Author: Drew Thurman

Here is the culmination of learning from my 26 years as an educator and from the masters in education program I have been working toward for the past 18 months. As you peruse the Prezi above and the syntheses of my coursework below, please also take some time to view my brief Biography, my Learning Manifesto, and the Innovation Plan upon which much of the work in the master’s program was rooted. Thank you for your interest.

Concepts of Educational Technology

My road to becoming a better learner and a more passionate instigator of change in education began with an understanding of two crucial concepts: the Growth Mindset and COVA.

Briefly, The Growth Mindset is important to all learners because it advocates the notion that we are capable of grasping new concepts through perseverance and adopting new strategies. Our intelligence and capabilities are not fixed; rather, with effort, they can grow.

COVA gives educators and learners tools to make learning meaningful. By giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning experiences, learners demonstrate attained knowledge through means that allow them to make connections and construct new understanding.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

The Growth Mindset

More About the Growth Mindset

The Power of COVA

COVA Reflection

Carol Dweck, Developing a Growth Mindset (9:37)
Published by: Stanford Alumni  Date: 10.09.2014
YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ

Technology: The New Pedagogy and Flipped Teaching (7:41)
Published by: How Technology is Changing the Conversation    Added: 01.20.2014
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCvwtiOH0co

Stop Stealing Dreams – Seth Godin @ TEDx Youth at BFS (16:57)
Published by: TEDx Youth   Date: 10.16.2012
YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/sXpbONjV1Jc

Applying Educational Technology: Portfolio

I am convinced ePortfolios are an ideal way to document and build upon my own learning. First of all, eportfolios are living reflections of learning. If we accept the constructivist notion that learning is connecting and building upon already-established knowledge, the eportfolio is the perfect tool/venue for documenting one’s learning then coming back time and again to refine or add to the ideas one has put forward. The electronic nature of an eportfolio allows one to make these revisions and expansions with ease and flexibility.

Another benefit to the eportfolio is the fact that technology allows the creator to reach a vast audience. Through tools like RSS feeds, the audience can always stay up-to-date about how the eportfolio author is revising and expanding the reflections of his/her learning.

The ePortfolio you are reading now is my example of the learning and reflecting I have done throughout my master’s program.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Why ePortfolios?

Dwayne Harapnuik, Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE)
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ-c7rz7eT4&feature=youtu.be

Leading Organization Change

We are familiar with the adage “change is inevitable,” but it is resisted within organizations because it is unpredictable and uncomfortable. If we want to enact change within our organizations, how do we know that the change we are envisioning is appropriate and meaningful? Furthermore, how do we go about implementing the change we seek? Fortunately, there are practical tools for leading change in an organization.

Real change starts with knowing your “WHY.” “Why do we do what we do?” What is our purpose? These questions set the context for launching a change initiative. If, when we seek to bring about change, we start with the question of why we exist–what our big mission is –we focus on the reason for our actions. According to Simon Sinek, people are less concerned with what an organization does as why they do it.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

The “Why” is Key

Four Disciplines of Execution

Influencer Strategy

Sinek TED Talk Start with Why — how great leaders inspire action.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/sioZd3AxmnE

How to Change People Who Don’t Want to Change | The Behavioral Science Guys
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/9ACi-D5DI6A

Disruptive Innovation in Education

As not only a digital learner, but a digital leader as well, I must be able to recognize innovations that have the power to positively impact education. Successfully effecting change in the educational system requires a two-step process.

First, I have to stay current with the latest information and writings in the fields of education and technology. Only by being aware of the emerging innovations that have the potential to change education, can I be prepared to proactively embrace those innovations.

Second, once I have recognized an educational transformation opportunity, I will use that innovation to enhance my organization and all the stakeholders in it.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Embracing Transformational Innovation in Education

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!
YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

Developing Effective Professional Learning

Effective professional learning does not just happen with a good idea and good intentions. If this were the case, I believe most educators would be successful. Constructive professional learning requires careful planning and attention to the researched methods that have been shown to move the needle when implementing new initiatives.

