Mar
06

The learning curve - Why are people surprised?

Filed Under (nextgenteachers, skills) by Justin Medved on 06-03-2007

March 1, 2007
“After Years of Telling All, 20-Somethings Start to Clam Up ” - - ABC News

“Faced with professional and emotional consequences many younge people are now rethinking what they post onto the internet.”

My first thoughts on this
1) Why does this make news?

2) Why are we so surprised? This news means young people are LEARNING. This medium brings with it incredible opportunities but also massive responsibilities. This shift to web awareness comes off the back of the countless number of people who have been burned by inappropriatly posted picture or comment that got into the wrong hands.

Students as well as professionals are now just as responsible for their reputation online as they are for it off it.

Who is teaching them these skills and responsibilities ?

Is it built into the curriculum?

If it is a big enough story to capture the attention of ABC News, should it not be?

Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)

2 Comments Already, Leave Yours Too

Dennis Harter on 7 March, 2007 at 9:58 am #
    

Just read an article in the Washington Post that speaks to this…sadly for some this learning is coming too late and for others, this learning still hasn’t happened.

The article is about graduates of law school not getting call backs for jobs based on what they believe is slanderous discussion happening in public forums (most to all of it untrue). I am writing about it on my blog.

If it wasn’t clear enough for people before, this should do the trick. Kids NEED to learn about safe, responsible use of this participatory environment. If they don’t it is their future and their friends which will suffer. And that responsibility is ours, as their teachers.

Certainly if the impact on their futures is so great, learning to be smart, responsible “world (electronic and non-electronic) participants” has to be AS important as, if not MORE important than whether a child learns how to graph a parabola or cite a source, or write a 5 paragraph essay.


    

[...] It’s no wonder that there is misuse, just as it is no wonder that some are learning on their own how to behave well and how to protect themselves (great post on this from Justin at Medagogy and teacher directed kids learning based at ThinkingStick). [...]


Post a Comment
Name:
Email:
Website:
Comments:

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image