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Showing posts from 2019

#Netnarr I Bid You Adieu

I cannot believe that our self-assessment narrative is here already and that I just submitted my final project for our fieldguide! I feel like it was yesterday that we were in that tiny room with barely any windows and no natural light talking about our thoughts of the internet! I remember thinking "It's just like Alice in Wonderland!" and attempting my best illustration of her falling down the rabbit hole, hence the name of my blog , and all that would be swirling around her as she fell. Everything from social media to online shopping blogs to streaming sites-she fell for them all!  And now here we are...weeks later, with a better understanding of just how vast the internet is and just how ominous it can be if we don't talk about it. I still feel like the internet is a rabbit hole, and I still think we all fall down it; however, now maybe we can do it a little more purposefully!  I'm thankful for this class. I thought this class would be incredibly interestin

Teenagers and Their Finstas!

For a preview of some deep and thoughtful coffee shop talk, click  here ! 

If I Can't Take Away Their Technology...I Can At Least Try To Understand It

This week I'm feeling very good about my field guide project! With more clarification on the task, I feel more and more like I am on the right page. At this point, I have four different sources that Luna P. and I have annotated to help us find light in the darkness. We have been exploring the idea that  multiple digital identities by adolescents highlights their need to share versions of themselves online, proving that there is no distinction between "real life" and "digital life" and that both make up one's persona. At this point in time, I am currently researching the distinction between digital dualism and anti-digital dualism. I researched Danah Boyd and according to Wikipedia she is: " danah boyd is a technology and social media scholar. She is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, the founder and president of Data & Society Research Institute, and a Visiting Professor at New York University". I found this very interesting as

To the AUC Students

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My field guide topic is: the creation of multiple digital identities by adolescents highlights their need to share versions of themselves online, proving that there is no distinction between "real life" and "digital life" and that both make up one's persona. Below are a few questions I have related to my topic, and would greatly appreciate your help! 1. Do you know of any adolescents who have a fake instagram where they interact? 2. The debate surrounding digital dualism and anti-digital dualism argues whether or not having an online identity is a separate entity from our offline selves or if they are intertwined. What are your thoughts? Are they separate personas or intertwined? 3. What are your perceptions regarding adolescents with multiple accounts for multiple personas online? How do you feel this impacts their development?

Augmented Reality

In support of my last post, "Fancy Words for Simple Concepts", I found an article titled,  "Digital Dualism Versus Augmented Reality" by Nathan Jurgenson, which discusses the idea of both your online presence and physical life as one entity that is entwined together. The article defines key terms, such as: augmented reality, slacktivism, and false binary.  The article states that in this world, we are " comprised of a physical body as well as our digital Profile, acting in constant dialogue." The article discusses how our digital profile reflects what we do offline but that what happens online also affects our offline lives. The author doesn't defend social media, in fact says there's much wrong with it that he plans to critique and explore, but that the idea of whether or not we are living in two separate worlds is not the discussion to be having. Instead, we can explore if this idea of an augmented reality is a good thing or not.

Fancy Words for Simple Concepts

After much thinking, here is the new idea for my contribution to our fieldguide:  The creation of multiple digital identities by adolescents highlights their need to share versions of themselves online, proving that there is no distinction between "real life" and "digital life". You can see the specific questions I plan to explore in my other post: "It's Crunch Time!" Ultimately, I have come to realize that many are discussing the concept of digital dualism, and whether or not living online is real life or a separate entity. After reading " The Straw Man of Digital Dualism " and conversing with my friend Luna P., what's clear to me, is that the conversation sounds like a group of older individuals talking about "kids these days" when the kids are not just kids, but twenty and thirty year olds as well. I'm guilty of this---I've definitely thought "kids these days" when thinking about their technology

It's Crunch Time!

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Next week officially starts spring break in my district and I CAN NOT WAIT! I have spring fever to the max and, between my students and this class, I feel like my brain is fried!                                                                                                                This week, I feel particularly overwhelmed. We went over the specific requirements of the #fieldguide project and I really do not feel like it's any more clear. Last week when we shared our ideas, I felt like I had a great idea, but when I shared out, it wasn't specific enough. So in my blog post, I explored a new idea, that I was fleshing out, but then listening to the requirements and hearing the other conferences that were occurring, mine still didn't feel like it was right.  Then, I thought maybe I'd create a unit of lessons as my own personal #fieldguide for helping my students navigate the digital age and explore their digital citizenship, footprint, and identity. Afte

Luna P. Won't Stop Drinking My Coffee (and wine)!

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At the start of this week's class, we looked at the upcoming schedule for the remainder of the semester-WHERE DID THIS SEMESTER GO? I feel like summer is still so far away, but I also feel like this year FLEW by!  One of the main points we discussed with Kelli's upcoming installation of her thesis, which I'm stoked to see! As someone who hasn't thought about her thesis in a while, and knows that she should start, this girl cannot wait to see all the work someone did for theirs! We also continued to think about our final project-the field guide for surviving the darkness of the internet! We spent some time looking back over past posts and conversing with our group about topics we are specifically passionate about! We reflected on the following: What discussions in class have caught your attention most?   What concerns have felt most urgent? Try to make a list of “internet challenges” that you are most confused, worried, or even scared about. I f

Common Sense: Does This Exist in the Middle Schooler's Mind?

Instagram, Middle School, and Digital Citizenship  by  Jeff Knutson Check out @LunaPandCoffee and @_teachreadwrite have a somewhat intelligent conversation about digital citizenship at the middle school level. Sarah Landis is a sixth grade teacher who implements lessons from Common Sense Education and allowed Common Sense Education into her room to observe one of the lessons on digital citizenship and how students view themselves online.

