*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina
Digital Citizenship
*This post has been written as part of my professional growth plan through my #ISTE20 scholarship. The most important skill of the digital age Presenter: Alan November Overview: “There is overwhelming research that the majority of our students do not have strategies to to validate if online content is true or false.. Come and learn how to design highly creative assignments that cover the curriculum and teach students to be web literate!“ Main Takeaways: URL formats can tell users what type of author is associated with that content .org , .edu , .co , .com punctuation such as ~ , –… Read More
Follow Friday – Media Smarts
Every Friday I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. This week I’d like to close out Media Literacy Week by highlighting, once again, Media Smarts! While Media Literacy week is wrapping up, our focus on media and digital literacy is a year-long task (especially now that so much more of our programming is utilizing online tools). Media Smarts is a fantastic resource to help address these skills as required by Manitoba educators in the Literacy with ICT Continuum. Follow Media Smarts… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Stopping Fake News
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and work-place related). You can check out the other Cyber Security Awareness Month posts here: Has my account been compromised? Password habits teachers should break Protecting yourself from phishing emails This week’s tech tip serves double duty as it is also Media Literacy Week! These areas heavily overlap as our media and digital literacy… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Literacy with ICT
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. Literacy with ICT. (2020). Uploaded by Kirsten Thompson. Available online at: http://fishbowlteaching.blogspot.com/ Yesterday I encouraged our staff to purposefully carve out some time to reflect on their experience using online learning platforms. One thing that I am confident that will be brought up in many conversations is the fact that there is a disconnect between what educators assumed students would know how to use when it came to technology and what they… Read More
Social Media for Parents
“TikTok? Instagram? Twitter? Facebook? Just what is social media and what do I need to know as a parent? This session is designed to inform parents/caretakers about social media and empower you to facilitate open conversations on how to use these tools safely & positively. “ Social Media 4 Parents. (2020). Uploaded by Kirsten Thompson. Available online at: http://fishbowlteaching.blogspot.com/ This evening I had an opportunity to learn and share with MVSD parents and guardians regarding social media. This project came as a result of conversations between the ORS PAC, school principal, and myself. We found that many parents were interested in… Read More
School Tech Tips Displays
One of my favourite things is helping our schools to strengthen the digital capacity of their entire community (staff, students, and families). One strategy that we are trying is to display informative and eye-catching displays in central pick-up locations. These displays include: – parent/guardian tech tips – school/divisional social media contacts – PowerSchool app information – Canadian youth media research – QR codes for easy info access Some schools have displays that are easily movable and chose to have them up during high-traffic events like parent-teacher while others have more static displays in their lobbies/central hallways. … Read More
Social Media – Divisional Recommendations for Best Practice
This month I have been invited to speak with the MVSD Board’s Community Relations Committee to share my thoughts on social media use. Now, if you have been following my blog for a while you know that the use of social media in education is one of my passions; especially when it comes to its use in increasing transparency and accountability for stakeholders! The slides from my presentation are available below: MVSD Social Media Recommendations for Best Practice from MissLwbt You can read other posts that I wrote about social media HERE. … Read More
Media Literacy Week 2019
As we progress into October it means that educators can begin prepping for Media Literary Week! This event is running from October 7-11 this year and, if you’re new to this awareness campaign, Media Smarts describes it as, “Media Literacy Week is an annual national campaign hosted by MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers Federation to promote digital and media literacy, with activities and events taking place in classrooms, libraries, museums and community groups from coast to coast to coast. Whether you’re a community organizer, educator or simply an engaged online citizen, join us from October 7-11, 2019 to Break the Fake and remind Canadians… Read More
Challenges in Developing Student Digital Literacy Skills
As members of the future workforce and society, today’s students require guidance and education, in order to successfully navigate and utilize the digital world that they were born into. Educators are tasked with introducing students to new literacies that not only focus on skill development but also emphasize social practices in the context of short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), social networking activities, and mobile technologies (Wan, 2012, p. 1066). School-age children have a unique set of experiences awarded to them due to the digital age in which they were born. However, their birth date alone is not… Read More