Andrea and Dustin presented this week on how we can foster a culture of lifelong learning in digital citizenship that extends beyond the classroom. The article provided by Andrea, Empowering the Future: How Digital Literacy in Schools is Shaping the Next Generation, discussed the importance of digital literacy in school for reasons such as

• preparing students for the digital world – this has become a common theme throughout our discussions. We know students are surrounded by technology and digital media.
• numerous benefits and skills to prepare for the workforce  such as understanding how to communicate and collaborate, access a wealth of information, and potentially coding and programming skills.

The article provided by Dustin, Digital Literacy: The Most Valuable Tool for Lifelong Learning also highlights the importance of digital literacy skills in your professional life, such as

• Digital etiquette
• Digital security
• Project collaboration

As discussed in a previous week, when integrating digital literacy skills into our teaching, we should be looking at ways to incorporate those lessons and skills into what we are already teaching, vs a stand alone unit or lesson. This fosters the idea of life long learning by providing project based experiences in whatever subject it may be, where students can use the digital tools. I think this ties into the work by Wes Fryer and his various projects he has shared.

When thinking about lifelong learning in digital literacy, I personally am not sure simply adding it into our curriculum is not enough – because we’ve mentioned it before – I think the amount of stuff on teachers’ plates as is may mean that they skip over those digital literacy skills, or maybe they do not have the resources readily available. Maybe it is also a technology equitability piece that is difficult to navigate. Either way – teachers are not and cannot be the only solution (in my opinion).

“Digital literacy education is a collaborative effort that involves not only schools but also parents and the wider community. Parents play a crucial role in supporting and reinforcing digital literacy skills at home.”

This quote was taken from this weeks article Empowering the Future: How Digital Literacy in Schools is Shaping the Next Generation as they describe ways in which the parents and community can support digital literacy skills. Thinking of my own experience this past week, I had to reach out to parents regarding sharing of passwords for our classes Epic! accounts. Although it may be minor as its ‘just Epic!’ (Epic! is an online reading app with lots of books for students to read), even after having discussions with my students about the importance of passwords (I used parts of the commonsense grade 3 lesson on passwords) we were still struggling with this. I think it is important to provide resources to parents as well to help them support digital literacy skills – we do it with reading and writing? why not for the digital world? 

Who am I? The concept of identity is challenging enough to wrap our heads around, before taking into account the digital world. Personally, I feel I have spent years trying to truly feel who I am as a person, and I wonder – has the digital world played a role in this journey, without me realizing it?

When thinking about how we approach the concept of identify in a digital world, our classmate Brittany shared the concept of digital identity, as described in the article The Illusion of Self in the Digital Age, that “our identity is becoming, or is already a fractured collective of who we are but also who we are or who we present ourselves to be on all the different platforms.”

To gain a better understanding, I decided to look into other interpretations of what digital identity means. A few other definitions I found was:

• “A person’s digital identity is an amalgamation of any and all attributes and information available online that can bind a persona to a physical person.” (Forbes.com)
• “A digital identity is a collection of information about a person that exists online. ” (Onfido.com)

From this, my understanding is that your digital identity begins with what you are sharing about yourself online and what can be found publicly.

Reflecting on my own digital identity: 

Growing up in the age when social media was just forming, I feel as though I have changed my online persona or identity multiple times throughout those years. From my super awkward song lyric slightly-emo high school posts, to my unfortunate images of my college partying days, to my beginning career era where I was overly cautious about what I was posting publicly. In the past, my online presence was primarily Facebook and has slowly expanded over the years.

As Dr. Couros described in our conversation, digital identity was previously explored with the fear tactic of “what you post will affect your job prospects” and this was the experience I have had. When in our small groups discussing Brittany’s questions about whether or not we post conscientiously on social media, I shared about my past experience with posting a funny (to me) meme about math homework (I can’t even remember if now!). I was pulled into the office the next day as someone made a complaint about it. From then on, I have been more cautious of who I have on my social media and what I am posting, however I do feel I have very different online presence depending on the platform. As Khalil Liouane described, with each platform and each mask, it could be shaping us as a whole, or it could simply be showing the different masks we wear. Personally, I think it contributes to me as a whole and that I have just recognized the audience to which each platform is for. 

