Digital Citizenship Starts When?

Most of my blog posts these days seem to come from other blogs. There is a message in there I am sure. I was reading Will Richardson's blog and he referred to a study which stated the following:

"And please, send your administrators and IT folks this message in 42-point bold type:

Social and recreational new media use as a site of learning. Contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online, youth are picking up basic social and technological skills they need to fully participate in contemporary society. Erecting barriers to participation deprives teens of access to these forms of learning. Participation in the digital age means more than being able to access “serious” online information and culture. Youth could benefit from educators being more open to forms of experimentation and social exploration that are generally not characteristic of educational institutions. (Emphasis mine.)

Finally, sit down, and mull this concept over:

Youth using new media often learn from their peers, not teachers or adults, and notions of expertise and authority have been turned on their heads. Such learning differs fundamentally from traditional instruction and is often framed negatively by adults as a means of “peer pressure.” Yet adults can still have tremendous influence in setting “learning goals,” particularly on the interest-driven side, where adult hobbyists function as role models and more experienced peers."

It made me think that the blocking of YouTube, Facebook, and other sites is perhaps not the correct way to go. I know I may be preaching to the choir but I believe, without exposure to and education by educators, we're creating students who create their own digital citizenship rules and those may not be the ones we want to see in the future. I find in my own K-6 world that I often don't face the same challenges as my 7-12 colleagues but when should education on digital citizenship really start? Personally I feel high school is too late. Any other takes out there in the Blogosphere?

Food for Thought

I was reading Brian Lamb's blog and found a link to a Ted Talks video by Dr. Sugata Mitra. Click here to see the video.

Dr. Mitra did experiments all over India involving a computer in a wall, which left in a variety of settings acted as a magnet to the local children. These children went on to discover how to browse the Internet, play games, use e-mail, and many other tasks by experimenting and then teaching each other. His talk gives a fascinating overview of his work and makes some very strong points about:
a) the need for teachers
b) the abilities of children to learn in groups
c) the future of Educational Technology
I highly recommend you spend the 20 minutes it takes to watch this talk and start to draw your own conclusions on where we as teachers should be going in the future.

GREAT BLOG VIDEO

I found this great little video from Common Craft on what Blogs are and why we use them. Perfect for showing your students or parents. They also have videos on Wikis, RSS, and so on.