Week 9: Practicing Digital Responsibility

Maxwell, S. (2007, December 16). Working Together Teamwork Puzzle Concept [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/

Collaborative tools allow us to construct knowledge TOGETHER and this week I used VoiceThread,  Polldaddy, and Blogger to connect with others in order to learn from them as well as share my own expertise with them. As I learn more about becoming a digital citizen, I have come to realize that some areas of digital rights and responsibilities still cause debate. Polls are a great way to see at a glance how a community is thinking!! Polldaddy is a service that allows you to create surveys, polls and quizzes, and get your content rated. It collects responses and gives you the option to display immediate results. My online course (ADED 1P32) used Polldaddy this week to do a quick check of our positions on some of the issues around digital rights and responsibilities by responding to 12 scenarios of the Digital Compass Activity in our textbook (Ribble, 2011, p. 96-98). We were in full agreement on some of the scenarios of appropriate and inappropriate technology use, while not so much on others. Polldaddy's immediate response capability allows users to see the impact of their opinion so that they can engage in discussions.
A great tool for engaging in discussions is VoiceThread - a multimedia slide show that allows users to navigate slides and contribute/comment using audio, text, or video. VoiceThreads can be exported as a video file, shared on social media sites, or embedded into websites to encourage discussions on a topic. I added a page on my blog labeled "VOICETHREAD" that includes a discussion VoiceThread on digital rights and responsibilities. Feel free to add your own comments to the VoiceThread!
Another way to engage in discussions is through blogs. People can leave comments expressing their opinions on a specific topic. This week we were asked to choose a Technology Use Scenario from our textbook (Ribble, 2011, p. 92-94) and write a blog on it addressing some questions. I shared the link on Twitter to encourage more of a discussion as well.

These three tools can be included in the "sharing" section of my PLE since this week I used them for collaboration. Additionally, VoiceThread can be included in the "creating" section, while Polldaddy can also be included into the "collecting information" section. Either way, they're all great collaborating tools. 
The Internet has made it easier to obtain and share information, thus increasing our knowledge exponentially. Almost every single website now has the option to share their posts: through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, google+, email... bringing infinite amounts of information right to our fingertips. 

Licht, M. (2011, July 16). Speak, Memory [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/

I'd like to share two posts from my Feedly reader this week, both from Edudemic. The first post by Katie Lepi outlines four ways the Internet is making kids smarter: by improving cognition, writing ability and social skills, as well as increasing interest in reading. "By the age of 2, 90% of kids have an online history" and "by the age of 5, 50% have used a tablet or other internet connected device".  Because kids are leaving their digital footprint at such an early age, it is imperative that they are taught how to be digital citizens as early as possible. The second post, also by Katie Lepi, lists 45 tools to create polls and quizzes (in case you weren't convinced by Polldaddy's capabilities).