Listening to the Social Media Ted Talk  provided by Josh had me reflecting about my own fragmented sense of identity, where I would change my online identity to match what may be trending or seen as more acceptable. However, I think as I am getting older, this has definitely slowed down or stopped (I am very NOT on trend with the current slang words, fashion trends, or following ‘popular’ people… is this just a part of getting older? Or have I developed a stronger sense of who I am and not influenced as easily?). There is a sense of belonging that comes with the online identity. I am guilty of feeling as though I know someone, even though I simply follow them on instagram, yet have never met them. On the flip side to that, I am not sure that’s always a negative thing?  

Is it authentic? Is it trending? Is it just to get a “rise” or followers or reach a certain limit? These are a few other thoughts I have when thinking about my own digital identity and how I am influenced by others, created more fragmented sense of identity.

Moving Forward

After reading the article and listening to the Ted Talk provided by Brittany and Josh, it has made me realize that I need to check in with myself on my own digital identity and what I am sharing online. I remember times of thinking “am I posting too often? Should I make a schedule for my posts? Does this sound like ME?” I am recognizing that the concept of identity in a digital world is much more complex with many pieces playing a role. I often find myself taking a “step back” from social media to “find myself” again, which makes me worry for our students who are truly growing up without necessarily having the opportunity to discover who they are first, without the digital world.

My final takeaway:

Just like many aspects of the digital world, I feel the concept of identity is growing and changing, as we see technology grow and change. I do fear children and teens are influenced by what is seen on media and that it is shaping their identity – not always for the best. I wonder how me, as a teacher, especially in the younger years, can help educate students on the reality of social media (not everything you see is true, can be a highlight reel etc.) and how to encourage students to continue being their authentic self.

 

Use of AI: I did use ChatGPT to help me create a catchy title for this blog post. 

The emergence of AI…. A topic I know very little about and seem to spin around in circles trying to find where I stand on the topic and how it could benefit me as an educator.  I think we can all agree that AI is not going anywhere, so I suppose its time to buckle up and learn about it.

“AI will not be stopped. ” – Mo Gawdat

Reflecting on the readings this week:

After taking time to read more about what exactly AI is, I have a slightly better understanding that it has been around us for more than we probably were aware. Examples such as having amazon predict items you may like, or using google. Personally I had not thought deeper in thinking with was AI.

I was aware there were different types of AI and the different pathways and processes those AI use. Thank you Dean, as well as the video Generative AI in a nutshell for presenting AI in a way that was a bit more understandable. That being said, I want to spend more time looking into AI and understanding the risks and benefits.

Giving ChatGPT a try:

During our zoom, I rated myself as a 0 when it came to using AI, which in hindsight was a bit lower… I’m probably more of a 1 or 2 (still not that impressive, I know). Previously I tried using ChatGPT in a small amount to help create report card comments. I had followed a teacher turned entrepreneur who posted this video that gave some information about using Chat GPT

At the time, I thought it was amazing (it still can be helpful) but we were also quickly shut down by admin/division office about using Chat GPT for report cards. To be honest, I never pushed back and truly questioned them as to why, but chalked it up to “oh well, glad I didn’t spend too much time using it!”

Fast forward a year or so later and I really hadn’t given Chat GPT or AI another shot…. until now. This weekend I was creating my morning slides for my class, where we have a different attendance question each day. I usually try to make my slides a month at a time, so thinking of questions can be a bit tricky. Here’s how I used chat gpt to help:

(Sorry if the image is really blurry – I’m not sure what is going on)

From this experience, I can see that Chat GPT could be quite helpful with certain aspects of teaching, such as helping to create new ideas, maybe help with lesson plans (although I’m not sure how well they would connect to the curriculum outcomes? Might be worth a try!), helping to phrase things, etc.

On the flip side….

