For this week I decided to code a dance party on Hour of Code. I chose the dance party because who doesn’t love grooving to music!?! Actually, I love dancing so I thought coding a dance party could be something fun that I connect to. I have never coded before and never really given it the time of day to get into what it is all about and why it is so popular. After working on Hour of Code for about an hour (haha), I could understand why youth are loving coding. It is a chance to show your creativity using technology. It is similar to video games but can be so much more than a game.

 

What I liked about creating a dance party on Hour of Code was that it walked be through step by step of the skills I needed to acquire to create a dance party independently. At each level it gave me time to watch a video (like the one shown above) to learn about the new skill and the “why” behind each skill, as well as time to practice. This helped boost my confidence so I felt like I was ready to create a dance party independently once I passed all ten levels. If I forgot what I needed to do at any point in time, I could refer back to the videos I watched to relearn how to complete different codes to make my dancers move in specific ways. I got to chose my own music, the backdrop behind the dancers, the dance characters, the number of characters, and their dance sequences.

When it was my turn to independently create a dance party I went through lots of trial and error to make sure that my dancers were moving to the music in a way that I liked. I wanted there to be some diversity in their moves, all while moving in a good rhythm to the music. I added controls using the arrow keys on my keyboard that would make my dancers move differently than the way they are consistently moving the music. This makes my coding product fun and interactive.

I think coding is important for kids to know that everything technology works because it was created with intention by someone. In a world where we are tech-forward, I think that this is something that kids can experience in school or at home in a safe and fun way. The sites Hour of Code and Scratch are great kid-friendly resources that can be used in the classroom if you are looking for ways to expand your use of technology. You can find specific coding assignments that relate to outcomes such as following a map (social studies), using mathematical skills, following step by step instructions (language arts), etc.

Anyways, check out my final product! I had fun making this dance party and I hope you enjoy engaging with it. Dance away my friends and cue music!

I don’t recall hearing the term digital citizenship until I was in university. Cyber safety was never really addressed in my own schooling. When I was in high school all of my friends had Facebook as an online platform, and some had Twitter. The only time I recall discussing online content was around Pink Shirt Day in discussing Amanda Todd’s story. This is when we discussed how we need to be careful of who we talk to online, what we reveal about ourselves and what we post.

Growing up our family computer was in a common area of our house so my parents could always see what we were up to online. They would see if I was on MSN, YouTube, or using Club Penguin. As I entered high school I had my own device where I downloaded Facebook. My parents never really discussed cyber safety with me either. I think this all was fairly new to the adults in our lives as it was to us kids.

Knowing what I know about our world, digital citizenship and cyber safety, I think having conversations around these topics are crucial to the youth of our society today. Our world is very much connected through online content. Children are exposed to the online world at such a young age. Adults need to fully understand the term digital citizenship and how to navigate it in a positive and safe way to guide children.

The article on the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship defines digital citizenship as “the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.” What I love about this definition is that it uses the phrase “continuously developing,” because that is exactly what out digital world is. It is constantly changing and evolving throughout time and with that the definition of digital citizenship needs to evolve too. The Nine Elements identified are:

1. Digital Access
2. Digital Commerce
3. Digital Communication and Collaboration
4. Digital Etiquette
5. Digital Fluency
6. Digital Health and Welfare
7. Digital Law
8. Digital Rights and Responsibility
9. Digital Security and Privacy

As I read through the Nine Elements and reflect through the online world I know and see, I understand that it is important to discuss each of these elements beginning at a young age. I teach grades one and two, so I will use those grades as an example for how I would approach digital citizenship.

I found a resource with a series of videos called “Meet the Digital Citizens” and lesson plan ideas geared towards children grades K-3. It discusses themes such as media balance, privacy and safety, being responsible, identity, communication, bullying, and media literacy. These concepts are all embedded into the Nine Elements shown above. Planting the seed of these ideas at a young age when kids are using devices to go on YouTube and play games involving chats is very important. There is a lot of content and pop ups on YouTube that are not necessarily safe or appropriate for children to view and hacking is always a possibility when we use any online tool. Children need to learn about safety, know about privacy and what their responsibility and digital footprint is when they are online. Asking a grownup when something doesn’t feel right is always a good idea.

What resources have you found that could be used in the classroom? Have you thought about how you would approach this topic towards kids as young as five years old? How can you adapt the conversation to be age appropriate and effective?

Technology is ever changing. Michael Wesch shared how the internet has become a phenomenon in society. This lecture was given in 2008. Today we could spend days discussing all that the internet has to offer our society and how we have evolved into a digital world.

Today, teachers are implementing technology into their classrooms because it is an important thing for students to learn how to conduct themselves on the internet safely. Technology in our schools has offered students endless opportunities for learning. Teachers can implement technology in many ways whether it’s a teacher led lesson from a projected laptop, learning apps on tablets, online independent research, completing assignments using Word documents, PowerPoints, etc. Students can present their learning using many different outlets and share what they have learned with their families all online.

Throughout the pandemic we had to learn how to provide “online learning” in a short amount of time. I had to learn how to get grade one students engaged with a screen and to follow along with lessons in a simple way using Zoom and Seesaw. Not all of these programs are user friendly for six year olds with limited reading skills.

The reality of teaching in a digital world is that we need to be able to afford technology for our students in public education. Teachers are doing what they can to share limited amounts of technology amongst students and other classrooms for students to learn how to use technology as a tool in their learning as it is recognized as important skills to have.

Technology is the future and so are our students. It will be amazing to see what our current students will do with the digital world as they become our leaders in their adolescence.

This week I decided to dive into my phone and look at my average screen time and what apps I use the most. My daily average screen time this past week was 4 hours and 28 minutes. I spent almost 21 hours on social media apps with a total of 31 hours and 17 minutes of screen time. Oh my gosh…. I am sure there are many people who blow me out of the water but this is more than one full day!

My most used apps in my phone are…

1. Messages
2. Instagram
3. Facebook
4. Safari
5. Snapchat
6. Tinybeans (a family photo sharing app)
7. Camera
8. Photos
9. Messenger
10. Reminders
11. TikTok

Does this list surprise me? Not at all. I know what apps catch my interests and which ones I scroll on the most. With my life having changed so much in the past year, I know that this would look much different if I was back in the classroom working and not on maternity leave. If I was working in the classroom I would definitely add Edsby to the list. Also my daily hours on my phone would be much less, however I would have to add in time spent on my work computer with emails, Edsby, Youtube, learning websites, etc.

I do like to try to limit my screen time with doing things such as walking my dog, cooking, and simply just being present around friends and family. I have found that I wind down at the end of the day better if I put my phone away for bed. I like the option of having my notifications silenced between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. so I am not bombarded with texts from my friends as I am trying to sleep. I think this helps with a healthy relationship between my well-being and screen time.

I noticed that there is an option on the iPhone to limit your screen time usage by scheduling “downtime” and limiting what apps you can use at certain times of the day, as well as setting limits for how much time you can spend on a given app. I would have liked this option back when I was studying for finals during my undergrad as I am a HUGE procrastinator. It would have helped with my productivity of studying and finishing papers in a big way.

After reading a few articles online I learned that the average American has around 7 hours of screen time per day and Canadians close with 6.5 hours per day. The article on Screen Time Statistics shared that countries like South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Philippines have the highest average screen time per day all over 9 hours. I was happy to learn that my average screen time is below the average Canadian. I am sure as our technological world progresses that these statistics will only go up in daily hours.