Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, what a hot topic this is in today's world.  Children are introduced to technology, the internet, and social media before they can even walk.  I know someone who created an Instagram account this year for her baby who is not even 1 yet.  People have social media accounts for their pets, this is the world we live in now.  With the introduction of social media to children at such a young age, they do not comprehend the what is appropriate, what is unkind, and what can be damaging to them and their peers when something is posted.  At the middle school I used to work at, a group of 7th and 8th graders go into real trouble by circulating revealing pictures of each other.  This is something they have seen on TV, read about on the internet, and so on.  They did not realize the consequences of their actions such as the possibility of being charged with 'distribution of child pornography.'  In many incidences where students got in trouble for posting things on social media, many of them did not think through or even realize how this could be perceived  by others and also impact their future at such a young age.  I liked reading about the school district in Illinois that does a digital citizenship project between to schools allowing students to produce a relevant, meaningful product that actually gets them thinking about digital citizenship along with cyberbullying to realize the impacts different actions can have.  I like this image a lot that I posted above, THINK before you post or even write an email.  

What stood out to me this week is how cyberbullying is not just in a k-12 school.  Cyberbullying mostly refers to young people attacking each other but this is not an issue only faced by the youth in this country.  In this week's Seven Digital Deadly Sins resource, the wrath page  focused on cyberbullying and anger on the internet.  Looking at the internet anger piece along with the going through the questions about email confrontation, I started thinking about how adults cyberbully each other as well through email, social media, getting into a comment argument on a post or article on a web page.  We do need to focus a lot on the educating the youth about digital citizenship, but adults need to be educated as well.  Many of them did not have the internet until they were in the middle of their life, there was no school programs to help them understand to THINK before posting.  Many adults probably do not even realize the extent of the internet or the idea of the Six Degrees of Separation.  

As school librarians we need to focus on the youth in this country, they will be the future leaders in this Age of Technology.  I like how the Illinois school district really got their students involved in a project.  As librarians, we can work with guidance counselors to help them bring in digital citizenship discussions to their guidance orientations each year.  We can work with computer and technology teachers to help the integrate digital citizenship into their curriculum.   We can also collaborate with core teachers such as ELA to create digital citizenship lessons they can use in their classrooms or in the library with their students.  This week is Digital Citizenship Week, a library program could be put together a head of time to promote and highlight different concepts of digital citizenship.  There are many ways we as librarians can get involved in educating about digital citizenship to our students, the internet is full of resources.  

Guardian, The.  Nation Film Board of Canada.  (2014).  Seven Digital Deadly Sins.  http://sins.nfb.ca/#/Grid

Medford Area Middle School.  (2018).  Digital Citizenship/ Technology Skills.  Picture retrieved form https://www.medford.k12.wi.us/schools/middle/academics/digital-citizenship.cfm

Orech, J. (2012). How it's done: Incorporating digital citizenship into your everyday curriculum. Tech & Learning, 33(1), 16-18.

Smith, David.  (2008).  Proof!  Just six degrees of separation between us.  The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email

Flipgrid!

This week I chose to explore Flipgrid!  Flipgrid is a video platform where short videos can be uploaded from many different devices.  To find the correct grid on must enter a code similar to finding your correct Google classroom.  Students can interact with each other through commenting and discussing each other's videos within a specific grid. 

I decided to look more at Flipgrid this week because I would like to use it with my students, I have heard so much about Flipgrid from many librarians in my district who seem to love this tool.  I have not used Flipgrid before, but I got to see it in action this summer during PD where people from my district, the state of South Carolina, and throughout the United States filmed short videos encouraging us librarians to keep making an impact on our students this year.  

Ditch That Textbook posted an article "Catch the Flipgrid Fever" explains how to set up an account with your students and 15 ways in which you can use Flipgrid in the classroom.  I want to use Flipgrid next month for our school's Veteran's Day commemoration.  Idea #14 on Ditch That Textbook was to create thank you and appreciation videos.  I plan to create my first Flipgrid with students from around my school to volunteer to video themselves thanking our past and current service members and I can share this with our volunteers and the Air Force Base near by through email.  I would also like to use Flipgrid to show off different events and activities that take place in my library throughout the school year.  Students and teachers can highlight what they liked, what they remember, or what they did at each event or activity.  

Click on HERE for 20 more ideas on how to use Flipgrid in the classroom and catch #FlipgridFever.  

Arnold, Sean.  (2017).  20 Ways to Catch #FlipgridFever.  Brave the Attempt.  https://braveintheattempt.com/2017/08/18/20-ways-to-catch-flipgridfever/

Flipgrid.  (2018).  flipgrid.com

Miller, Matt.  (2018).  Catch the Flip Grid Fever!  15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid with your class!  Ditch that Textbook.  http://ditchthattextbook.com/2017/06/02/catch-the-flipgrid-fever-15-ways-to-use-flipgrid-in-your-class/

My Talk Tools

This week I have discovered the phone and tablet app MyTalkTools.  This app was created by a family who had trouble communicating with their son, he was born with Nager Syndrome.  This app allows a person to communicate with others by choosing words and images to piece together to form sentences.  

This tool was developed to people who could not speak clearly due to a severe disability, but this app can be versatile and help another population of students as well, students who are just learning English or ESOL students.  When I first saw this app I immediately thought of the large Spanish speaking student population at my school.  Many students struggle to communicate with their teachers due to the language barrier and they heavily rely on friends to translate.  We also have a student who just moved to the United States 2 months ago whose first languages are French and Arabic, he has no one to translate for him, having an app like MyTalkTool on hand can help these students communicate throughout the school day as they learn to speak English.  

This EdShelf page explains the app in detail along with pricing and different features.  The app can be accessed through an Apple or Android devices.  To learn more about MyTalkTools check out Smart Apps for Kids Top Pick review.

MyTalkTools.  (2018).  http://www.mytalktools.com/dnn/2/Home.aspx

MyTalkTools Mobile.  (2018).  EdShelf.  https://edshelf.com/tool/mytalktools-mobile/

Review: MyTalk Tools AAC offers customized option for those with communication challenges.  (2013).  Smart Apps for Kids.  http://www.smartappsforkids.com/2013/11/review-mytalk-tools-aac.html