Onionskin

The end of the quarter is just days away, and I decided to give my three classes a pop final exam before they leave me.

You see, I think that what I teach them really does impact their future, and they should not need to “study” for this exam if I have taught it well.

The official name of my class is “Computers,” but my name for my class is “Under Construction: The Digital Me.” In my class, we talk about the results of the reports being released by the Pew Internet Group, and whether the students think these reports accurately reflect their own online experiences and behaviors. As we begin to create the students’ online identities, we discuss how each Web 2.0 tool introduced to them allows them to “personalize” their online identity without making it “too personal.” As they practice commenting on other student blogs around the world, we reiterate the importance of expressing opinions respectfully. By the time they earn their own blog space, they are able to rattle off a long list of the types of things that they should never reveal about themselves online.

And these are not things I expect them to forget.

Those of us in educational technology leadership roles know that even as the true integration of technology into the American classroom crawls along at an unbearably slow rate, the “connectedness” of the average American child has been racing along at a breakneck speed. Most parents have no idea that their school age children compete against virtual strangers in their online gaming, either on the family computer or the family Wii. Most parents are unaware of the contents of their children’s text messages with “friends,” and a disturbing number of parents are unaware of the existence of websites built by their children.

In these times of economic crisis, many school districts are being forced to cut technology budgets and technology personnel. It is becoming more and more unlikely that students will get any formal training in the online ethics — although they are spending an increasing amount of leisure time online in their off-school hours.

Who will teach our students how to make good decisions about their online identity, if we don’t? Some will say that it is the parents’ job. And while I concur in theory, I can only shake my head at that prospect, since I know how many parents can’t open or send an e-mail attachment, can’t access their child’s grades online without a call to the HelpDesk, and openly admit to asking children for help on the home computer.

So I take my role seriously. I teach children how to think through the tough decisions. I question their thought processes, and I hold them accountable to protecting each others’ safety online. I want each of them to leave my classroom this week with a clear understanding of how to be safe online while continuing to be an active contributor to their online world. They shouldn’t have to study for my final exam.

They should be prepared to articulate these concepts so they can live by them.

Today I handed the students a list of questions, from which they were each to choose one question and either blog their response or videotape their response. I did not assign the questions, but did not allow more than two people to choose the same questions to respond to, ensuring that I would get a reasonable number of questions answered in each class. The full list of twenty-one questions is below:

• Explain what a Wordle is,and why we made them.
• Explain what a Voki is, and why we made them.
• Explain what Glogster is, and why we made them.
• Explain how other teachers you have are using anything like Wordles or Vokis or wikis or glogs in their classroom, and how that compares to other “more traditional” reports or projects you have done.
• Explain “Responsible Commenting”.
• Explain how you learned about (and how we practiced) commenting.
• Explain Blogger Bucks. How do you earn them, and what are they used for?
• Explain WHY we blog.
• Explain the “rules” of blogging. What don’t we reveal in our blogs and why?
• Give some examples of what you CAN write about for blogging. Why are these topics OK?
• Explain why you had to write a “Top Ten” list of ideas for blogging. Did it help or not?
• Explain why your topics are not assigned by me.
• Tell about your personal experiences with MySpace or Facebook (if a friend or a cousin or someone you know has an account). Has your opinion of these social networking tools changed in the last quarter? Why or why not?
• Tell about something you have seen or heard about online that is just a little risky or dangerous. (You don’t have to use any names.) How would you have dealt with this before this class, and how would you deal with it now?
• Tell about anything you have learned in this class about being safer online.
• Give the pros and cons of the ePals blog space we use. Would you recommend it to another class?
• If you wrote MORE than the required five blog posts, tell why.
• If you like blogging, explain why you might want to continue to blog, even after you are done with this class.
• Tell about your favorite post you have written, and explain why you like that one.
• Tell about the post for which you got the most comments. Were you surprised that that post got the most comments? Why or why not?
• Tell about a surprising comment that you got, and what your reaction was. Did you reply to the commenter? Why or why not?

I haven’t looked at the students’ blog posts or videos yet. But I do think that these responses will give me a pretty good idea of how effective my teaching has been.