KaraStuckyandDena

Foutch
EDCI718
Summer2014

Discussion#3
Topic
:
Howcanwe,asteachers/instructorspromotethedevelopmentandappreciationoffree
speechandyetmaintaincivil,criticaldiscoursethroughtheuseoftechnologyinteachingand
learning?Givetwoexamples.

Kara:
SocialMediaischangingthewaythatyoungpeopleexperienceplacesandreflecton
historicalevents.Takeforexample,BreannaMitchell,whotookaselfiewhilesmilingata
concentrationcampinGermany.Thetemptationwithsocialmediaistoturnourfriendsintoan
audience.Wecastourselvesasthestarandthinkabouthowtoentertainourfollowers.
(Detwiler,2014)Itseemsthatteensaresoconcernedwithgettinglikesasanapprovalfrom
theirpeersthattheysaythingsonlinethattheywouldntsayinperson.Orbecausetheyareso
wrappedupingettingtheperfectselfie,theydontstoptothinkaboutwheretheyareandhow
whattheyaredoingmightbeinsensitiveordisrespectful.Asteachers,Ithinkitsimportantfor
ustohaveconversationswithourstudentsandtogettheirperspective.TheCNNarticlealso
talksaboutastatementthatJustinBiebermadeoverTwitterwhilevisitingAnneFranksHouse
lastyear.WhilestudyingtheHolocaustinhistoryclassorreadingTheDiaryofaYoungGirlin
literatureclass,teacherscouldsharethesesocialmediastorieswiththeirclassesanddiscuss
sensitivewaystoreactonlinetohistoricalevents.Afterstudyinganeventinhistory,students
couldwritetheirowntweetsastohowtheywouldreacttotheeventin140charactersorless.I
thinkitsextremelyimportantforstudentstohavetheopportunitytothinkaboutandpractice
properonlineetiquetteinasafeenvironment(theclassroom)beforetheymakemistakesonline
thatarepermanent.

Denna:
Thatissotrue,Kara.Manytimespeopledontstoptothinkbeforesnappingthatselfie
orfiringoffaquicktweetorFBpostorresponse.Itsgreattobeabletousethoseshort
oneliners,butasyousay,folksmanytimesdontstoptothinkaboutwhattheyaresaying
beforeitstoolate.Inaddition,accordingtotheCivilDiscoursearticle,85%offacetoface
communicationisnonverbal,somuchofthemeaninginconversationsislostandgivesthe
potentialformisunderstandinganddisagreementsthatcanquicklyescalateintomoreserious

conflicts.Beingbehindascreentendstodesensitizeandseparateusfromthepotential
reactionsthepeoplewearecommunicatingwithmighthave.Whilewedonteverwanttogo
againsttherightstheFirstAmendmentaffordseveryoneofus,itisimperativethatwehave
discussionswithourstudentsaboutthis,andhelpthemtobemoreconsciousabouttheironline
commentsandconversations.Thefollowingquotefromthearticlereallystoodouttome.
Generally,inthesamewayweeducatorshavetaughtstudentstothinkcriticallyabout
traditionalmediaandtheinformationitoffers,weshouldalsohelpstudentsthinkcriticallyabout
theuseoftheInternetandtheinformationfoundthere(Chickering,2010).

Kara:
Itsalsoimportantforstudentstobeawareofprivacyissuesrelatedtosocialmedia.
Manyyoungpeoplethinkthatbecausetheiraccountissettoprivate,itissafeforthemtosay
whatevertheywantwithoutbeingmindfuloftheconsequences.Theyneedtounderstandthat
everythingtheypostonsocialmediaispublicbecauseitcouldberepostedbyoneoftheir
followersorbythecompanyitself(forexampleFacebook).Also,whatteenagersdoonsocial
medianow,couldbedetrimentalintheirsearchforajobinthefuture.Inthenewageofsocial
media,jobapplicantsmayneverknowthatapotentialemployerfoundtheirpoliticalviewtobe
unpalatableandthereforepassedthemupforacandidatewithacleanernetrecord.
(Chickering,2010)

Denna:
Althoughthisarticlewaswrittenin2010,Ifounditamazingtolearnthatatthattime
45%ofpotentialemployersreportedcheckingthesocialmediaprofilesofapplicants.Thisis
somethingIveneverthoughtabout,butotherpeopleintheprofessionalworldIhavevisited
withaboutthisthinkthatpercentageisactuallywaylowerthanwhatactuallyhappenstodayin
2014.Wereallyneedtohelpourstudentscometounderstandthepossibleramificationsand
unintendedconsequencesthatcanariselaterinlifebecauseofsomethingtheypostonline.

Kara:
Asteachers,wecanhelpourstudentsusetheinternetresponsiblybydiscussingprivacy
issues,includingadigitalfootprint,withourclasses.Givingthestudentsopportunitiesto
engageindiscussiononcontroversialtopicsandallowingthemtopracticetheseinthecontext
ofsocialmedia.Thiswillhelpstudentsrealizethatwhiletheydohavethefreedomtosay
whatevertheywouldliketoovertheinternet,theyarenotanonymousandtheirpostscould
havelongtermconsequences.

Denna:
Aswithallthingsineducation,teachersmustexplicitlyteachanddemonstratefor
studentsproperandappropriatewaystoexercisetheirfreespeechinthetechnologicalworld.

References
Chickering,A.W.,&Junco,R.CivilDiscourseInTheAgeOfSocialMedia.
AboutCampus,

1218.RetrievedJuly23,2014,from
http://www.academia.edu/1209526/Civil_discourse_in_the_age_of_social_media
Detweiler,C.(2014,July22).Smilingfor'Auschwitzselfies,'andcryingintothedigital
wilderness.
CNNBeliefBlogRSS.
RetrievedJuly23,2014,from
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/22/defendingtheauschwitzselfie/?hpt=hp_c3