The Five Principles of Professional Development involve: professional learning of a significant duration, ample support during implementation, active participation, modeling, and being audience-specific. By staying mindful of these principles, I am able to deliver professional learning to my stakeholders that will prove effective.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Professional Learning Call to Action

Professional Learning Strategy

Professional Learning Outline

Professional Learning Resources

Nancy Duarte uncovers common structure of greatest communicators
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/1nYFpuc2Umk

How To Begin Your Presentation with Simon Sinek
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/e80BbX05D7Y

Creating Significant Learning Environments

I don’t think I’m espousing a revolutionary thought when I say the focus of a learning environment should be on the learner, but, astoundingly, it is the curriculum that is traditionally the starting starting focal point within a classroom.

Appropriately, CSLE begins with the learner. The first consideration when establishing a learning environment is the needs of the student. If the learner is responsible for owning his or her leaning, what, you might ask, is the instructor’s role in the CSLE approach? The instructor’s role transitions to that of “presenter, facilitator, coach, and mentor (Haraphuik 2018). With learning in a classroom potentially veering off in multiple directions in pursuit of the different answers students are seeking, the instructor has no hope of being the sole gatekeeper of information.

Another important component of CSLE is the instructional design wherein the end is the starting point; the instructor designs the learning with this end in mind. If we backward design our lessons with the outcome being the primary objective that frees us up to pursue that outcome in a way that makes the most sense to the learner. to demonstrate their learning. By creating significant learning environments that put the learner first, allow the instructor to act as facilitator and mentor, embrace the collective through social networking, introduce learning that puts the end result at the forefront, and allow students to demonstrate their learning in multiple ways, we have the power to embody the most important characteristic of a great teacher.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE)

CSLE Elements

Daniel Pink’s Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc

What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/UZEZTyxSl3g

Assessing Digital Learning and Instruction

Action Research is a methodical process that requires planning, acting, developing and reflecting. When done thoughtfully and with attention to detail, it greatly increases the likelihood of successfully implementing an innovation plan.

My Innovation Proposal seeks to employ new, affordable technology to create virtual job site experiences in the Career and Technical Education classroom, but how do I know that this is a plan worth pursuing? I had to research, more specifically, I had to do action research. Action research forces the practitioner to be clear about his/her focus, the purpose of the research, and the specific research question one is trying to answer. It mandates that thought be given to research design, the data to be collected, the measurement instrument used to assess the data, and what the focus of the literature one seeks out should be. You can review the process I engaged in to plan the implementation of my innovation proposal and how I intend to examine my results by viewing the following three documents:

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Action Research

Action Research Outline

Innovation Plan Literature Review

7 Skills students need for their future – Tony Wagner
YouTube Link: http://youtu.be/NS2PqTTxFFc

Digital Citizenship

With new knowledge, comes a responsibility to change our thinking and assess what we teach the new generation so that they can be safe and productive and further advance knowledge for humankind. Technology aids in the ever-accelerating development of many fields of human inquiry—from astronomy to transportation to medicine. astronomers, logicians, and doctors all must be willing and inclined to embrace change and adapt to it.

We in education are not immune to the changes brought on by new technology. And like the aforementioned professions, we must be willing to change, too. This need to carefully examine how we prepare students to become good digital citizens is perhaps one of the most pressing changes educators face.

Few would argue that technological advancements have changed the world profoundly over the last 25 years (since I began my career in education). What you might get some disagreement about is the need for educators to teach digital citizenship so that the new generation is equipped to operate effectively and honorably in this relatively new environment.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Digital Citizenship Reflection

Nine Areas of Digital Citizenship

Ending Cyberbullying

Copyright

Source: https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=192

Instructional Design in Online Learning

Course 5318 of Lamar University’s Digital Learning and Leading program provided me with an opportunity to create an online course. This course augmented the innovation plan I devised early in the program. My innovation plan involves leveraging new technology tools and software to create virtual work-place environments and 360-degree tours for students in Career and Technical Education courses.

