Texas Aggie and educator cross paths here! I love my Texas Aggies! This past year has been a whirlwind of excitement as a proud football program has begun to live up to the expectations of its rabid fan base! I'll be spending the the next two weeks sharing digital citizenship with teachers in my district as part of a laptop deployment and bring your own technology (BYOT) learning. The groups have been small, but has give the cool opportunity to get to know new people and hear and share thoughts on the important topic of digital citizenship as it relates to teachers as well as students.
While in between sessions I read this article about Johnny Football entering the SEC media days this week. I couldn't help see the connections between Johnny Football's woes and digital citizenship elements being shared through these courses. I think the most striking quote from it is the following: "That's what college students do today. They document their lives without realizing the whole world can watch." The part that should make you say "wow" is that there is still the belief that kids still don't realize the power and responsibility that goes along with access! Throw in all the great sound bites from the circus that was Wednesday's interviews, the importance of the explicit teaching of digital citizenship K-12 should be pretty apparent! So, here are the things, in my humble opinion, we can learn from Johnny Football regarding digital citizenship:
While middle and high school students don't have the following and celebrity that Johnny Football does, but it should be on the forefront of students minds when navigating the digital waters, what kind of citizen am I????
Gig'em & God Bless!!
B
While in between sessions I read this article about Johnny Football entering the SEC media days this week. I couldn't help see the connections between Johnny Football's woes and digital citizenship elements being shared through these courses. I think the most striking quote from it is the following: "That's what college students do today. They document their lives without realizing the whole world can watch." The part that should make you say "wow" is that there is still the belief that kids still don't realize the power and responsibility that goes along with access! Throw in all the great sound bites from the circus that was Wednesday's interviews, the importance of the explicit teaching of digital citizenship K-12 should be pretty apparent! So, here are the things, in my humble opinion, we can learn from Johnny Football regarding digital citizenship:
- Nothing is private - as many of the protections we put on our social media profiles, there always seems to be a way that someone within our network shares and then it's all downhill from there. Another one of the quotes from the article by Ivan Maisel: "there's 300 reporters surrounding you..." Everybody's device has a camera, so even if you aren't documenting life on social media, someone else might be!
- No such thing as delete - two things here. First off, someone might have already seen it and shared it or there are numerous sites and ways that sites and profiles are archived. So that post, that tweet is out there somewhere is cyberspace just waiting to be shared. Think before you post.
- 140 characters can ruin your life...or at least screw it up pretty good - I've been known to give the benefit of the doubt too much and maybe that is the case here, but I do believe that Johnny Football is genuinely a good guy who has clearly been a poor steward of his digital citizenship. In PD, 140 characters can be a cool way to reflect on learning, but you would think it would take a whole lot more to screw up your life! With this idea in mind,
- You are what you share - He may be just a "20 year old kid" (how many times did we hear that phrase??), but there is a phrase out there "celebrity is as celebrity does." Or at least I think that is a phrase out there...if not, I call dibs... Because our social media networks are mostly likely much larger than our physical family/friends network, it doesn't matter how great a guy you are at home or with friends.
- Social media is the context - another one of the quotes from the article was "Look, how do we provide addition context..." Here is the answer smart guy: You don't! If you are going to rant or vent on social media, that is your context and mostly likely, few will care about the "addition context" if/when you say/share something you shouldn't. Finally,
- The line between famous and infamous is razor thin - and in my eyes, Johnny Football is like the Grand Canyon wire walker guy right now. So accomplished in one season and so much hard work ahead to maintain a positive profile, but what will the legacy be when it is said and done with just another slip...or two???
Gig'em & God Bless!!
B