Essential Question: What is cyberbullying, and how should it be approached by our schools?
The biggest "a-ha!" from this week's reading and viewing about cyberbullying is similar to other lightbulb-moments related to digital citizenship, in general. Instead of focusing on the negative and scare tactics, it is critical that educators intentionally focus on the positives. In Jason's intro to this week's topic, he writes, "While cyberbullying receives all the attention, the converse, positive online behavior, should be a primary focus. ...Instead of just reacting to negative behavior, we should also be focusing on how to facilitate and inspire positive behavior." Yep. What sometimes feels like a relentless focus on fear when it comes to anything and everything related to "being online" must shift: We have to get smarter and better at helping students learn how to be positive and supportive online citizens...which in and of itself counteracts the bullying we're afraid will occur.
My school district does not have adequate policies in place to address cyberbullying or "digital aggression" (Nancy Willard's term -- love it!). Neither do we have a strong plan for teaching and supporting positive online behaviors. I sincerely appreciated being introduced to Ms. Willard's resources this week; her "Cyber Savvy: A Positive Norms Approach to Digital Safety" doc could serve as a significant starting point for a district, school, or classroom wishing to build a student culture that builds on positive expectations for individual students and the student body as a whole.
One can only find things when they look, and I'll admit to not previously spending a lot of time searching for digital citizenship and positive online culture resource materials for schools. This week, I ran across a couple of resources that will be great "shares" for teachers. Edutopia's "Five Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship" is among my favorites because it concisely provides teachers with great information AND a number of linked resources that would be useful in the classroom.
My school district does not have adequate policies in place to address cyberbullying or "digital aggression" (Nancy Willard's term -- love it!). Neither do we have a strong plan for teaching and supporting positive online behaviors. I sincerely appreciated being introduced to Ms. Willard's resources this week; her "Cyber Savvy: A Positive Norms Approach to Digital Safety" doc could serve as a significant starting point for a district, school, or classroom wishing to build a student culture that builds on positive expectations for individual students and the student body as a whole.
One can only find things when they look, and I'll admit to not previously spending a lot of time searching for digital citizenship and positive online culture resource materials for schools. This week, I ran across a couple of resources that will be great "shares" for teachers. Edutopia's "Five Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship" is among my favorites because it concisely provides teachers with great information AND a number of linked resources that would be useful in the classroom.
"While cyberbullying receives all the attention, the converse, positive online behavior, should be a primary focus. ...Instead of just reacting to negative behavior, we should also be focusing on how to facilitate and inspire positive behavior" (Ohler, 2015). |
The partner-produced videos by Common Sense Education and Teaching Channel impressed me in the way they combined core content standards with discussions of digital citizenship, online safety, and developing positive online identities. There are so many ways digital citizenship can find its way into the classroom without it being "one more thing" teachers will be burdened with in already packed schedules. This week's resources were full of examples!
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Interestingly, when I read the interview with Nancy Willard and considered her discussion of "digital aggression" (Almansi, 2011), I didn't bring student issues to mind; rather, it made me think about the way I have seen some adults use social media in discussing what they don't like about our schools, district decisions, coaches, policies, and even individual teachers. Willard's approach to helping schools and students become responsible digital communicators is brilliant -- and it makes so much sense, as it is in line with learning theories, positive reinforcement, and good parenting! "The basic format I am now recommending is that you survey students at the school location about their standards and why they adhere to these standards. Schools will find that the vast majority of students are making positive choices. Then you tell students what the majority of their peers are saying, and this should result in a greater number of them choosing to make positive choices" (Almansi interview, 2011). We should focus more on modeling and teaching the behaviors we desire instead of criticizing students for what they have done wrong in the past or might do incorrectly in the future. Allowing students to lead the way by highlighting what they are doing well has tremendous power.
References:
Almansi, C. (2011). Cyberbullying: An Interview with Nancy Willard. Educational Technology & Change. Retrieved from http://etcjournal.com/2011/02/14/cyberbullying-an-interview-with-nancy-willard-2/
Borovoy, A. (2014). Five-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Cyberbullying resources. Retrieved on 6 Apr 2015 from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/search/cyberbullying
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Educator Video: Cyberbullying: What's Crossing the Line? Produced in partnership with Teaching Channel. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/cyberbullying-whats-crossing-line
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Educator Video: Making Digital Citizenship Personal. Produced in partnership with Teaching Channel. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/making-digital-citizenship-personal
Ohler, J. (2010). Digital Community, Digital Citizen. Corwin: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Willard, N. (2013). Cyber Savvy: A Positive Norms Approach to Digital Safety. Retrieved from http://jasonohler.com/digitalCitizenship/CybersavvyProgram.pdf
Almansi, C. (2011). Cyberbullying: An Interview with Nancy Willard. Educational Technology & Change. Retrieved from http://etcjournal.com/2011/02/14/cyberbullying-an-interview-with-nancy-willard-2/
Borovoy, A. (2014). Five-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Cyberbullying resources. Retrieved on 6 Apr 2015 from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/search/cyberbullying
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Educator Video: Cyberbullying: What's Crossing the Line? Produced in partnership with Teaching Channel. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/cyberbullying-whats-crossing-line
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2015). Educator Video: Making Digital Citizenship Personal. Produced in partnership with Teaching Channel. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/making-digital-citizenship-personal
Ohler, J. (2010). Digital Community, Digital Citizen. Corwin: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Willard, N. (2013). Cyber Savvy: A Positive Norms Approach to Digital Safety. Retrieved from http://jasonohler.com/digitalCitizenship/CybersavvyProgram.pdf