With the topic I chose, I found it easy to start searching, but found it difficult (as I imagined) to find relevant information which I could use to inform my teaching surrounding the idea of cyber security and identity. One of the first tasks was doing a search in the UBC database, because I felt like I would have the most success finding some research on identity and security (see image below). Based on the image above, you will find that while there were over 100 000 results in education databases and journals, a significant portion of that was in fact not related to education in schools. Most of the results were based on education of others and how identity theft occur. Upon discovering this, I felt defeated. I was somewhat successful in this search, however, because I did find a scholarly source which was also available on the McGill University website. I will include that article in my third blog post. Next, I decided that I would spend time doing a Google search for something, anything I could use. I ended up finding a doctoral dissertation which explored the idea of online identity in middle school ELL students. Upon further inspection, I found a lot of relevant material to my idea - perhaps not related directly to the online security aspect, but certainly the identity. Going into this search, I knew I would also find hits from Common Sense Media. I have used their curriculum numerous times over the years, but since I had never spent time with the K-8 curriculum, I spent some time reading what the company finds as appropriate for those grades. Following Common Sense Media, I also came across a local (to Alberta) website called 2learn.ca (section titled Your Digital Presence) - I am not sure why the site is not promoted, because it seemed to have a wealth of information regarding online identity and safety (see links on the left in the image below). However, I may be living in my own bubble because since moving to Alberta I have only worked in an independent school which we each year contractually agree to not become members of the Alberta Teachers Association. On this website, I also found it interesting how it has sectioned off resources for different grade levels. I appreciate that they understand different grade levels have different needs. Finally, I wanted to end my search with some information about various technology agreements within the province. I found a few resources from local (to the province) schools, as well as some provincial documents about acceptable use and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). I remember when I previously taught in Manitoba, we had to re-vamp our BYOD policy as we provided students in grades 9 and 10 their own Chromebook and upon graduation they would keep the devices. Due to the nature of the program, we found it necessary to discuss when, how, and where the devices could be used, even if in grade 12 they could go to University with them. Until graduation, they were property of the school. Image from: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/5821955f-5809-4768-9fc8-3b81b78257f7/resource/631bf34c-d3e6-4648-ab77-2b36727dca0b/download/5783885-2012-07-Bring-your-own-device-a-guide-for-schools.pdf In my current school, we have a single page acceptable use policy which outlines that students may use school provided technology appropriately. Our students keep their devices in locked boxes in homerooms and are given access to them at lunch time, morning break, and otherwise if the teacher sees a need. I think the idea behind this thinking is that our students have less pressure to contribute to their online identity while in school. I found the juxtaposition between what I found in local schools, the province, and my school interesting. While I had hoped to find more scholarly sources, I was glad to have found other resources to use.
1 Comment
Aaron Mueller
9/24/2018 06:35:09 am
Good blog post about your experiences, finds and re-centering of your search terms, strategies and avenues. You had a pretty typical search experience, with some overwhelming results, some dead-ends, a few new leads and a couple of valuable gems. Overall, your reflection and discussion of your experiences so far was insightful for others, provided a glimpse into your evolving personalized inquiry and set the stage for a Part C full of useful and vetted resources. Good work.
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