Unit 13: Promote Digital Citizenship and Positive Online Behavior

Schools have always been an influential role in teaching students what it means to be a good citizen and now schools must do the same in the digital world. Students must be able to protect themselves with safe and strong passwords, how to recognize online hoaxes, and understand the importance of privacy settings.

Teach Students about Internet Safety and Privacy

Students must be able to see the risks involved with online access. Students need to know how to behave online and how to maintain appropriate levels of personal privacy. Staying safe in the online world means, “maintaining a healthy skepticism about things you read.”  A few tips are offered on how to stay smart and stay safe:

• Create a strong, but memorable password.
• Feel good that you’re being safe online.
• Don’t leave any information behind.
• Keep your information safe, even after you leave school.

A feature of Chrome for privacy is called Incognito. This is when browsing is completely private and secure and all of the history is cleared once Chrome is closed. Password management is a skill that must be mastered. Some more tips are offered on this subject as well:

• Start Young
• A good idea for younger students is to memorize a password based on the pattern of keys on the keyboard.
• When students become older, students should choose a word and a number combination that is meaningful to them.
• Characters in the words and numbers can also be swapped out for symbols such as $ and @.
• Make it easy for them
• Students may often times forget their password. As a teacher, it might be worth it to create a Google Form for the students to fill out of their passwords so the teacher has the passwords readily accessible.
• Stay Private
• Students should not give their passwords to friends or strangers. Parents and teachers are exceptions to this rule.

Promote a Safe and Responsible Online Presence

A digital footprint is our online tracks. Our tracks stay around even after we leave the website we are viewing or log off of the computer we are using. What students do online is permanent.

To manage student’s digital footprints, a few tips are offered:

• Think about what makes good behavior both online and offline.
• Help students understand the various privacy settings.
• Doubt means don’t.
• Having these discussions creates a sense of trust and openness.

Cyberbullying is a widespread topic and we can’t always protect our students. However, we can teach them the concept of resilience and students become capable of confronting cyberbullying. A student panel can be created to build a student agency and a safe environment. Here are some main topics teachers can educate students on when dealing with bullies:

• Don’t respond
• Don’t retaliate
• Document it
• Block them online
• Report to an adult

Unit 12: Facilitate Group Work

In twenty-first century learning, facilitating meaningful group work is an integral part. There are many considerations when designing group learning experiences, including how to enhance group work via online tools.

Use Google Docs and Drive to Motivate Group Collaboration

When the role of the teacher shifts from the center of the classroom to now just a facilitator of learning, we have to turn to collaboration and group work of our classes. Collaboration empowers students and gives each student a voice in the classroom.

To begin this section, I was asked when I had to work collaboratively with my colleagues and answer the following questions:

• How has professional collaboration helped you grow and improve as a teacher?
• When you have had students working in collaborative groups, what made it a successful learning experience?
• Think about collaboration in your workplace and in other workplaces. How will the activities in your classroom prepare your students for that world?

My answers included taking notes during faculty meetings in Google Docs so my department can view and share each other’s notes. Successful learning in collaborative groups comes from setting clear expectations for my students and providing a rubric for group work. The activities in my class prepare my students for the real world by having them reach out to each other to solve problems instead of trying to struggle independently.

There are multiple collaboration features, but there are two main features. The first is Real-Time Editing. This is when students can edit the same document at the same time. As the document is being edited, students can see who the edits are being done by and can effectively work side by side. The second features is Commenting. Teachers can leave feedback directly in the document and the students can communicate with the teacher via this feedback. As a teacher, I can facilitate collaboration, monitor student progress, check for student understanding, and provide feedback to my students.

Check Contributions to Group Work

A powerful tool for teachers and students is the revision history. This keeps a list of all of the changes that is made to the document. Teachers can review the document to see how it has evolved and each what part of the work belongs to each student. Students can also use to this to compare different versions and reflect upon the writing process. The challenge of determining if every student is doing their work can be alleviated by this revision history. The revisions are time-stamped so teachers can see when the changes were made. If a paragraph is accidentally deleted, the revision history can be accessed and located, then the paragraph can be restored. Revision history keeps students accountable, allows the teacher to assess the work of each student, and it helps students track their progress.

More Ways to Use Technology to Facilitate Student Groups

In a group setting, there will naturally be those students who take on the leadership role. In order to keep the group work fair for everyone and to keep everyone updated, students can use Google Forms, Google Calendar, and Google Keep to make sure goals are achieved. Google Forms can be used to collect data needed for projects. Google Calendar allows for a location of deadlines and also for students to see when group meetings are scheduled. When students are busy with extracurricular activities, they can be involved in an asynchronous discussion. This is a type of Google Group web forum where students can participate at various times throughout the day. In Google Keep, students can write virtual notes like a to-do list and all of the notes are shared with everyone in the group.