In designing this course, I relied on the Constructivist learning theory, which is to say learners construct meaning from their experiences. The activities built into my course required the learner to perform tasks and then reflect on what they had done. I tried to inject an element of social accountability through discussion boards and gave learners leeway with regard to the subject of their virtual tours.

I have thought about and designed lessons—primarily for professional development—with a UbD mindset for so long now, it is second nature to me to begin with the end in mind. From the first unit of this course, I laid out what the end goal is: create a library of virtual work site tours. The lessons that follow are designed backward to take the learner to that eventual outcome.

It is clear that online learning will only grow exponentially. The freedom it offers in terms of scheduling make it a much more flexible format for delivering instruction. As teachers at heart, we wonder will the lack of face-to-face interaction with learners detract substantially from the course? After taking this course, and building my own online course, I can honestly say that with the technology available to conduct courses on line, little is lost by not being in an in-person environment. From web-conferencing software to conduct synchronous meetings with learners, to web 2.0 tools learners can use to demonstrate their learning, I am astounded by the benefits to online learning. The Bates text and the OSCQR standards have been invaluable resources.

Resources and Artifacts of Interest

Online Course Development

Online Course Reflection

Blended Learning in Plain English (4:03)
Published by: LearningHood  Added: 01.23.2012
YouTube URL: https://amara.org/en/videos/Z9wWLkVfLzaM/info/blended-learning-in-plain-english/

Virtual Field Trips in the CTE Classroom from Career Readiness on Vimeo.

From the beginning of the Digital Learning and Leading master’s degree program, the instructors stressed the importance of doing work that is relevant my situation and will benefit the populations I serve. That is precisely what I have tried to do with my innovation plan. In conceiving, planning and executing my plan, I was adamant that it have immediate and practical application for the Career and Technical Education teachers and students within my district. Briefly, my innovation plan seeks to address an ever-present obstacle in CTE: providing opportunities for students to experience the work environment they will encounter when they enter the workforce while avoiding the logistical and financial burdens that come with traditional field trips. To gain a better understanding of this plan, please view my Innovation Proposal here: Innovation Proposal

As with any worthwhile endeavor, thoughtful planning is crucial. As I planned this innovation project, I carefully considered my audience and my scope. I then set about identifying the steps I would follow to bring this project to fruition. You can read about my process from planning to implementation to evaluation here: Innovation Plan Outline

Once I was confident in my plan, I conducted extensive research via a Literature Review and Annotated Resource List. I needed to understand what the literature said about the technology that I would be using, and how it impacts learning. As not only a digital learner, but a digital leader as well, I must be able to recognize innovations that have the power to positively impact education. Successfully effecting change in the educational system requires a two-step process. First, I must stay current with the latest information and writings in the fields of education and technology. Only by being aware of the emerging innovations that have the potential to change education, can I be prepared to proactively embrace those innovations. Second, once I have recognized an educational transformation opportunity, I will use that innovation to enhance my organization and all the stakeholders in it.

A plan that is intended to impact an entire program within a district is of no use if one does not get colleagues and stakeholders to share in the vision. For this reason, the next step was to create a Call to Action to explain the purpose of the project and to reassure my audience that professional development would be administered in a purposeful way.

Reflecting on my innovation plan, I consider it a rather simple idea. It is a somewhat niche project that involves teaching district personnel and students to create a library of 360-degree photographs of work sites so that CTE students have a better understanding of a workplace environment they may experience in the field. I think due to the fact that it is such an obvious idea, I am denying the possibility that this innovation plan could in any way produce what Drew Dudley describes as a “lollipop moment.”

While not earth-shatteringly innovative, I do feel as though my proposal addresses a specific need within the CTE community of educators and students. I am comfortable with how the project walks the learner through each phase necessary to bring about a repository of CTE virtual tours—organization, execution, sharing, and reflecting.

So, while I’m happy with where my innovation plan stands on paper, I am still unconvinced of how crucial colleagues will consider it, or if it will be received as having much benefit. Were I starting this project over today, I would probably reach out more deliberately to my CTE colleagues for their input and recommendations to determine if is a worthwhile undertaking.

