looking at where/who it is coming from. One of the best things about the internet is that everyone can contribute. Yet, one of the worst things is that everyone can contribute! Take what you read with a grain of salt, if you've only seen it one place, and it doesn't look like a very reputable site.

And finally, global empathy. This is the skill that seemed most easily addressed in my class, as a foreign language teacher. I am constantly trying to relate my experiences in other countries and with other people to my students' lives, and make them aware of those differences. And any time I get a foreign exchange student in my class, I make sure that we ask them about customs and concepts in their home country. Allowing for, knowing about, understanding, and embracing differences between cultures is so important anymore, and will help students so much in their lives and future careers. I think that this is the skill I would most like to try and find web 2.0 tools to help integrate more into my classroom next year. Perhaps we could pair with a classroom in a different country and share blogs or voicethread commentary on certain customs. I could also see exchanging pictures on Flickr or creating a wiki where two classrooms could share their views side-by-side.

Thoughts on Delicious

As I keep messing around with Delicious, I'm finding more aspects of it that I like. I believe it was Sarah E that said she was trying to use the inbox. I checked that out, and while I do wish you could send a bit of a message (if you can, I haven't figured it out), you can send bookmarks right to individual users. If the person uses Delicious, this is a great way to do things. If you send it to their email, then there are extra steps for them to get it to Delicious. If you send it right IN Delicious, they just have to add it.

However, that said, if someone does NOT have Delicious, I just noticed a "send" tab when I was tagging a link in Delicious. It offers options to email the link to someone, or post it to your Twitter account. These are nice options to have right in the Delicious program itself.

Also, in my network "friend" list, I see that it has sections and flags to denote who you are following, who is following you, and whether you are following each other. It's kind of nice to know those separations, and have a visual cue that someone is not seeing your link list, in case you specifically want them to. And, there is the option to make links private for yourself or hide them from some people, which can also be a bonus.

I may just have to make a personal account for Delicious and start transferring my long, jumbled, and untagged list of firefox bookmarks over there.

Also, for students, I see this as making things easier for them working between home and school. They can get online for a few minutes in one place, and have the sources that they found available in the other class. In addition, so often students are working on multiple projects at one time, this would be a great way for them to have one location to save links in, yet be able to tag them for the appropriate class. They don't need 4 different link locations, but can have one list and search it by "history project," "english project," etc. And if it's a group project, they can subscribe to each other's feeds, or share links between each other, which definitely helps to promote the 21st century skills of networking and collaboration.

How should we use blogs?

The uses for blogs in LMS, teaching, and learning seem to be many and varied, from superficial informational posts, to more complex creations involving links, pictures, critical thinking skills, and more. Blogs are commonly thought about as "Look at Me!" creations on the internet, where people partake in a one-way street to share about themselves. However, when used for educational purposes, blogs can become a two-way street in which discussions and learning are present.

A basic use for teachers and LMS that I see for blogs is information sharing. Teachers can post assignments, classroom happenings, changes, or general announcements for parents and students to see and keep up to date. LMS can do the same with library happenings, new materials and resources, etc. This allows students and parents the chance to check on what they need to do, and stay connected, even when they are not in the classroom. It would be a useful way to share information about the day with students who are absent, and would not require all the extra technology skills that might go along with maintaining a full class website to share this information.

Moving from this one-way communication to two-way communication is where we help our students to develop their 21st century skills and higher level thinking abilities. A teacher can post a question prompt on a blog, and either have students respond as comments to the teacher blog, or in their own blogs. Personally, I see comments in a teacher blog lending themselves to shorter answers, with personal student blogs being more useful with "essay" type answers.

Having the students respond online gives them the time to process and reflect on their answers before sharing. This processing and reflection allows them to fully form their thoughts before sharing, which is not always possible with oral responses in class. Class time can also limit how many students are able to share on certain days. Blogs give the chance for all students to respond. It also allows them to analyze different points of their argument, think about the point that they are trying to make, and how best to make that point. Once they have shared their post, interaction and discussion with other students' posts will help them to ask questions, agree and disagree with different viewpoints, work to support their opinion, and create new opinions.

One of our readings this week discussed 21st century skills and the idea of students becoming a part of a democratic society. Last semester we read "Democratic Education" by Gutmann. Though it is a small step in the larger process, if blogs are used as a means of discussion, sharing, and learning, instead of just talking about oneself, this web 2.0 tool can be a way for students to share, learn, question, and form opinions. In a democratic society and learning environment, we do not have to agree with everyone else's opinions, but they are allowed to have them and share them, which is exactly what blogs are meant to facilitate. Exposure to new ideas is what helps us to shape, modify, and strengthen our own ideas.

Whether it be information sharing, responding to critical thinking questions, having discussions, or posting short question responses that practice grammar, vocabulary, or basic ideas, blogs are a tool that could prove very useful in a classroom. They seem to me to be a tool that would catch a student's attention and keep them engaged, and any time we, as educators, can pair student engagement and excitement with learning, the outcome will be more successful.