Do you know anyone who divulges just about every detail of their lives to 350 of their closest “friends” on Facebook or a Twitter user who lets the world know where they are and what they are doing 24 hours a day? They post pictures, report their run times, list the restaurants they frequent, and announce their plans. If these people aren’t careful with their privacy settings, they might be letting the world know more than they intended. As parents and teachers, we need to set a good example of how to safely use these sites and we need to teach our students how to maintain their privacy while they stay socially connected online.
What place do these types of sites have in schools? Many teachers are finding sites like Twitter and Facebook to be useful for conversation and collaboration in the classroom. Unfortunately, these sites are often blocked in schools for student safety. Educators and administrators who support allowing access to these sites in schools argue that we have the responsibility of teaching students how to safely use the sites instead of avoiding the problem altogether. For educators in this camp, there are plenty of resources out there to assist you with teaching your students important safety and privacy concerns involved with posting information on the internet. Joann’s featured Gateway lessons from CyberSmart this week include creative ways to help you teach students about internet privacy and safety. Another resource I recommend looking into as you explore this topic is a comprehensive compilation of resources put together by fellow Twitter user Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1), Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites. He has many links to information, games, and activities related to cybersafety.
How can we help our students discover the long term impact of the things they post online? It is important for students to understand that some employers and colleges check out prospective students’ online profiles as part of the admission or hiring process. When talking to junior high and high school students, it’s a good idea to remind them of this and to teach them how to manage their “digital footprint.” One suggested activity is to allow students with social networking accounts to create a word cloud of status updates or tweets on a site like Wordle. Students and teachers need to know that just about anything they post online can be found later, and a word cloud of things they are posting can give them a good idea of what kind of online image they are creating of themselves. A good piece of advice I heard once is “Don’t post anything on the internet that you wouldn’t want your Grandma to read.” For activities and a better explanation of this topic, please check out Mr. Blumengarten’s digital footprint links. He also has a collection of cybersafety games to add a little fun.
For more information on privacy and safety in social networking, read this article from cnet news about privacy and security on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook also has a page dedicated to safety and a page for ideas about how to use Facebook in Education. You can find some good ideas and tips on these pages to safely and effectively integrate social networking into your curriculum. As always, remember to search The Gateway for more activities about student privacy. There are resources for many different age levels and subjects, and you can use the Standards Suggestion Tool to discover how these lessons can be aligned to your state standards.
~Peggy's Corner - 8/6/2010~
Showing posts with label Media Literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Literacy. Show all posts
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Peekaboo, I C U !
You already have zero privacy. Get over it.
- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems (1999)
On a recent morning, I spent some time cooling my heels in purgatory – or, in more secular terms – the doctor’s waiting room. Tired of leafing through multiple issues of The American Journal of Orthopedics, I unabashedly eavesdropped on a pair of women sitting beside me. One of the women was complaining about her teenage daughter, who had apparently been grumbling to her parents about the “major” lack of privacy in their house. “So what?” mused the woman’s companion. “That’s entirely normal at her age.” “Yes,” retorted the first woman, “but we found out she’d been posting pictures of herself in her underwear on Facebook!”
While most of us roll our eyes at the ill-considered behavior demonstrated by the teen, the paradoxical attitude she displayed about privacy is one that is increasingly mirrored by society at large. On the one hand, the media is rife with citizen complaints about personal information stored in databases, residential images on Google Earth and Maps, cell phone tracking, and so on. Meanwhile, millions of people divulge their most personal details on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. So, just what is the role of privacy in contemporary society, and how should we educate our students about it?
Privacy is a fundamental human right, and one that is vital to personal independence. Students often don’t realize how compromising their privacy now may come back to haunt them in the future. States, too, often fail to protect student privacy. A recent study found that states frequently collect more student data than is required, and often retain that data long after it should have been purged. In addition to test scores and grades, many systems retain student information such as Social Security numbers, health information, financial data, and disciplinary infractions for years after the student has graduated.
The safeguarding of one’s personal information by both individuals and larger entities is more important than ever, and with much higher risks at stake. Students need to understand that their personal privacy, both in-person and online, needs to be carefully guarded to protect both their safety and dignity.
My picks this week focus on individual privacy, and the difference between personal and private information. The resources below are all derived from CyberSmart!, which is now a part of Common Sense Media. Common Sense Media is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that provides educators and parents with information and tools related to media and technology. I’ve relied on their film and video game reviews for years. CyberSmart! has long been a leader in promoting students’ personal safety and well-being in a digital world; this is a great pairing of two organizations whose mission is to protect kids in a wired world.