In addition to reading this reflection, please take a moment to view a video I created on my COVA reflections. It details why teaching can be so impactful–and learning so powerful–when students have choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning experiences.

Early in my teaching career, before I knew the term COVA or the importance of giving my students choice, ownership and voice through authentic learning experiences, a student unwittingly introduced this concept to me. I was a ninth-grade ELA teacher dutifully trying to instill an appreciation for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Toward the end of the unit, I gave my students some choices about how they could demonstrate their learning. I believed myself to be very enlightened and cutting edge to give my students a choice between writing a paper or giving a class presentation on some element of Romeo and Juliet. One student, possibly sensing my willingness to allow him to demonstrate learning in a unique way, asked if he could write a computer program about the play. Hesitantly, I acquiesced, not knowing if his project would sufficiently regurgitate back to me all the wisdom I had imparted to the class about this drama.

What I received back blew me away. He created a 25-question trivia game about the play’s plot, literary elements, character analysis, and historical facts. The program was created in a rudimentary programming language. There were not a lot of flashy graphics (this was in the early 1990s). But the product he created made it clear to me that he was passionate about programming. He tapped into that passion to make my course (which if I’m honest with myself, I’d admit he was less passionate about) more relevant to his learning.

This was one of the proudest moments I experienced as a teacher. And really, I did nothing other than release the reigns ever so slightly and trust that he would use his choice ownership and voice to demonstrate learning.

Today, I am in a different role. I work with career and technical education teachers to ensure they have the facilities, equipment, curriculum, and industry support necessary to enable their students to enter the workforce prepared. Despite not working directly with high school students, I still have opportunities to espouse and advocate for a COVA approach to teaching and learning. It starts with personifying and setting an example of the Growth Mindset in action. When anyone—be they teachers or students—understand that through perseverance, trying new approaches, and soliciting the help of experts, we can all learn and grow.

 

Publication Outline—Drew Thurman

PLANNING QUESTIONS:
What is the topic of your article?
The topic of my article is the use of online tools and resources to promote the teaching of employability skills—often referred to as “soft skills”—in high school CTE classrooms. The many industry representatives I work with who sponsor and advise CTE programs within my district stress the importance of these skills for young people entering the workforce. The article’s intended audience is high school CTE instructors. Through my article, I intend to share with this audience ways they can use technology tools to equip students with these highly sought-after skills.
What is the connection to your innovation plan or initiative?
My innovation plan involves the use of 360-degree photography to create virtual fieldtrips to work sites that are impractical to visit on traditional field trips. An aspect of my innovation plan requires students to communicate and facilitate a meeting with company representatives to set up the filming of the work site. Students will be expected to demonstrate their soft skills when setting up and conducting these meetings.
How can this information help others?
More than specific industry-related skills, employers stress soft/employability skills as the most important qualities for new hires. My hope and intent is to assist teachers with finding ways to creatively and effectively impart these qualities and skills to their students. Doing so will strengthen their programs by creating students who are more ready to enter the workforce.
Lessons learned or hoped to learn?
I am convinced that the use of technology and web 2.0 tools have the potential to positively impact teaching and learning in the area of employability skills. I foresee my biggest learning opportunity to be how to pair up a specific soft skill with a technology tool that will assist students in refining that particular skill. For example, the use of web conferencing software to practice written and oral communication.
What digital resources will be included in your article?
To enrich this article, I will provide photographs of students engaged in activities. I will secure a media release form for any student pictured in the article. I will also include links to videos, student projects and my edshelf.
Journal Submission Guidelines:
I plan to submit my article to Journal of Career and Technical Education for publication. The guidelines for submission can be found at this link: https://journalcte.org/about/submissions/

OUTLINE:

Publication: Journal of Career and Technical Education
Guidelines: https://journalcte.org/about/submissions/

Advancing Employability Skills Through the Use of Technology
By Drew Thurman

I. Introduction
Employers are desperate for new hires who possess strong employability skills. In this introduction, I will provide context for the importance of focused instruction on employability skills.
II. Body
The body of the article will be composed of identifying various employability skills such as critical thinking, oral and written communication, teamwork, digital technology, leadership, work ethic, and intercultural fluency. For each employability skill that I identify, I will detail why it is important to employers and provide suggestions for how to use technology tools and resources to address the skill.
III. Conclusion
I will conclude the article by restating my thesis and examine how the skills touched on are not only beneficial to employers in the context situations that arise at work, but also how they are crucial life skills for students to know and appreciate.

