Social Educational Ripples

                                   Moving Forward: Technoclass! I have had the privilege of taking a course from an instructor, Nicole Zumpano of Dominican University who teaches Social Media Emerging Technologies. I did not know what to expect but I am walking away filled with a sense of gratitude and practical ways to engage my students. As early as this Friday, April 30, I will be doing a lesson plan I created for the class ( although modified to teach to students and not parents). My students will take a journey learning about their digital tattoo’s and hopefully, I will scare them into not posting anything detrimental to their future careers. The crux of this lesson plan will have students creating an action plan to make their social media accounts empowering and inviting to the world.  Source: Giphy.com  In the future, I want to create a class Tik tok page to feature ...

How to protect yourself from the onslaught of social media messaging   Marshall McLuhan , the communication researcher, and writer coined the phrase, “ the Medium is the Message. ” McLuhan pointed out that it was how the media depicted the message rather than the message itself which imprints the mind. Although this phrase was first uttered in 1964 it is still as relevant, if not more so, today. While COVID-19 rages across the world, so do conspiracy theories . People and especially the youth are seduced with fear-baiting theories about vaccines: people having tracker devices planted in their body, stalking every move, and all while Bill Gates is smiling in the distance counting his money ( or as this picture would have you do, his tears). Source: Giphy.com The organic, homeopathic, back-to-nature narrative is taken to extremes and people think they don’t need the help of research but can heal everything with herbs. Until they get sick, then they come running to western medicine. ...

 I did it, I graduated from the school of CIPA/COPPA! Thank you and no need for applause!  Everyone is busy worrying about the internet, big technology companies, and how the young generation will be protected from them. I thought I would research the laws that keep young people safe in school and at home from these multi-billion dollar companies, above is my proof of graduation (disregard the 80% and pretend it's 100%). First, you should know, the meaning of CIPA/COPPA. CIPA and COPPA stand for, "the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) along with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) are federal laws that are put in place to protect children" ( Dashboard ). CIPA creates guidelines for schools and districts to proactively protect students from the harms of the online world and also: protect children from online bullying, cyber predation, obscene images, and child pornography. Source: Giphy.com The problem is, where there is a will there is a way...

                                               Tattooing Our Digital Bodies-or is it real!  Source: Giphy.com Do you have a tattoo? No. Well, you probably have plenty and you don't even know it. They live all over the web; on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media and technology expert and professor at Dominican University, Nicole Zumpano correlates the relationship between tattoos of old and modern tattoo's which manifest in posts across social media platforms.  She documents the reasons people received tattoos in the past are the same as people who post on social media: medicinal, love, tribute, religion, status, decoration inspiration, and finally regret. REGRET.    Source: Giphy.com I think most of us have had that thought, "what did I say and if I was in person, I never would have said it." The o...

How to create a safe, secure, and empowered Digital Universe in Schools!        As technology gradually becomes part of every learning experience at school, educational institutions are trying to adapt. Last week in Social Media class, I read the terms of agreement for YouTube , which I never have read and can infer that is a shared experience among most YouTube. The same goes for the school I work at’s Student Rights & Responsibilities (Remote Learning Edition). I overlooked our school policies regarding how students are guided to use technology and I was surprised when reviewing the lack of positive actions it reinforced while focusing almost exclusively on the negative and punitive consequences.  I am grateful for our school warning students against bullying and inciting hate but it should additionally outline the behavior expected by the students. The Student’s Rights reads, “Use of Cellular telephones or other information technology devices to harass, ...

Technology is king and algorithms is its army. For those who need a clear definition of algorithm,  Myles Bess who researches these issues stated it's, "f or online platforms, a set of instructions that decide what content you see, and in what order you see it" Source: CU Management ' To provide an example of the power of algorithms and high school students, my colleague took a survey of how many of his students would receive a Corona Virus vaccine and the results were astonishing. Three out of seventy sentences said they would get vaccinated. I asked my students where they came to believe vaccines were bad and the majority said, "social media." Mayday we have a problem and education has an answer.       I read three impactful sources to brainstorm ways to confront modern delusion. The first source,  SmarterEveryDay , is moderated by an experienced Youtuber, Destin and interviews Renne Diresta, a seasoned social media researcher. Destin's main focus is...