Connected Kids

Technology and 21st Century Learning

Ch

ang

es

For 21st Century students, technology is more than a tool….it is an essential component of everyday life that frames their social world view. For them, being digitally

connected is as natural as speaking is to us.

We live in a globally connected society

21st century learning is all about preparing young people to become caring, competent Canadians with the knowledge, skills, and attributes to be

successful global citizens

Our vision is to create Excellent Learning Environments that ensure we meet our

mandate to prepare our students for adult life.

Dalton McGuinty let fly last year that

maybe cell phones could have some

educational value in school.

Should Ontario’s province-wide ban on cell phones in classrooms be lifted?

“Of course not – the kids will just sit there and text each other all day” Jeff Hutcheson, Canada AM

Gen

erat

ion

G

ap

Banning cell phones for fear kids will be texting each other all day is analogous to gagging them at the door

for fear they will talk to each other all day.

The challenge is to leverage the literacy skills kids have in positive and effective ways

But…

raised in a media rich networked world

21st C

entu

ry

Stu

den

tsself-empowered

tech savvy

highly connected

collaborative

skilled communicators

innovative

have to realize that online choices have offline consequences

underdeveloped sense of risk and responsibility

lack an adult perspective on safety, responsibility and general citizenship

They Need to be Good Digital Citizens

Citizen: a member of a society

Citizenship: The character of an individual in a society

Digital Citizenship: The character of an individual in a digitally-mediated society

Today’s digital world is considerably different

than the world most of our teachers grew up

and went to school in

Technology tools are the contemporary tools of literacy, yet for many of our teachers both

the tools and the environments that they enable are foreign

Ch

alle

ng

es

Yet these are essential tools and learning

environments in the 21st Century

To help guide students wisely, we need to develop a deeper understanding of the digitally connected world and what it means to be good digital citizens

We need to remind students of what it means to be good digital citizens each time we use digital tools in our classrooms.

Why Digital Citizenship? Some would say we don’t need to

teach Digital Citizenship just citizenship as they are one in the same now.

Others argue that we need to have a common language and resources that we use with parents, students and teachers.www.digitalcitizenship.net/www.wolfcreek.ab.ca/digital citizenship

What is Digital Citizenship? Digital Citizenship is more than just a

teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology.

Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology (sometimes unknowingly).

Teaching Digital Citizenship starts at an early age and needs continual

reinforcement.

Digital CitizenshipBy embracing technology and

encouraging students to explore its various forms, educators also

have aresponsibility to teach students

to use technology in a responsible manner.

What Resources Are Available

for Wolf Creek Teachers , Students and Parents?

WolfnetWolf Creek Conference

https://wolfden.wolfcreek.ab.caDigital Citizenship Community

 Login: Wolf Denhttps://wolfden.wolfcreek.ab.ca/login/Screen clipping taken: 06/09/2010, 12:47 PM

  

www.wolfcreek.ab.ca/digital citizenship