This video provides an overview of the elements of digital citizenship, which, as students spend increasing amounts of time online, is imperative that they understand.

Digital Citizenship Reflective Journal

The principles, behaviors and standards of conduct necessary for a society to thrive are the same ones required of citizens in the digital realm. The more time we spend online—which increases yearly—the greater the need to establish and instill strong digital citizenship awareness among our students. In order to take advantage of all the conveniences and opportunities the internet has to offer, we must ensure that the internet is populated with people who practice kindness, are aware of dangers, and understand the eternal nature of what they post online. The best way to create such a society is to start with the young people in our schools.

Cutting someone off on the freeway or loudly playing inappropriate music in a quiet place are examples of things while not necessarily illegal, definitely demonstrate a lack of etiquette. The same holds true for our practices online. While flaming or trolling another person or group of people online may not be technically against the law, it certainly shows a lack of etiquette. It is behavior that makes the online experience particularly unpleasant—even for “bystanders” who are not the intended victims of the cyberbullying but witness it all the same. It is interesting and disappointing to witness this type of behavior online knowing that the person engaging in the cyberbullying is less likely to do it in a real-life situation. If you wouldn’t do it in real life, and you wouldn’t want your grandma to witness you doing it, you shouldn’t do it online.

Perhaps the most important aspect of being online that we must impart to young people is that dangers are very real and ever-present. Students need to know that seemingly innocuous posts that include where they attend school, where they live, and their daily schedules can be used by nefarious people to make contact with them in the physical world. These young people must understand that predators who are practiced at grooming victims lurk on social networking applications. When these predators successfully lure the unknowing young victims they have been communicating with online to meet them in the real world, the potential for unspeakable tragedy increases exponentially.

Finally, young people must be made to understand the eternal nature of the things that they post. A mean comment, a questionable photograph, a disparaging remark can have unforeseen consequences many years later. As youth grow up with social media, they don’t think twice about posting their random thoughts and observations. Unless they are instructed, they have little regard for the long-lasting “shelf-lives” of their posts. Later, when they are applying for university or seeking employment, these posts that they might not have given a second thought can have real implications on their college admittance or their candidacy for securing the job. Search engines are remarkable pieces of technology. They can dredge up artifacts from our pasts they we might prefer to leave buried. Students should understand that what they post lives on forever; so, they need to think carefully about how they present themselves online.

The need for online courtesy (etiquette), the dangers that exist online, and the eternal lifespan of our posts are important elements of strong digital citizenship instruction. We must equip or students with the knowledge of digital citizenship so that they can reap the tremendous benefits of the internet in a safe, positive way.

How do we promote kindness within a society? If we cannot encourage people to be kind, how can we at least stop them from being mean and aggressive? History and the current state of social interactions are replete with examples of people treating others badly. From murder and assault to robbery and defamation, ill will abounds. Turn on the nightly news or peruse your preferred news source on line and you will find no shortage of stories in which individuals bring harm to others. Over the last 20 years with the development of the internet and—more recently—social media, a new venue has emerged in which we can mete out harm to our fellow human beings.

The federal government website StopBullying.gov defines cyberbullying as “bullying that takes place over digital devices on online forums where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.” Anyone can be cyberbullied. Cyberbullying can occur between strangers in the comments section of a news site or through nasty tweets on Twitter. More often, though, cyberbullying happens between people who know each other. The most common and troublesome populations in which cyberbullying occurs is among school acquaintances.