What’s Private?
Subjects: Safety, Writing
Grade: 2-3
In this lesson, students learn about how the Internet can foster collaboration among students worldwide. While co-writing a story online, students learn an important safety rule: Before sharing private information in cyberspace, they must get permission from a parent or teacher.
Private and Personal Information
Subjects: Safety, Technology
Grade: 6-8
Students learn they can converse and share ideas and opinions with others in cyberspace. They adopt a critical thinking process that empowers them to protect themselves and their families as they visit sites requesting private identity information.
Online Identity Theft
Subjects: Safety, Technology
Grade: 9-12
Students learn about the methods criminals use to steal identities online. They develop an identity theft prevention tip list and propose ways to communicate their tips to their families.
~Joann's Picks - 8/6/2010~
- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems (1999)
On a recent morning, I spent some time cooling my heels in purgatory – or, in more secular terms – the doctor’s waiting room. Tired of leafing through multiple issues of The American Journal of Orthopedics, I unabashedly eavesdropped on a pair of women sitting beside me. One of the women was complaining about her teenage daughter, who had apparently been grumbling to her parents about the “major” lack of privacy in their house. “So what?” mused the woman’s companion. “That’s entirely normal at her age.” “Yes,” retorted the first woman, “but we found out she’d been posting pictures of herself in her underwear on Facebook!”
While most of us roll our eyes at the ill-considered behavior demonstrated by the teen, the paradoxical attitude she displayed about privacy is one that is increasingly mirrored by society at large. On the one hand, the media is rife with citizen complaints about personal information stored in databases, residential images on Google Earth and Maps, cell phone tracking, and so on. Meanwhile, millions of people divulge their most personal details on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. So, just what is the role of privacy in contemporary society, and how should we educate our students about it?
Privacy is a fundamental human right, and one that is vital to personal independence. Students often don’t realize how compromising their privacy now may come back to haunt them in the future. States, too, often fail to protect student privacy. A recent study found that states frequently collect more student data than is required, and often retain that data long after it should have been purged. In addition to test scores and grades, many systems retain student information such as Social Security numbers, health information, financial data, and disciplinary infractions for years after the student has graduated.
The safeguarding of one’s personal information by both individuals and larger entities is more important than ever, and with much higher risks at stake. Students need to understand that their personal privacy, both in-person and online, needs to be carefully guarded to protect both their safety and dignity.
My picks this week focus on individual privacy, and the difference between personal and private information. The resources below are all derived from CyberSmart!, which is now a part of Common Sense Media. Common Sense Media is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that provides educators and parents with information and tools related to media and technology. I’ve relied on their film and video game reviews for years. CyberSmart! has long been a leader in promoting students’ personal safety and well-being in a digital world; this is a great pairing of two organizations whose mission is to protect kids in a wired world.
What’s Private?
Subjects: Safety, Writing
Grade: 2-3
In this lesson, students learn about how the Internet can foster collaboration among students worldwide. While co-writing a story online, students learn an important safety rule: Before sharing private information in cyberspace, they must get permission from a parent or teacher.
Private and Personal Information
Subjects: Safety, Technology
Grade: 6-8
Students learn they can converse and share ideas and opinions with others in cyberspace. They adopt a critical thinking process that empowers them to protect themselves and their families as they visit sites requesting private identity information.
Online Identity Theft
Subjects: Safety, Technology
Grade: 9-12
Students learn about the methods criminals use to steal identities online. They develop an identity theft prevention tip list and propose ways to communicate their tips to their families.
~Joann's Picks - 8/6/2010~
Sunday, June 27, 2010
THINK Before you Buy: Media Literacy
Joann’s post about advertising was especially funny to me, the proud owner of both the Miracle Blade III knives and the complete set of ShamWOW towels. I really like as seen on TV stuff! Students and parents alike are barraged with advertisements in all forms of media throughout the day. An important part of media literacy we need to stress with our children is the ability to critically analyze the advertisements around them so they can make good purchasing decisions throughout their lives, instead of just buying the things with the flashiest ads.
I still remember the unit I did on advertising in 6th grade. We learned all different types of tools that advertisers use to get consumers attention, and we had lots of fun creating ads of our own. We used terms like “avant garde” and “bandwagon” to describe some of the techniques advertisers use to sell products. We could watch commercials and shout out, “weasel words!” or “testimonial!” (If you were stumped by some of those words, check here for a good list of common propaganda techniques used.) We used our knowledge to create our own ads, which helped make the whole experience even more memorable. You could implement media literacy like this in many different kinds of units by assigning an advertisement (with these different propaganda techniques) as the final project.
