Digital Citizenship MOOC, Week 5 Final Questions and answers

As the last week of the DCMOOC starts and in order to prepare myself for the upcoming Core Session 5, with Alec Couros and the rest of the participants of this course, I sat down to write down my reflections on several things regarding not only this particular topic that gathers us together here, but also about learning in general and where I stand as someone who has been a regular attendee to several opportunities for free open learning ventures.

Before the computers arrived to the school my son´s Physics teacher invited us to a parents meeting where our son would present on Energy Resources in our country as well as exhibit a lamps they had made in groups as part of their semester´s project.  I had been asked on several occasions to participate as part of an audience for teacher friends´classes from USA or Germany who presented on different topics, and felt that my son, his friends and teacher were missing an opportunity to broadcast their work to the world.

Looking back I remember asking several teachers about the digital policies in their schools.  The arriving of the goverment computers (in the picture above) made me want to investigate the subject of how schools dealt with questions such as safety or privacy.  I received several general answers, however the practices were tied to the teachers´ unique classroom settings.  I also tried google and posting general twitter questions without much success, the information was too much, theoretical or did not apply to my own country.  So I ended up ignoring the questions that came to me.

Then I joined this MOOC.  A group of teachers reflecting together, adding experience and a little theory, but mostly practical ideas about real classroom issues which come up on a regular basis.  The reflections produced content that was shared.  Simple idea.

I strongly agree with Matthew Johnson when he talks about the efficiency of the Digital Literacy/Citizenship model over the Safety Model, as I come to think about it that is the approach I have applied with my own children as they grow older and gain more rights and responsibilities. A model based on trust with clear rules where adults and students together concentrate on the positive uses of social media and build from there.

We shy away from the internet sometimes because of fear.  Fear of things we don´t know.  The best thing we can do, in my humble opinion, is to talk about those fears in a spaces such as this one, where it´s ok not to know and it´s ok to ask questions, knowing that the person next to us may not be an expert but someone who will do their best to collaborate because we are on the same boat after all.

The big answer today is learning together.  I have my own favourites: my friends from Hello Little World, teachers skypers, whom I interact with on a daily basis, Learning2gether, by Vance Stevens, who organises Sunday or Monday meetings to talk about general topics that concern educators, and my last discovery the people from EdTechTalk, who broadcast via You Tube regular meeting called IHAQ (I have a question).

I guess that what I am trying to say here is thank you to all of you who made this MOOC possible and for sharing all this with the world.  It´s our turn now to spread the word and start the discussions in our own environments.  See you around!

(a view from the country surrounding my city, Santo Tomé, Santa Fe, Argentina)

Digital Citizenship and the importance of including it in our teaching

Let´s begin by saying that if we talk about "digital" citizenship, some teachers may argue that they don´t need it since they don´t use any technology in school.  This is the case of many classes in Argentina where digital technology is being slowly introduced either through government or private iniciative.  What happens outside  the classroom may vary from children who have access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts and are already using it profusely with their friends to those who are not allowed to use any social media at all, this group is the minority.  As regards teachers, we range from those who are connected via facebook, to those who have a twitter account but never check it or don´t see the pedagogical implications of using twitter (or any other social media) for professional development or any other school purpose.  However the conversation in classrooms about "digital" citizenship has not started yet.  It seems that we are waiting for the computers to arrive, the wifi connection to work and the curricullum to adjust itself.  Meanwhile children are already producing content, interacting through social media, and using the internet to look for materials for homework assignments.  All these without having had the chance to actually do what we have been doing during these two weeks of DCMOOC:  reflect and share our opinions about the elements that should be present in the "good digital citizenship" equation.
Not having access to technology may not be that bad after all, since it would allow us to focus on different aspects one at a time, or to establish priorities.

Digital Citizenship MOOC

Why DLMOOC?

Digital Citizenship MOOC homepage

I can say that I was thrown into the waters of the web without having any idea of the protocol of behaviour to follow during my interactions with educators from around the world.  Learning how to behave online was not something I sat down to do, since there were so many exciting things to learn and catch up with that I often postponed the systematic study of this matter.  However, and as I got more involved in social media interactions with other educators I felt the time has come for me to reflect on where I stood regarding digital behaviour.
I agree with Alec Couros when he says that chances are that we are going to see more and more technology in our society, so it is only natural for a connected educator to get involved in the conversation about what we mean when we talk about Digital Citizenship.  It also resonated with me when he mentioned (I watched the recording today) that he has three children and I remember how I tortured mine in the early times of the internet at home.   Being a parent is also a strong reason to be here as well.
Digital Citizenship is also another example of those things that you learn by doing, that is why I believe the connectivist approach to this subject is the most appropriate one.
My aims for this course are getting to know what other teachers have experienced so far, learning about classroom techniques to foster good practices, and participating in discussions regarding what miths should be destroyed and what paths should be taken in order to focus our work on the best that the internet has to offer: people getting together to make this world a better place.

PS.  As I was sipping my tea after I published this post I remember another reason why I wanted to join this MOOC.  Last night I watched the recording of one session from the "Learning Together" series by my friend Vance Stevens with Alexander Hayes.  Link to the you tube recording.  In it I was able to have a glimpse of the research he is carrying out regarding the impact of the use of wearable technology in education and society.  The conversation brought about interesting but disturbing issues concerning privacy and transparency (and obscurity!) Technology is being blended into society and we are faced with new predicaments as we go along.  At the same time, and why not, it also has the potential of making us become closer, so close that we could become the person wearing the device, when it comes to seeing the world through somebody else´s Google Glasses.  It is an educators´responsibility to address the issues that come with this by discussing technology, not by demonizing it.