In order to stem the proliferation of cyberbullying, the topic needs to be addressed head-on in the educational setting with effective digital citizenship programming. The question is what are the components of good digital citizenship curriculum that will curtail cyberbullying among students in our K-12 institutions? I believe a strong curriculum would have three objectives: 1) stress that online life is real life. There should be no distinction between our personalities and the conduct we exhibit online versus how we behave “in real life.” Our online activities are part of our “real lives.” 2) provide examples of how individuals have been harmed by cyberbullying. We are all social creatures, and when we are exposed to examples of online behavior that harms people in real devastating ways, that can be a powerful impetus for us not to engage in that kind of behavior. 3) Finally, we must devise digital citizenship curriculum that relates to students’ own lives. Through journaling, get students to share incidents in which they have either engaged in or witnessed cyberbullying. Get them to delve into how it made them feel, why it was wrong, and what they could do in the future to prevent it.

A final crucial piece of digital citizenship instruction must be to reinforce to students that we all have a role to play in calling it out. Whether they witness cyberbullying being committed against themselves or another student, they must share that information with a trusted adult. The victim’s life could depend on it.

Reference

What Is Cyberbullying? (2019). Stopbullying.gov. Retrieved from: https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html

As educators, we desire to instill ethics in students that will guide them on a path to good, appropriate behavior and propel them to be upstanding members of society. With such a great percentage of students’ lives spent online, strong digital citizenship instruction is crucial; it is how we address ethical behavior as it pertains to students’ online activity. Sometimes mere guidelines and principles are not enough. Sometimes the force of law is required to ensure members of society do the right thing.

The creation of the internet and the digitization of so much intellectual content such as books, music, software, movies and images make the need for strong copyright laws more important now than ever. In three clicks (right click, copy, paste) I can steal someone’s intellectual property that might have taken him or her a lot of money, time, and effort to create.

We see the importance of copyright of intellectual property playing out in geopolitics today. The president of the United States has engaged the country in a trade war against China. In addition to currency manipulation, one of the strongest reasons this administration provides for levying tariffs is China’s flouting of copyright laws. It puts the United States at an unfair disadvantage and robs the original creators of the intellectual property when Chinese companies—owned and run by the Chinese government—ignore copyright and patents to create their own products using the intellectual property created by U.S. companies.

What’s the big deal? So what if I use an image, a song, or a clip of a movie to enhance a piece of multimedia without getting permission, paying a royalty, or providing proper attribution to the original creators? How is that harmful? I think we can all agree that intellectual property has value (otherwise, why else would someone want to use it?), and that property required time, effort, and money to create. Without protections for these types of property, there would be no motivation for artists, musicians, directors, or anyone else creating intellectual property to create it.

Back in 1999, a college student by the name of Sean Parker created a peer-to-peer file sharing application that within a couple short years would completely upend the music industry. The program—called Napster—allowed anyone in the world with internet access and the program installed on their computer to share music files with each other. Now, instead of the old practice of copying a cassette tape from a friend or burning a copy of a CD, you had “peers” all over the world with whom you could share or copy their files to your own computer. In essence, this “file sharing” was music stealing in that it deprived musicians (and record companies) access to royalties based on the sale of those music files.

Napster is a perfect example of how new technology can make it easy to circumvent copyright laws. Sadly, appealing to people’s sense of fairness did not tamp down on the practice of sharing files in this manner. It was through the use of copyright laws and record companies demanding the assistance of internet service providers to identify and send cease and desist orders to individuals engaging in the practice to make it stop. In time, legitimate companies such as Apple capitalized on the distribution problem Napster solved, but set up a clearinghouse in which the creators of intellectual property could be properly compensated.

