My Reflections and Answers to Growing Up Online and Digital Nation

1.     Compare and Contrast each documentary.  What was similar or different from the first one (Growing Up Online ) made in 2008 to the newer one (Digital Nation) filmed in 2010 ? 

Growing Up Online opens by informing us that 90% of children today are online.  It is the first generation to grow up with computers and the internet.  We learn that the internet is

a place for self-expression where you can complain about your parents, and a means to connect with other people.  The internet is a place where no one is in charge.

Digital Nation’s documentary takes a different approach looking at the effects of being “connected” has on our children.  The documentary is divided into nine segments, each looking at the social issues that are directly related to being connected to technology at each waking moment of the day.  Topics such as distraction, and the new way students socialize, the ability or inability to multi-task, and how teachers need to modify their methods to educate a classroom of students who are unable to think clearly and need to be stimulated at every moment.

The similarities between the two documentaries are in the messages that social skills have changed.  Communication happens through Facebook, MySpace and texting.  Kids are communicating in a field where no one is in charge.  Both documentaries talk about the level of distraction and the cause for concern about over-exposure and the concerns that today’s students are not able to focus, are academically challenged, the increase in plagiarism, and diminished reading and writing skills.

2.     Your thoughts on multitasking.  Do you agree?  Can you multitask?  Do you disagree with the video on the topic of multitasking? What do you think our students think about multitasking today?

Multitasking was discussed in length in the Digital Nationdocumentary.  Multitasking, in my opinion, is a talent.  It is something that some people can do and others are unable to do it.  It is a known fact that women are better multitaskers than men.  As a wife, mother, daughter, teacher, bookkeeper and student, I know I am multitasking but am also aware that there are times I am doing a great job and other times I am not.  Digital Nation demonstrated students that function as multitaskers; as they juggle their

smartphone and laptop while having lunch with fellow students or in class listening to a professor lecture while texting or responding to e-mail.  The documentary also proved that although the students could manage more than one technology, they were not able to multitask well.  The experiment proved that the level of distraction was high enough to preclude the students from completing the tasks effectively.

I agree with the documentary as I see firsthand in my class that students are easily distracted, have poor listening skills, need to be “having fun” and struggle when given more than one task.  As pointed out in the Digital Nation, I believe that students think they are excellent multitaskers.  As a matter of fact, the majority of students today think they are good at everything, because society has allowed them to think that they are good at everything.  When you raise children to believe that “everyone gets a trophy,” and that “we don’t keep score,” you are working with kids that have not been told that life just doesn’t work that way. 

3.     Is there an addiction happening in society today with technology or is it just a new way of living?   Should we be concerned?

Technology is highly addictive; I see it in my eight year-old.  Since its inception, I have been connected technologically.  I have always wanted to be a part of “bleeding edge” technology.  Having worked at Cisco Systems for almost nine years, I experienced the transformation of how society collaborates.  Attending meetings where people are typing on their laptops and fidgeting with their smart phones versus ten years ago when people came to meetings with a notepad and a pen.  I was working with people who

would ask you a question over instant messaging rather than in person even though they are sitting in the cubicle right next to you.  Is this the rise of anti-social behavior of just a glimpse into the new world of social behavior?  In the first segment of Digital Nation, we see a family together in the kitchen.  The mom is getting dinner ready, the son is at the table with his laptop and the dad is directly across from the son on his laptop.  There is a lot of communication happening, but not among the people in the room.  When my daughter is using her DSi or on her laptop, it takes about 30 minutes to talk her off the darn thing.  I have been met with temper tantrums because it is time to shut it down.  I know myself, when I worked at Cisco; I was connected all the time.  I had a need to check my e-mail all the time.  If I got up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water, I would check my e-mail before I went back to bed.  Sometimes I would stay up and never go back to bed.  Yes, technology is addictive.  Digital Nation pointed this out clearly when it introduced us to the South Korean Rescue Camp and the fact that the South Korean government has declared gaming an addiction and treat it as a psychological disorder.  Yes, I believe we should be very concerned.  In Growing Up Online, we see a different side of addiction where kids with eating disorders or the need to be someone different are using the internet as an avenue for their addiction.  Since this is a world where they can freely express themselves, in their own right, it is a kind of addiction.  Whether you are addicted to gaming, e-mail, texting or certain, it is all ways the internet pulls us in and makes us want more.

4.     Do video games serve a purpose in education or are they a waste of time?

Video games can serve a purpose in education.  There are several websites that I use in my class to reinforce classroom lessons.  NeoK12 is an excellent site of free lesson games, and videos that cover a wide-range of topics for the K-12 student.  Watching

Digital Nation and the concerns presented with gaming addiction, it is easy to conclude that video games are bad and should have no place in the classroom.  However, if used with a good foundation of Digital Citizenship, video games can reinforce important skills and topics that we are covering in the classroom.  One website that I have found to be helpful is www.sites4teachers.com.  Using video games can improve math, science, fitness levels and cognitive skills.