Image from  The Future of Human Being

Deep down, I still have many questions and concerns about the impact of AI on society, especially with its insane speed of development. Of course I have many concerns around privacy and how exactly it is being used. I do feel like people are quick to think AI is “taking over the world” without maybe knowing all the risks involved or without learning how to use AI is a less risky way?

Looking at all the fake news and deep fake videos out there is also quite concerning. As we discussed in our zoom, those deep fake videos could create quite a disruption to society should they be used in a malicious way, spreading misinformation, impersonating others, etc. With so many limitations, as described in The Top 10 limitations of Chat GPT I feel that we still have a ways to go with finding just the right balance between productive  use and harmful use.

I also fear that with AI developing SO quickly, could it eventually start taking away jobs or roles we as humans have? I had a student last year tell me “Ms. Guest, why do we have teachers when we can just learn everything from tik tok?” I mean, he wasn’t completely wrong…. Maybe he was wrong in assuming tik tok is the best place to gather information… BUT, with AI continuing to be more intelligent and a more readily accessible form of information…. Is it a threat to society in that way?

The takeaway: 

I think AI has its place in the world and is here to stay. I think as educators it could be quite helpful when looking at our overall work load and creating new ideas. I absolutely have my doubts and fears about what is to come from using AI and how it will be used in general. I keep thinking to myself “I teach primary grades, I don’t have to worry about this as a teacher” in regards to students using AI, however I need to shift my thinking and also think “how can I help prepare them for the world of AI as they grow older?”

Thanks for reading!

Kathleen

It’s been a while since I have attempted this blog thing, so bear with me as I navigate my way around this blogging world.

This weeks class and articles really opened up my mind to some self reflection and deeper thinking. Being my first class in my Master’s journey, I truly didn’t know what to expect and was quite nervous. However, after meeting everyone and sharing some ideas, I am enjoying that feeling of digging into my own ideas and thoughts and learning from others.

Thinking about my own digital footprint and my experience in the digital world, I like to think I am pretty ‘tech savvy’ but I have also been humbly reminded lately that that may not be the case. With SO many apps appearing constantly, how do you keep up? Students in my class often mention apps they use, and I have no idea what they are talking about! Facebook started up when I was in grade 9, and like my true Millennial self, I am still primarily a Facebook user. Anyone else still sticking to your comfort zone of what you first used? Maybe it’s time I break out of my shell and really give some of these newer apps a try… or is it worth it?

That brings me to thinking about my screen time. I track my screen time on my iPhone and I’m not going to lie… it’s disturbing how often I am on my phone. Doom scrolling. It’s a real thing. Scrolling for no real reason. Am I entertained? Sure maybe. Am I learning things? If I come across it. But am I actively going onto my apps for a real purpose such as checking in on a family member or a friend, or finding a new teaching idea or cooking recipe? Not really. It finally hit home when my 4 yr old said one day “mommy no more phone you play with me!”. He took my phone and shoved it into the couch so I couldn’t be on it. Talk about pulling at the heart strings, and cue major parent guilt. Is that how I want him to remember parts of his childhood? That mommy and daddy were always on their phones?

A few of the articles read this week touched on this and really resonated with me, specifically thinking of parents posting pictures of their children. I am terribly guilty of this and after reading the perspective of Sonia Bokhari in the article “I’m 14 and I Quit Social Media”, I am questioning some of my own actions and what I have posted in the past. I feel there is still a divide amongst parents regarding posting their children’s pictures. What are your thoughts? Does your family have a stance on this? I’d love to hear how you are navigating this with parenting.

Last night in our class we discussed how often we – adults, teachers, parents, etc. – use the scare tactic for children on how to use the internet. I remember those talks so well. It also comes up often in my classroom (grade 3/4, so 8/9 year olds) who for many are just starting to have more “freedom” with their technology at home. It is a little worrisome hearing some of the things they are watching and doing on their devices at home. So if the scare tactic doesn’t work, how can we best support these kids to use the digital world as a tool that can help them be successful? How can we better understand what digital citizenship is, even for us adults? That is what I am really looking forward to.