Reference:

 

Copyright and Fair Use. Common Sense Education. (September 2014). YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suMza6Q8J08

If, in the year 2000, you were to have told me that in 19 years that 67 percent of human beings would walk around with access to all the world’s knowledge in their pocket or purse? Need to know how to prepare lobster bisque? Pull out your web-enabled device, input a brief search phrase, and, voila! You have countless recipes from which to choose to impress your dinner guests. Need to settle an argument about who won the 1976 World Series? The answer is a few clicks away. Can’t figure out how to replace the windshield wipers on your specific make and model automobile? Guess what. You can pull up a video that provides step-by-step instructions. Access to information is just the beginning of how the world has changed so profoundly within the last 20 years. Who fully appreciated that banking, mapping destinations, viewing, creating, and sharing video content, calculators, flashlights, file storage, music players, social networks, ride-hailing services, and on and on would all be contained within a device that virtually everyone uses? It’s mind boggling. I feel like how my grandparents must have felt seeing automobiles revolutionize the world.

Yet with all this magnificent technology, I worry about the impact on young people of being constantly connected through such a device. I’m the father of an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old. Their phones are their lifelines to their friends, their entertainment and in some cases, their academic lives. It’s the social implements of the phone that concern me. I worry what the constant bombardment of peers posting glimpses of their “best lives” does to all members of their social network. The pressure kids must feel to project happiness—even when you’re not feeling especially happy—must be unrelenting. As an old codger, if I’m honest with myself, I feel hints of these pressures, and I don’t have a tenth of the social pressures a high schooler has these days.

Another way our attachment to our devices is could be construed as negative is that our reliance on them can result in minimizing real face-to-face interactions with people in the physical world as opposed to interactions that occur on a digital screen. Have you observed a group of teenagers lately? It is not uncommon to see them all sitting in close proximity to one another not saying a word and completely engrossed with what is on their devices. This situation is so common it’s a cliché image today. In 2011, CNN reported that one third of Americans prefer texts to voice calls. That percentage is certain to have increased drastically since then. We can speculate why texting would be preferred—it doesn’t require an immediate reply; you can formulate your thoughts before replying—but whatever the reason, it is indicative of a diminishment of real-time human interaction.

For these reasons and myriad others, strong digital citizenship education is so crucial. And the time to implement this education with young people about what it means to be a good digital citizen and to be mindful of their digital footprint is now. We need to instill in our children and our students that what we post online is with us forever. Now, when they are young and the slate is clean, is the time for them to appreciate the implications of their online activity—to be intentional about their digital footprint.

We must encourage thought-provoking, kind, goal-oriented, helpful posts that add value to their social networks. Posts that contribute to the knowledge base and extend comfort to their group, all the while encouraging them that it is still fun and appropriate to communicate in person.

Reference:

Lenhart, A. (2015). Teen, social media and technology overview 2015. The Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/

With new knowledge, comes a responsibility to change our thinking and assess what we teach the new generation so that they can be safe and productive and further advance knowledge for humankind.

When Galileo proved that Earth was not the center of the known universe–that the earth, in fact, revolved around the sun–it was, quite literally, a cosmic shift in thinking that required looking at the heavens in an entirely new way. When automobiles began to grow in popularity, the rules of the road for horse and buggy had to be revisited and overhauled to take into account the enhanced functionality of this new mode of transportation. Every day, advancements in science and medicine force doctors and researchers to reevaluate their methods and align them with the new knowledge they possess.

Now, as technology aids in the ever-accelerating development of all these fields—astronomy, transportation, and medicine—astronomers, logisticians, and doctors all must be willing and inclined to embrace change and adapt to it. We in education are not immune to the changes brought on by new technology. And like the aforementioned professions, we must be willing to change, too. This need to carefully examine how we prepare students to become good digital citizens is perhaps one of the most pressing changes educators face.

As an educator in his late 40s, I remember clearly when students did not have access to an online environment. Using cutting-edge technology meant utilizing a transparency overhead projector, or CD player or television or word processor. Web 2.0 tools that would soon unleash the possibilities for communication, research, and demonstration of learning were still non-existent. As these resources slowly developed, it forced educators, thinkers and futurists to assess and prescribe rules and standards by which to operate.

Few would argue that technological advancements have changed the world profoundly over the last 25 years (since I began my career in education). What you might get some disagreement about is the need for educators to teach digital citizenship so that the new generation is equipped to operate effectively and honorably in this relatively new environment.