Federal Trade Commission-created Admongo touts their online media literacy game as a great “Ad-ucation” for kids. Their introduction describes Admongo as a place where advertising is all around you. “Online. Outside. On television. Who makes ads? How do they work? What do they want you to do? Here, you will explore, discover, and learn. Can you make it to the top? To get there, you'll answer:
Who is responsible for the ad?
What is the ad actually saying?
What does the ad want me to do”
Summer vacation is in full swing for many of our students. They will be surrounded by advertisements, but are they prepared to think critically about these ads? I signed up for Admongo, and had fun navigating with my arrow keys and spacebar through the advertisements and collecting coins. As we discussed in earlier posts, using games for learning can make subjects much more fun, especially for tweens. You can read a review of the game on the Connect Safely site, a great collection of media literacy tools and information.
Reading Rockets highlighted a PBS Kids Go! media literacy site that is also good for parents or teachers looking to increase kid’s awareness of advertising this summer. “Don’t Buy It” has different activities to help teach kids about the techniques advertisers use to make you want to buy their products. This is a very comprehensive site that contains activities, games, and interactive readings. I especially liked the Secrets of a Cover Model activity, the Money and Music section, and the Ad Detective game. The menu on the main page kept revolving to highlight different activities, so all different kinds of students should be able to find activities that are fun for them. Creative students will love creating their own ads and designing a cereal box. Like the game above, this site would be a nice tool for parents and kids at home during the summer as well as in a classroom setting.
As always, stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages to receive the latest updates and resources for media literacy on The Gateway from Joann and Peggy. Search the huge collection of resources at http://thegateway.org for even more resources.
~Peggy's Corner - 6/25/2010~
I still remember the unit I did on advertising in 6th grade. We learned all different types of tools that advertisers use to get consumers attention, and we had lots of fun creating ads of our own. We used terms like “avant garde” and “bandwagon” to describe some of the techniques advertisers use to sell products. We could watch commercials and shout out, “weasel words!” or “testimonial!” (If you were stumped by some of those words, check here for a good list of common propaganda techniques used.) We used our knowledge to create our own ads, which helped make the whole experience even more memorable. You could implement media literacy like this in many different kinds of units by assigning an advertisement (with these different propaganda techniques) as the final project.
Federal Trade Commission-created Admongo touts their online media literacy game as a great “Ad-ucation” for kids. Their introduction describes Admongo as a place where advertising is all around you. “Online. Outside. On television. Who makes ads? How do they work? What do they want you to do? Here, you will explore, discover, and learn. Can you make it to the top? To get there, you'll answer:
Who is responsible for the ad?
What is the ad actually saying?
What does the ad want me to do”
Summer vacation is in full swing for many of our students. They will be surrounded by advertisements, but are they prepared to think critically about these ads? I signed up for Admongo, and had fun navigating with my arrow keys and spacebar through the advertisements and collecting coins. As we discussed in earlier posts, using games for learning can make subjects much more fun, especially for tweens. You can read a review of the game on the Connect Safely site, a great collection of media literacy tools and information.
Reading Rockets highlighted a PBS Kids Go! media literacy site that is also good for parents or teachers looking to increase kid’s awareness of advertising this summer. “Don’t Buy It” has different activities to help teach kids about the techniques advertisers use to make you want to buy their products. This is a very comprehensive site that contains activities, games, and interactive readings. I especially liked the Secrets of a Cover Model activity, the Money and Music section, and the Ad Detective game. The menu on the main page kept revolving to highlight different activities, so all different kinds of students should be able to find activities that are fun for them. Creative students will love creating their own ads and designing a cereal box. Like the game above, this site would be a nice tool for parents and kids at home during the summer as well as in a classroom setting.
As always, stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages to receive the latest updates and resources for media literacy on The Gateway from Joann and Peggy. Search the huge collection of resources at http://thegateway.org for even more resources.
