Month: March 2025

“Coding?” When am I ever going to use this again?  Well, all I have to say is it was a humbling and slightly frustrating experience, but also intriguing once I got into it.  This process has shown me how out of tune I am with technology, and how easily I want to give up when it challenges me a little bit.  I decided to do a

one-hour coding class with Ana and Elsa, solely based on my daughter’s ambition to want to help me.  Let’s just say that was a complete flop, and I was left to fend for myself.  Moving on,  the first thing was that it had started with a little tutorial video, which I did watch, just in case it had important information I needed. It basically explained the reasonings for coding and what it is, and then towards the end of the video they introduced the Frozen coding game, and gave the basic instruction of what to expect for the first level.

At first the instructions were very basic and I had to use very little critical thinking.  I was a little intimidated once I got onto the coding activities to see that it had 20 levels to do! I thought you myself “oh goodness, cancel my afternoon” But it was honestly not that bad! I had some helpful tips in the top of the page that provided some clear instructions on which degree’s to turn, how to move Elsa, and Ana to the right and left. I did have to start over a few times as I ended up completely confusing myself and could not back track my thoughts.

Level 6 was a tough one for me, I followed the instructions, and I still was not able to figure it out. I moved onto the next level and I was able to get that one.  I liked that every different difficulty level was presented with a small video that explained what was coming next and how to properly code it. I was overthinking on some of the levels and I had to make sure I ran the sequence a couple of times in order to know what I was required to do next. The instructions on the top of the page, were a huge help in this aspect.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this coding, surprisingly enough. Admittingly I am not one to jump at the computer teachings.  I have very basic knowledge, and it has carried me this far.  I was not able to finished all of the levels, as I was growing a little frustrated. But 17/20 levels I consider a huge win, being I had absolutely zero prior knowledge about this kind of thing.  I do however recognize the importance of having these skills, as we are heading into a world that is moving towards having technology as a base for almost all learning.  The end of the coding I was given the opportunity to just make my own coding sequence and I decided to do a snowflake, because it seemed the most appropriate to go along with the Frozen kind of theme. Honestly speaking at this time of the process I was kind of over it and did the simplest sequence I could think of.  It turned out very cute, I will say. But this whole experience taught me personally how much I overthink, and need to brush up on some computer skills. 

In today’s digital age, fake news is more of a problem than ever.  It seems as if the truth is becoming more and more difficult to uncover.  There are many new AI tools and other things to manipulate and disperse false information. There are many reasons one would believe false information. In the article Why do people fall for fake news  the article mentions that people easily fall for many reasons, some being;

• a growing decline in trust in the media and government.
• lower attention spans
• fake news appealing to our emotions
• implicit biases

Those are just some of the things, among others, that make fake news hard to differentiate.

Digital Literacy within our Classrooms

Digital literacy is often mistaken for just knowing how to use and read the internet.  That is not the case, it includes the ability to critically think while on the internet. There are some fun “games” such as “Spot the Troll” these games are interactive and allow students to use their critical thinking skills to spot the fake profiles.  This will come in handy when they begin to explore social media platforms.  There are many predators who are good at disguising  themselves on the internet, and these types if teachings will ensure students are using there knowledge to possibly spot fakes.

Critical Thinking is Crucial 

Critical thinking is obviously a crucial part of practicing good digital literacy, and the sooner students know how to use this avid tool, it will become easier to spot fake news, internet trolls, and the other dangers of the online world.  As mentioned above some of the reasons people fall for fake news.  There are also tools out there to help practice ways to ensure that; one resource that can be used is this fact checker for students within this resource it gives advice on how to productively fact check, some examples are “checking your emotions” this advice gives examples of strong emotional facts and how to essentially “check yourself” before allowing your feelings to get int he way of decisions. Along with many other strategies.

In conclusion incorporating digital literacy within our classrooms is inevitable.  Teaching students how to critically evaluate the digital information given to us and how to process it with critical thinking skills, is going to be knowledge they take with them when they are adults and have many more complexities added. With this type of knowledge we will ensure to build a lies skeptical world, and strive to have less fake news be present.

Reflecting on the class discussions about who we are on the Internet. I wanted to reflect on what the internet shows me in this spotlight.  When I search my name, it gives my blog, Instagram, and Facebook profiles, and my award granted from the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan.   Honestly, I became very aware of how “disconnected” I am from other people.  I was interested in what showed up about me, so (with permission) I decided to search up my dad, and my mom.  I was surprised about my dad because if I think I am disconnected.  I’m surprised he still doesn’t own a flip phone, the guy could care less to evolve with the rest of the world.  (insert sarcasm) but honestly, he is way behind haha

My dad’s search (Jeremy Belliveau) came up as his Facebook profile, and his work contact information, and scrolling down I found out there are also many other people with that name. It brought me to a wedding website, for a couple, and some other things regarding people with the same name.

