Summer and Technology

At the beginning of next year, IICS will hold its third annual Digital Citizenship Week. Within this week, secondary students will look at finding a digital balance while primary students will explore issues such as online safety and cyberbullying.

Before this happens though, we wanted to remind you of some resources that are available to parents regarding kids and technology. Our Technology Integration Specialist, Claire Wachowiak and Brycen Davis, created a Frequently Asked Questions page on the New Literacies website. Please take a moment to look through this information. Thanks!

Frequently Asked Questions

Technology Addiction

Do you worry if your child is addicted to technology? While searching for resources for next year’s Digital Citizenship Week, Brycen Davis and Claire Wachowiak, came across a page on Common Sense Media. This resource addresses parental concerns regarding addition and technology. Although technology is a prevalent part of our everyday life, check in to make sure your child is in control when using the Internet. To get to this page, please click on the image below:

Screen Shot 2016-05-30 at 10.35.31

What is a Good Digital Citizen?

IMG_5089On Monday, students in grades two through six discussed what it means to be a good digital citizen. In school, we hear so much about digital citizenship so we thought it would be a good time to establish expectations and responsibilities when online. Also, we reviewed how to positively and respectfully participate in an online community.

Students discussed their thoughts on what it means to be in a community, characteristics of an effective digital citizen, and situations they have run into when online. Many classes also created charts to record their thinking.  All and all, a good day for digital citizenship!

IMG_5092IMG_5094IMG_5095

 

Students also watched the video below ‘Characteristics of a Responsible Digital Citizen’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V56hPW_mwU&feature=youtu.be

 

Keeping Kids Safe Online

Please check out the presentation below to see what you can do to keep your child safe online.

How Much Time?

 

In an effort to get students to reflect upon their daily technology habits and their overall screen time, we asked grade six students what types of digital devices they are using at home and school (Smartphones, laptops, television, tablets,etc.). We then asked students what they were doing on these devices (Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, video games, Google, etc.).From there, grade six students were asked to record their use of digital devices and what they were doing online on an average school day.

log_example

why_digitalAfterwards, students explored the reasons behind using digital media. The top three responses were communication and sharing, entertainment, and education and skills.

All students completed the daily log similar to the one above. Then each student calculated the amount of hours they spent using digital media per day. In order to determine a percentage of daily use per student, we agreed that six grade students were awake an average of 16 hours a day. From here, students could compare how much they used digital devices on a average waking day.IMG_4462

As the technology integrator, I found this lesson quite powerful because it gave students hard evidence of how much time they spend using digital devices. Some students reached as high as 81% of their day and others came in at about 30 to 40%. As a class, we asked students what surprised them about the results and if these results made them rethink how they spend their time.

With the understanding that digital devices are effective tools that can play very positive roles in our lives, we also looked at how we could spend our time without a digital device. Could we have a better balance? Are we using these because we are just bored? Could we get outside a bit more? Would it be a good idea to develop some new habits?

student_calculatingOne interesting aspect that come up for me was the high use of YouTube for watching videos and listening to music. Out of 50 sicth grade students, 44 said they used YouTube daily – that is 88% of sixth graders.  YouTube is a fantastic resource, but there are also many alternatives. I recently found an article ‘47+ Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom’ that can be applied to home use as well.

 

 

How much time do you spend on your digital devices?

 

 

What is Cyberbullying?

Check out the presentations on cyberbullying for grades three and four and grade six:

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line