~Peggy's Corner - 6/25/2010~
Selling It
“You really need that,” my seven year-old announced one day, pointing at the TV. An infomercial for the Buxton Organizer, a “stylish genuine leather over-the-shoulder organizer,” shows an exasperated woman digging through her purse while her MIA cell phone frantically rings. “I already have a purse,” I replied, somewhat defensively. “But look at how much stuff it holds!” my daughter breathed, while the woman on the commercial stuffed a wallet, cell phone, two water bottles, an umbrella, and what looked like an entire cosmetics counter worth of makeup into her bag. “And it comes with a little message reminder thingie,” my daughter pressed. “You know how much you forget stuff!” A year later, while I still don’t have a Buxton Organizer, my daughter has not forgotten the commercial. Each time I dig through my purse, she announces, “You really should get the Buxton Organizer on TV.” Ah, the power of advertising.
It’s no secret that children are especially susceptible to advertisers. Product placements are rampant in TV shows and in movies, and kids are constantly bombarded by sleek images of new games, fast food, candy, clothes, and other stuff in all forms of media. Such marketing is big business: about $15-17 billion is spent annually by U.S. companies on advertising campaigns directed solely at kids. While financial, media, and economic literacy should be consistent topics at home, they are also subjects that must be included in the curriculum. As the current economic climate shows, we need to be more proactive in teaching students about deception and truth in advertising, how products are marketed to consumer groups, and the dangers of spending money on items that you don’t necessarily need (or can afford).
My picks this week all focus on resources that encourage students to think critically about advertising, and the methods used to hook consumers. Most of these lessons can be adapted for higher or lower grades. The first lesson is from Media Awareness Network, a Canadian non-profit organization that offers a wealth of digital and media literacy resources. The second two lessons are from Admongo, a joint venture between Scholastic, Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission. Admongo focuses on advertising and media literacy resources for tweens.
"He Shoots, He Scores": Alcohol Advertising and Sports
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grade: 4-6
Ever count how many beer commercials appear during a sports broadcast? Me neither, but I know it’s a lot. Advertising via sports figures and events is highly lucrative for alcohol companies, and shows no signs of abating. In this lesson, students examine how companies influence consumers by sponsoring sporting events and hiring sports figures to sell products.
Ad Awareness
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grades 5-6
At its core, advertising is the art of persuasion. This lesson has students explore just what advertising really is - what ads do and what they seek to accomplish. The lesson also has students examine who is ultimately responsible for an ad, what the ad is really saying, and most importantly, what the ad is trying to get them – the consumer – to do.
Ad Targeting and Techniques
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grade: 4-7
In this lesson, students learn how and why advertisers use certain techniques to reach a specific target audience. One goal of the lesson is that once students understand these techniques and how they are used, kids can decide for themselves what they actually think about the products.
~Joann's Picks - 6/25/2010~
It’s no secret that children are especially susceptible to advertisers. Product placements are rampant in TV shows and in movies, and kids are constantly bombarded by sleek images of new games, fast food, candy, clothes, and other stuff in all forms of media. Such marketing is big business: about $15-17 billion is spent annually by U.S. companies on advertising campaigns directed solely at kids. While financial, media, and economic literacy should be consistent topics at home, they are also subjects that must be included in the curriculum. As the current economic climate shows, we need to be more proactive in teaching students about deception and truth in advertising, how products are marketed to consumer groups, and the dangers of spending money on items that you don’t necessarily need (or can afford).
My picks this week all focus on resources that encourage students to think critically about advertising, and the methods used to hook consumers. Most of these lessons can be adapted for higher or lower grades. The first lesson is from Media Awareness Network, a Canadian non-profit organization that offers a wealth of digital and media literacy resources. The second two lessons are from Admongo, a joint venture between Scholastic, Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission. Admongo focuses on advertising and media literacy resources for tweens.
"He Shoots, He Scores": Alcohol Advertising and Sports
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grade: 4-6
Ever count how many beer commercials appear during a sports broadcast? Me neither, but I know it’s a lot. Advertising via sports figures and events is highly lucrative for alcohol companies, and shows no signs of abating. In this lesson, students examine how companies influence consumers by sponsoring sporting events and hiring sports figures to sell products.
Ad Awareness
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grades 5-6
At its core, advertising is the art of persuasion. This lesson has students explore just what advertising really is - what ads do and what they seek to accomplish. The lesson also has students examine who is ultimately responsible for an ad, what the ad is really saying, and most importantly, what the ad is trying to get them – the consumer – to do.
Ad Targeting and Techniques
Subjects: Media Literacy, Social Studies, Language Arts
Grade: 4-7
In this lesson, students learn how and why advertisers use certain techniques to reach a specific target audience. One goal of the lesson is that once students understand these techniques and how they are used, kids can decide for themselves what they actually think about the products.
~Joann's Picks - 6/25/2010~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
