Keeping Students Safe Online: What Works

I could agree with just about everything that the article discussed. The internet, cellphones, and social networks have dramatically changed the way that schools have to set up their guidelines and rules when it comes to technology. One of the biggest things that I took from this article is the approach that teachers must take in order to ensure that their students are appropriately using the internet. I have seen teachers that allow students to have time to research information on the internet for papers and projects; and then just let's the students go. 9 times out of 10, the students end up searching for things not related to their paper/project, and end up wasting the time anyways. Just as important as it is to structure your classroom, it's important to structure your assignments as a teacher. Create a list of resources that you want the students to use to search for information and constantly monitor students while they're working. 

As a teacher I feel that there are certain things that are unavoidable when it comes to technology though. I can't control the things my students see and text on their phones, and I can't control the social interactions that they may make on their facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. But as a teacher, I CAN teach students the potential dangers that they may face via the internet and their cellular devices. As a student, I feel like I have appreciated hearing the stories and the personal conversations that teachers have given about the dangers of the internet more than hearing a speaker just telling me that cyberbullying is bad. Everyone thinks "oh that'll never happen to me.", but in all actuality it happens to more people around us than we know. 

All in all, I feel like the media has done a great job at exposing the dangers of the internet and use of cellular devices....so as teachers it's our duty just to protect our students to the best of our ability.

Article #2 - Transliteracy

I found it fascinating to read about the new concept of "transliteracy" and just how much it has changed our society as a whole. Over the years, modes of reading, writing, and communication have changed so much...even within the classroom.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me was the fact that they said that we live in a nation that is considered "ninety-nine percent literate". The part that I'm hung up on is if our literacy statistic is so high.....why are our children's literacy rates not matching this high percentage in schools? It seems as time passes, and we become more and more apt to technology, students are having more struggles with reading. And it's not to say that the integration of multiple platforms in the classroom is bad, but sometimes I feel that we need to stick to the basics. Kids in Kindergarten are using Ipads instead of whiteboards or paper to write their names....but what's going to happen when they have to sign they're signature on an important document? As much as I love technology and the notion of transliteracy, I feel that it may do more harm than help inside the classroom.

Article 1 - I Can't Think

Reading this article alone, I felt that I was being mentally overloaded with information. Although it was very informational, the article seemed to be doing exactly what all of the modern day sites do....overload people with information.

I do agree that nowadays, many social networks and websites allow people to get ahold of TOO much information. I have seen people do some serious detective work just by researching someone on Facebook alone. Although technology is a beautiful thing, I have always felt that there is a double standard. Technology can assist with research and information, but it can also expose you to information that you didn't want to potentially know about your neighbor next door.

In the article it states that "the booming science of decision making has shown that more information can lead to objectively  poorer choices, and to choices that people come to regret". I couldn't agree more with this statement. Sometimes we let technology get the best of us to where we get to a point that we don't think that we can make a decision without googling it first. Sometimes I feel that I should just lock my smartphone, laptop, and ipod away for a day and see just how it would be to function without it.