"Growing Up Online" shares the stories of teenagers who are active users of online sites. The special begins by showing all of the ways children interact with the internet; playing games online, looking at videos, updating social media pages and making friends. Online sites are now an extension of the teens personal lives and a lot of information is shared. It allows kids a place to be "themselves" away for their parents. Users have online competitions to see who can get the most friends. They also use pages to "fight" instead of talking to one another. Things that are shared online that they wouldn't normally do. Teachers should become more entertaining and capture the attention of his or her students, instead of having lecture based learning.
1. A survey
by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that in 2004, 67 percent
of parents said the Internet has been a good thing for their children. However,
this number decreased to 59 percent in 2006. Why do you think the number of
parents who reported the Internet being a good thing for their children has
decreased? In 2004 the way people interacted with the internet changed. The
internet was no longer a means of communication for business people but it was
now used by most of the American society on a daily basis. I believe social
media sites are part of the reason parents feel differently about the internet.
With pages like YouTube and Facebook it is easy to lose track of time and
become completely engrossed in your activity of choice. It is also easy for
children to become distracted while they should be doing more important things.
As soon as I sit down in front of a computer the first thing I do is long into
Facebook. I could be typing a lesson plan for work or a paper for English, but
I’m can’t focus on the task I should be completing until I check my new feed.
2.
More teachers are using tools to try to detect
cheating or deter students’ inclination to cheat. In the program, we see the
use of plagiarism-detection tools like Turnitin.com and writing assignments
completed during class time to make sure students do their own work and
generate their own ideas. In terms of student writing, what are some different types
of "cheating"? What are the elements you would include in your
definition of "cheating"? The only tool I’m aware of that aids in
“cheating” are cliff notes; which students can use instead of reading the
entire story. I personal don’t consider them cheating. I believe the current definition of cheating
is accurate. However, I would include using the work of someone else and not
citing the work of the original producer.
3.
One student claims he "never reads
books" but relies on summaries and annotated notes he finds on Web sites.
He confesses that he feels guilty about this, stating, "I feel like I kind
of cheated it." Should he feel guilty? Why or why not? No, i don't believe he should feel guilty for reading the cliff notes. I don’t believe reading cliff notes
instead of the entire story is cheating, but it isn't always the best decision. Many of the stories that have
annotated summaries are hundreds of years old and are difficult to understand. If a student relays only on cliff notes they may miss small details a teacher may include. I’m
extremely grateful they existed when I was reading Hamlet and Of Mice and Men.
4. Before the Internet, in order to be seen by
the world, you had to be portrayed in some form of mass media, and you had to
be famous in some respect -- in the news, in politics or as a celebrity. Now
anyone can be seen online by anyone else in the world. Some people have become
famous for videos or photos they’ve posted (such as Autumn Edows). What are the
positive and negative consequences of blurring the line between being a
celebrity and a regular person? It’s easy to find inspiration and become a
role model. Another positive consequence is possibly a gain in self esteem. A negative effect of being "internet famous" is many people don’t
respect your privacy and are often treated inhumanly. All of your mistakes are
pubic and easily accessible to the entire nation and people are ridiculously
harsh on you. Details that are usually kept private and shared with family are available to everyone with access to the internet.
5. Shows
like "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline NBC contribute to parental
anxiety about online media. What elements of this FRONTLINE program are likely
to increase parents’ fears? What elements of the program might be reassuring? Parent’s
fears are increased by how easy it is for predators to pretend to be someone
else and the numerous ways they can interact with children. Children also put themselves into more danger
my pretending to be older than they are, and putting in false birthdays to have
access to email accounts and sites such as Facebook. I feel parents are by how
quickly predators will meet with people they know are under aged. Most
predators will expose children to activities they are too young to engage in
such as drinking, and drugs. It’s reassuring for parents to see predators
caught by the police.
6.
Teasing,
lying, gossiping, threatening, spreading rumors or harassing online (and
offline)can severely affect people’s self-concept and self-esteem and have an
impact on their emotional state. In the program, we see one girl who describes
flirting with boys and then revealing she was just kidding. She explains:
"You wouldn’t do that to someone’s face, but online is completely
different. ... No one can do anything. You’re at your house, they’r e at their
house." What are some of the short- and longer-term consequences of this
behavior for life online and in the real world? Their self image can be severely damaged.Building someones confidence then quickly destroying it is extremely harsh. I feel it is wrong regardless of how the act is done. Interacting over the internet is "safer" than doing something like that in person. A long term effect could possible be getting labeled as a tease or even getting harmed for playing with someone's emotions. Loosing friends may be a short term effect.
7. At the end of the program, Greg decides
it’s time for him to "disconnect" by going to the Coast Guard
Academy, where he will spend seven weeks without cell phones or the Internet.
Have you ever thought about "disconnecting" from it all? Do you think
it would be easy or difficult? What would you enjoy or dislike about
disconnecting? Yes, I’ve disconnected from Facebook several times. The
constant complaining, nagging, and drama can become annoying and too much to
handle. My disconnect, from Facebook, didn’t last long, maybe for three days.
After reactivating my page I decided to delete the people who always share to
much info. Constantly seeing the complaints and problems of others wasn’t
something I wanted to deal with anymore.
I quickly went from around 350 friends to 270. I haven’t ever given up
my phone I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t have a phone for an
extended period of time.