5.     Do you believe that digital tools, such as Google tools and technology in general can save schools that are struggling?

Free online tools and technology cannot save struggling schools alone.  It takes teachers with the knowledge and skills to use them and implement them in the classroom.  It takes a buy-in from parents; it must conquer institutional barriers, collaboration both locally and globally and must happen within the school.  The school must be connected at all levels, embracing technology in the curriculum.  I read an article in the Washington Post about a young man named Melvin Marshall who attended a school that offered a class called “Virtual Learning English Language Arts,” although the

school district felt that it had implemented the latest technology in the classroom, the teaching environment failed this student.  The student received no instruction from a teacher, rather all instruction and classroom work was done on the computer.  The student was asked to read and answer questions online.  Although the computer corrected the students work, the computer was not programmed to inform the student about why they got a question wrong.  This technology scenario failed the student.  The teacher was not skilled in integrating the online technology within her class.  Instead she sat behind her desk doing other work rather than assisting her students.

Implementing technology in schools whether struggling or not needs to be done in a manner to cultivate enthusiasm among the students and with teachers who know how to integrate it in the classroom.  Knowing how to use digital tools is great, but being able to to use them in your lesson plan is an investment that needs to be made by the school, the teachers, the students and the parents.

6.     How did what you watched in the two videos support your feelings about technology or how did it change your views?

 

 

The two videos did nothing to change my views about technology.  I am a proponent of the use of technology as long as it is implemented in a way to enhance education and

believe that it should never replace the human interface of teaching.  Having the ability to integrate technology into your lesson plan will engage students and teach them life skills of the 21^st Century.

 

 

 

7.     Are kids and adults today ruining their digital footprints by sharing too much information online without realizing that it may be detrimental to their future? Should they care?

According to Microsoft, 56% of adults they surveyed don’t take their online profiles seriously.  If you have more than half the adults with this opinion, how many children feel the same?  We are our children’s role models and protectors which should also include internet safety and digital citizenship. 

 

 

 

There are many kids and adults that have no clue what a digital foot print is or understand completely, that their actions, words and photos could forever follow them.  In the video embedded in this blog, it discusses the importance of caring about your online activity and the things that can be affected by what you post online.  I showed this to my Grade 5 students in my digital citizenship workshop.  They were amazed that something that they posted online could prevent them from getting into the college of their choice.  We can educate our students in the classroom about the importance of sharing information online, but how do we reach the parents.  Adults posting their every move and photos of their kids on Facebook may seem harmless, but for predators, it could mean trouble.  Many people don’t know, don’t realize or don’t care.  I believe that every person should care about their digital footprint and the lives that may be effected by their words and pictures.

8.     “Stranger Danger” and predator fears are often overblown by the media on shows such as Datelines “To Catch a Predator”.  What are the real dangers of technology in this day and age?  

The real dangers of technology in this day and age go beyond chat rooms and gaming relationships that have been profiled on TV Magazine shows.  Today’s dangers include social networking pages, websites and blogs that allow synchronous communication.  Sites that tell young adults how to survive anorexia and bulimia, or sites that tell you how to commit suicide, or how to make bombs can open communication between your child and a predator.  In Growing Up Online, kids discussed their interaction with such websites and for one young lady, the keys to survive anorexia.  There are so many outlets for kids to communicate in a world where there are no adults, where the written word is taken literally and the real is amplified.  Facebook and MySpace have been used not only to communicate and share with friends, but also a portal for bullies that take mean to a new level.  It is a place where you can’t get away. 

Overall Reflection:
Please add anything else you feel would explain your views about the videos and how they relate to educational technology. What was your favorite part of either video? Why? Most interesting?

My overall reaction to Growing Up Online and Digital Nation is that every parent and every child should watch these videos.  My favorite part, or the discussion that caught my attention was in the Growing Up Online video.  The mother who logged into her son’s Facebook account and saw the pictures of the drunk students and the rowdiness that had taken place at Madison Square Garden one evening.  There is quite a difference in parenting your child today than parenting your child in the 20^th Century.  In the past a parent might have opened a letter if something looked

suspicious, but today do we ask for passwords to all their accounts?  How does a parent truly police that?  I understand the concern of the Mother who informed parents that their child was drinking and rowdy at a concert, but to post it on Facebook?  In the 20^th century, a concerned parent might call parents and let them know.  Today they can e-mail you or post their concern on Facebook.  Getting back to question 7 and the digital foot print, I wonder if the Mom would change her mind about how she communicated her concerns after the fall-out from posting the information on Facebook?

This was most interesting to me because I wonder how I am going to police my child.  What lines would I be willing to cross?  Would I be angry enough to post my concerns on Facebook?  I would like to think that I would handle the situation differently, in that I would express my concerns to parents face-to-face.