I am currently teaching a section of English Composition at Plymouth State. This course is required of all students and is typically taken in the first semester of their first year. We have talked about what is writing and have collectively decided that even their status updates to Facebook, Twitter and texting are examples of their writing. When I stumble/find information regarding these sites and their use that might challenge the students preconceived notions, I bring in copies and we discuss briefly.
"How Facebook Ruins Friendships," and "Facebook Exodus" are two articles that I have brought to the class (both from NYTimes). At this time, I mentioned that in my previous life when I was an Assistant Program Director for an Early Intervention Program in New Hampshire and I had to hire and fire employees I Googles all potential interviewees. The students thought that this was nuts and some weren't sure it was even legal. I then explained that what is placed online is there, potentially, forever for anyone to view. After a brief discussion, I got the feeling that most of my twenty students thought I was nuts.
Not the next day on my Google Reader I found the article titled, "Obama School Speech Addresses Facebook for 'Glass House' Generation." This article so beautifully backed up everything I said and we talked about and was timely. Plus, it had the added bonus of coming from the current President. This article really cemented in the students minds that while social is quite cool and for all its worth, students really do need to pay attention to what they post. This article listed the results from a study done by CareerBuilder that interviewed companies on thier use of researching prospective employees and whether or not what they found inhibited their offering an interview with that person.
This study is really quite revealing and a way to keep students grounded in what they are posting on the web.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Vanessa,
You are completely right in telling your students to be careful about what they put on the web. A few weeks ago the radio station I was listening to had a trivia question about this very topic. Although I can not remember it word for word it was something like: What is one of the top reasons why a company will not hire someone? The answer was because of what the candidate had posted about themselves on a social networking site. It's a very interesting time in technology and people just don't realize what they put on the internet now can come back to harm them later if they are not careful.
It is amazing how young adults are clueless about their postings and how it can affect their future. That is something that I certainly want to teach from day one. How what they place on the internet becomes permanent on some servers after a certain amount of time, even if they delete it. It also reminds me of the time I managed a lodge and hired seasonal workers. Some had the audacity to provide an email address that clearly referenced marijuana. Did they really think that I would even give them an interview knowing that they were pot smokers? Unbelievable!!
@Vanessa - I love your blog topic choice for this week. It is so important for us to teach digital citizenship at the very earliest ages. What kids put out on the internet is there forever. You can't take it back. By the time the kids are in middle school, it is almost too late! Statistics show that almost 84% of children ages 7-17 go online, according to Pew research. Having teens myself, it is concerning that they may be putting information out on social networking sites that they may later regret. I am pretty diligent about checking, friending them on facebook, etc. You can not have enough talks with students, children, family, friends about keeping information private. Colleges and future employers may be checking. I also know of marriages that have been torn apart by facebook. It is too bad.
Post a Comment