Thanks to the work of scholars such as Mike Ribble, educators have a map for charting a course for digital citizenship instruction. Ribble defines digital citizenship as “the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.” Ribble identifies nine areas that comprise a digital citizenry. Briefly, they are as follows:

1. Digital Access—Stresses the importance for each member of a digital society have a baseline of access to digital resources, with the goal being full access.
2. Digital Commerce—With the ubiquity of the online world, it is only natural that more and more business will be conducted online. Digital citizens need to be adept at buying and selling in an online environment.
3. Digital Communication—Be it via email, text message, message boards, video conferencing, Skype calling, etc., digital citizens must know how to effectively communicate online.
4. Digital Literacy—As new technologies emerge, digital citizens must be aware of how these changes impact their lives online. From communication to banking to entertainment to education, the digital world changes fast. We have to keep up.
5. Digital Etiquette—Etiquette speaks to expectations for living in a respectful, productive society. Just because something is not against the law, doesn’t mean it’s okay to do. This is true not only in the physical world, but online as well.
6. Digital Law—There are ways to break the law online. Digital citizens need to be aware of the laws, particularly in the realm of copyright, to avoid breaking them.
7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities—This area of digital citizenship reinforces the previous two—law and etiquette. It is important to know what can and cannot be done to you, just as you must know what you are legally permitted to do and not do; additionally, know what you should and should not do.
8. Digital Health and Wellness—Just as with any activity, being online comes with physical and psychological concerns. Ergonomics, eye strain, social isolation are just a few examples of how we should concern ourselves with our digital health and wellness.
9. Digital Security—At the end of the day, not everyone online is practicing good digital citizenship. Therefore, we must be vigilant about protecting our data and valuable information online.

Each of these areas address an important principle relevant to citizenship in general and applicable to digital citizenship: Respect for yourself and others; educate yourself and connect with others; protect yourself and protect others.

As computers and technology play more roles in our lives and we spend more time online, we must instruct students to be cognizant and good practitioners of digital citizenship.

References:

Marshall, T.H. (1950). Citizenship and social class: and other essays. Cambridge, MA: University Press.

Ohler, J. (2010). Digital community: Digital Citizen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3^rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education

Course 5318 of Lamar University’s Digital Learning and Leading program provided me with an opportunity to create an online course. This course augmented the innovation plan I devised early in the program. My innovation plan involves leveraging new technology tools and software to create virtual work-place environments and 360-degree tours for students in Career and Technical Education courses.

In designing this course, I relied on the Constructivist learning theory, which is to say learners construct meaning from their experiences. The activities built into my course required the learner to perform tasks and then reflect on what they had done. I tried to inject an element of social accountability through discussion boards and gave learners leeway with regard to the subject of their virtual tours.

I have thought about and designed lessons—primarily for professional development—with a UbD mindset for so long now, it is second nature to me to begin with the end in mind. From the first unit of this course, I laid out what the end goal is: create a library of virtual worksite tours. The lessons that follow are designed backward to take the learner to that eventual outcome.

It is clear that online learning will only grow exponentially. The freedom it offers in terms of scheduling make it a much more flexible format for delivering instruction. As teachers at heart, we wonder will the lack of face-to-face interaction with learners detract substantially from the course? After taking this course, and building my own online course, I can honestly say that with the technology available to conduct courses on line, little is lost by not being in an in-person environment. From web-conferencing software to conduct synchronous meetings with learners, to web 2.0 tools learners can use to demonstrate their learning, I am astounded by the benefits to online learning. The Bates text and the OSCQR standards have been invaluable resources.

Seeing all the criteria for a well-developed course laid out in one document causes one to realize just how much goes into creating an on-line course. Having conducted this self-assessment, it is clear how lacking my course is. I think I’ve done a decent job introducing my course and its purpose. I also provided a variety of activities for learners to demonstrate their learning. I really need to go back an beef up elements of accessibility and feedback.

Bates, T. (2015) Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Designing Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Standards for Professional Learning. (2015) Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/standards/learning-designs#.VzHxq2MWVlI