My mother on the other hand (Brenda Belliveau), I was completely shocked to see that nothing had come up about her until I clicked to the next two pages.  I did not realize how common her name is. I think I was more shocked at the fact, my mom is often on the internet, doing advertising for our Metis local here and she scrolls Facebook mindlessly for hours on end (she will admit to this).   It scrambled my brain a little bit as to why I had to search a little more in detail to find her, but my dad, who I mentioned before is not with the technological times, was so easy to search up and find information about.

The digital footprint we leave on the internet, can be such a complex thing.  I do know technology has its way of helping people find out information so quick, and often times can be very unforgiving. But I think it is important to understand what you essentially are allowing the world to have access to.  It does not need to be projected as a scary notion, it just need to be a conscious and self -awareness concept.  Even as adults we are needing to be aware what we are projecting out to the world, as it can potentially affect our jobs, reputations, future plans, etc.  The internet is a forever place, and like mentioned can be very unforgiving, and unforgiving people have access to things we think may be private.  Educating and understanding what out digital footprints can do both good and bad, is essential in a forever changing and technologically growing world.

Photo by Ramdlon on Pixabay

Digital citizenship could be controversial within the realm of an educator.  I feel that the online world was not a topic that was focused on as much when I was a young grasshopper, it was around as I remember there being computer classes and a computer room we visited, but technology was still evolving.   there was a bit of a disconnect between the ‘real’ world and the online world, as I remember I would spend many hours on our home computer using MSN and allowing it to invoke my life for many hours talking to my friends.  After reading the article Character Education for the Digital Age by Jason Ohler, I was surprised to read that it gives the “two lives” perspective and after reading it I was a little more shocked this perspective had mentioned that technology does not belong in the classroom. In my opinion, based on my experience and having been in a classroom both as a student and assistant,  I don’t think that this notion is realistic or beneficial to students or our society.

“One Life” Perspective & Dual Digitalism Can it be done?

Another lens mentioned within the article is the “one life” perspective. Through this, we can recognize that it’s our responsibility as educators to help our students understand our digital world and bring them as much knowledge as we can with respecting boundaries.   This perspective encourages us to bring together both our digital and physical lives, with believing there is no separating between both worlds. I feel the common misconception there is is that as humans we are not able to have both of those elements work in harmony, but in Nathan Jurgenson’s article “The IRL Fetish” He discusses the possibilities to exist in both worlds.  As future educators, it is unrealistic for us to expect our students to be completely unplugged from technology, when in reality we as educators do not even do that. we often will find our cellphones on us, or require computers and technology to help us teach our classrooms, as life goes on it is coming next to impossible to stray away from digital imprints.

The 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship & How to Incorporate Them into the Classroom

This policy planning guide is based on The Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship by Mike Ribble, which include; along with ways to incorporate them into education.

1. Digital Etiquette – Having discussions about appropriate ways to conduct yourself on the internet, ensuring they are developmentally appropriate.
2. Digital Access – Facilitating discussion on who has access to certain platforms and that even if we think things are private they are not.
3. Digital Law – Understanding rules stating within the digital world, and reviewing the outcomes of things such as cyberbullying, sexting, etc.
4. Digital Communication & Collaboration – Discuss that technology has the ability to create many different perspectives, and it is important to be mindful what you say on the internet.  Whether that is Facebook, TikTok, etc.
5. Digital Literacy – Teach students about different credible sources, and teach them to reference two or more sources.
6. Digital Commerce – Educate students on scams and fraud, and what they might look like online, Marketplaces, banking online, etc. 
7. Digital Rights & Responsibilities – Teaching students that they are responsible for thier online digital profiles, and they have the right to privacy, and they need to stay protected.
8. Digital Safety & Security – Educating children on things such as viruses, different sites that can damage your computer, and that clicking on everything is ok, it can create many problems within technology.  
9. Digital Health & Wellness – Ensuring we are using the digital world in a positive and healthy manner, not engaging in cyberbullying, looking at inappropriate sites, etc.

I believe that it’s important for all of these elements to be incorporated into the curriculum throughout all grade levels, being mindful as to what is developmentally appropriate,  the faster we incorporate the better hold we will have on children understanding the digital world.

Digital Citizenship in the Classroom

In conclusion, I believe strongly that these elements should be incorporated into our curriculums, so we are preparing our students with knowledge and understanding on how to be safe in our forever evolving technological world, also ensuring us as future educators are also learning. I am interested to hear what everyone else’s idea’s on how to incorporate these elements into the classroom. 

Photo by geralt on Pixabay