Chapter 5 Challenges 6 and 7

The challenges in this chapter really got me thinking. First, I had a lot or trouble creating, finding, understanding, and completing Challenge #6 (creating a classroom monitoring profile). I would like to thank everyone who was so patient with all my questions about that one. Challenge #7, discussing social media use with a student, really got me thinking. Below are my reflections on the challenges.

 

Challenge #6 Creating a Classroom Monitoring Portal

After hours spent searching on the internet, tears, and probably some pretty stupid questions, I finally understand what a CMP is and can do for me. I am not hosting or participating in a project right now. I ended up creating a CMP page for my Flattening Classrooms experience. I have included a link to the University of North Alabama, my Blog, and my PLN. I have also added a Twitter feed for Flattening Classrooms, To Do list, and a news search widget. A CMP lets you keep tabs on everything that is happening with one glance. I can see how this is a very powerful tool for managing a group of project participants. It puts all the information in one spot. I have really learned a lot during this challenge. Below is a link to my public Netvibes CMP.

http://www.netvibes.com/stephblackburn#General

Challenge #7 Empower Digital Citizenship Action

For this challenge, I interviewed a fourth grade student who has a Facebook page. As a parent, teacher, and a private person by nature, I find social media a little daunting. After speaking with this student I realized just how important it is to teach children how to conduct themselves online. First a little background. The student I interviewed is ten years old and has had her own Facebook account for about one year.  She told me that her Mom only allows her to “be on” Facebook using the family computer located in the living room and can only accept friend requests from people she has met in person. Below are the questions I asked her and her paraphrased responses.

How did you get a Facebook account if the minimum age to join Facebook is 13?

She stated that her Mom set up her page and she didn’t know that you had to be thirteen to have a Facebook account. (This sounds like a question I needed to ask her Mom.)

Why did you want a Facebook account?

She stated that some of her friends, Mom, older sister, and other relatives had accounts and wanted to participate.

What do you do when you are on Facebook?

I look at the information my friends share on Facebook, chat with my friends, and keep up with what is happening in their lives. I also share photos and stories about my life.

Do you ever do anything on Facebook for school?

No.

Has anyone made fun of you, bullied you, or made you sad by the comments they made on Facebook?

Her answer was yes. She explained that a cousin of hers made fun of a picture she posted of herself. She stated that she thought she looked really nice in the picture and the cousin did not agree.

I then asked her how she handled that situation.

She said that it made her really mad and she told her Mom about. They discussed the comments and decided that the best course of action was to ignore the comments.

Have you ever made any comments that hurt someone’s feelings?

She said she didn’t think she ever had but if she did she didn’t intentionally set out to hurt someone’s feelings.

What do you like best about Facebook?

She said she liked talking with her friends and sharing pictures.

My Thoughts

As a parent of a young girl, I don’t think most young children are mature enough or understand the pitfalls of Facebook. Facebook has that age requirement for a reason. That being said, I thought this young lady seemed to be conducting herself as a good digital citizen. From the information she gave me, she seemed to be trying her best to be cordial. She was only communicating with people she had relationships with outside of Facebook. Therefore, she wasn’t unknowingly committing many cultural taboos or having many language disconnects. She did however experience some emotional pain from some mean comments made by a relative. Overall, I thought this girl was being a good digital citizen. I just wish she didn’t have to cut her social media teeth using a site that is so public.