Digital Discussions

Oro, Ann. 2009 electronics.jpg. 

February 16, 2009. Pics4Learning. 6 Dec 2013 

<http://pics.tech4learning.com>

This year we are going to have 3 periods during the year when we have discussions based on topics related to digital citizenship with 9th graders. Students will choose the topic they want to participate in. Round 1 will cover Digital Footprint and Digital Overload. Students will watch videos and read articles during Science and Social studies classes. On December 6th, students will participate in the Digital Compass opening activity and then go to smaller groups for the discussion. Groups will be generated randomly and each will have a teacher facilitator. Students will come prepared to the discussion ready to share and bring more questions. At the end of the sessions students will write a reflection.  In future discussions, students will facilitate, based on the EdCafe Model. After the last discussion students will write an essay in English Class based on the theme of Digital Citizenship.

Resources: Digital Discussions

Feedback and Comments:

• "I would like to know more about some of the stories of digital media. I feel like stories of mistakes would have a big impact on kids and really make them think about what they are doing.”

• “I want to know more about why people think that life on the internet is more important than your life outside the internet, and why people feel alone and like a loser when they don’t have some kind of technology with them.”

• “Something I agree with is that reality is less interesting than things shown on the internet. Because people in other countries seem to have a much more interesting life than people living in Maine basically because other countries and states are much more interesting.”

• “I want to learn more about the theory that chatting online is just an excuse to avoid "real" social interaction. It intrigues me because it seems as if teenagers feel like they need to be constantly socially connected through electronics and I wonder if this is connected. As if its a way to be popular without having to actually interact with people.”

• “I would like to know more about why there is so much social media that have some of the same stuff repeated over and over on each site or app. Also why people feel the need that they have to have all of those apps or sites to "fit in" with what everyone else is doing.”

• “I thought it was a good, fun discussion. I hope we do more things like this around the year. I think it'd be interesting to join other groups of the same topic and see what their arguments were and where they were coming from.”

• “This was a very interesting topic, and idea. I learned that my teacher is connected it to people all around the world. This was interesting to learn about from a worldly perspective.” 

• “I would like to know more about the privacy settings on websites and how they are ensured. I would also like to experience more discussions on my digital footprint and my image on the Internet.”