The Search Warrant for Echo's Data

As I mentioned in this week's blog posts, my students are becoming increasingly concerned over their smart phones and their privacy. To a teenager, their bedroom door use to provide them the utmost privacy and if it was ever removed from it's hinges, as we've seen in so many teen movies and shows, then they felt their live was ending! But I'm happy to say that teenagers are starting to see that their privacy is violated every day thanks to the thing they feel they can't live without: their phones. And the social media that access from it. One article my students read was from Scholastic, all about how "Alexa" was being requested to testify during a murder trial. Basically the police wanted access to the information which brought up a whole plethora of constitutional issues. I found this article that shed some more recent light on the issue: " Judge Orders Amazon to Turn Over Echo Recordings in Double Murder Case " by Zack Wittaker. The articl

Hard -G or "Giraffe-G"

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This week in class, we transitioned from studying memes to studying GIFS (hard -g sound). We essentially began class with a Tweet-a-Thon, where we all tweeted out our favorite or most recents GIFS.   You can see the GIFS I love on my twitter page , but after poking around on GIFHY, I found a few more that I love! Give me a good Real Housewives GIF anyday! After, we had a Studio Visit with Brian Lamb,  "Re-Director" of the Learning Technology and Innovation team at Thompson Rivers University. One thing I found interesting, was that in B.C. they have very strict privacy laws. There should be a consent form, letting students know they're data is being collect, but Brian says you're supposed to explain what is happening to the data, but what he says is interesting, is "who knows" what's happening to it! And then the screen went BLACK! Did Google kick Brian off our hangout? Hmmmm...veryyyyy interesting.... Brian then goes on to talk about the Bi

Net Art or Not Art: That is the Question

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What is 'art'? What does it 'mean'? Isn't that the age old question?... ...This week we dived into the concept of Net Art right off the bat...so I decided to jump on it! According to  Net Specific: What is Net Art? , it is an art form that " draws on data from other Internet materials and websites, which helps give them their distinctive dynamics and transience." When you google the definition of transience, you get:  the state or fact of lasting only for a short time.  I find this poetic in terms of our class. We're talking about finding our way out of the darkness and hoping that our time in the darkness is transient as well. Hoping that we can voice new ideas and create new laws to protect our privacy in this digital age, but also, what it means to be living in these digital spaces.  I'm digressing but this topic reminded me of the Finstas we talked about a few classes ago: the fake instagrams teenagers are creating, almost like a digita

"Do Something Different"

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Part of this week’s work is to explore a variety of Net Art that might be of interest when producing a “Field Guide to Surviving the Darkness of the Internet”. One of the suggested sites to start with was “The One Million Masterpiece” , which caught my eye right away. What stood out at first, was the idea that this was a global project, capturing how people viewed the world from a variety of different eyes. As a teacher in a not so diverse town, it’s my job is to teach diversity through the stories I put in my students’ hands, which is part of why this piece of Net Art stood out for me. Through exploring the site, I found that this is one of the worlds largest collaboration of art, and that anyone can participate, no matter how ‘artistic’ they feel they are. This is one picture/image made up of millions. With the creation of the internet, it’s easy to get lost in all there is, part of why the ‘darkness’ is so scary. This collection of art is a beacon of hope, a lighthouse f

Why Sean Bean Makes the Perfect Meme

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Maybe it's the hair. Maybe it's the  calm, but commanding demeanor. Whatever it is, Boromir/Ned Stark makes for the perfect combination of a "dank meme"  (insert eye roll here as I recall a student that said  "dank meme" every five seconds).  As someone who never thought of memes much more than a form of entertainment, I found the article  "Explainer: what are memes?" from The Conversation to be really helpful! Throughout class, I heard phrases like "replicability" and "searchability", which I could conclude what they meant, but had never heard in reference to memes. The article described the following terms for the reader:  Replicability . Digital objects are infinitely reproducible and exploitable across a range of platforms. Searchability . Finished versions of memes as well as raw materials and templates are easily found. Scalability . Digital objects are created for a particular audience but with th

Brace Yourself...A Blog Post Is Coming-Week 7

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Give me all the  Sean Bean memes!                 In class this week, we talked about all  memes! Not going to lie, there was a part of me that thought it's just funny-does it have to mean more?  And even as we talked, and I took it all in, I couldn't help but think we were over thinking it. As we were thinking about memes in our culture, there were some references I didn't quite get. Not sure I remember the shark and Fonzie reference, as well as another one that seems to be escaping me right now-but one thing we talked about was how sometimes a meme isn't understood unless you are in that inner circle, like an inside joke!  S o I found myself googling Teacher Memes...my wheel house!  And then I started to get it...I saw so clearly the sarcasm and the issues highlighted through these memes and immediately got me thinking about future lessons I plan to teach! My students are currently practicing being critical readers of nonfiction in order to construct an argument

SelfIE Assessment and the Real Self: Week 5

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Selfie. One word. But it means so much. It's for the Kylie Jenner's of the world to get likes and compliments and feel good about themselves. It's a way to capture a moment when there's no one to capture it for you. It's about angles and filters, or it's about showing what's real.  Which lately, I feel like a lot people have. I was scrolling through my social media and realized so many of the people I follow post selfies. TONS AND TONS of selfies! And I started reading them. I found they were incredibly vulnerable and empowering. For example, I follow a lot of teachers, who constantly are posting about the peaks and pits of the profession, which are normally accompanied by a picture of their exhausted face, messy hair, messy room, or stack of ungraded papers that will still be there on Monday because we have lives too! I also happen to follow a lot of new moms, who have been very honest and vocal about their struggles postpartum. The ima