In inquiring further into the topic of youth embracing technology for social change, I have found the following articles and blogs useful in understanding this topic more clearly.

An article in The Globe and Mail, by Marlene Habib, was helpful in understanding a teachers role in equipping students to use technology positively and effectively to bring about good. In this article, Habib cites people who are proponents of the above idea, such as We Day contributors and university researchers. They believe that youth can harness technology for good and to promote social justice but they need to be taught how to use it and informed of the harms that can potentially come from technologies.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/youth-and-technology-powerand-danger/article20790028/

Another resource that helped me understand the topic of youth social activism through technology was the blog Speak Up for Change. This blog contains many articles about how youth are fostering technology to bring about positive change globally. Some of these articles included the use of Twitter hashtags to reach global online communities, Facebook charitable pages,  and the innovation of Apps to make an impact. Although some of these ideas we not created by youth, many of them were. This resource is useful because it serves are direct evidence for what young people can do if they are introduced to technology and motivated to make a difference in some way. The best example I found was a teen who created an App to help underprivileged people in India.

http://www.speakupforchange.ca/banking-app-for-developing-countries-designed-by-canadian-student-at-j7-summit/

The third resource that will prove very useful to me is the Social Good Summit 2015. This is a conference that is happening September 26-27 and you can listen to live. I have listened to these conversations that are happening and the focus this year is talking about the impact of technology and media on positive social initiatives happening globally. Speakers of this conference meet to discuss the impact technology can have to make the world a better place.I am hoping that I can access this resource over the next week and it isn’t just a one time “live” stream. One of the discussions touched on how we all can use Twitter and blogs to challenge the legitimacy of undemocratic laws. It also touched on the problem of how to access people that don’t have easy access to technology. A later topic being discussed at 4pm is “Digitally Enabling Citizens”. I think this could be very relevant to the topic I am researching.

http://mashable.com/sgs/

Lastly, I found an article on the Government Canada website titled, “Preparing Citizens for the Knowledge Society and Digital Economy”.  This article did not touch on youth specifically, and it did not touch on social activism through technology, but it poses questions surrounding how our economy is changing and what that means for the future from a business standpoint. I don’t think it will help further my research too much, however the questions about the governments role is interesting to consider to gain a different perspective about who else is responsible for equipping citizens.

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/028.nsf/eng/00415.html

Reading Review 1

A main interest that I see arising in my career in the near future is the use of technology to share student initiatives relating to social responsibility. I am interested in how students can best use technology whether it’s social media or a particular program, to research and understand a topic or issue they are passionate about; then, use some form of technology to create and share their work to initiate change.

The curriculum related to this interest is greatly present within the “social responsibility competency” of the new B.C. curriculum. Within that curriculum the questions are asked: Can students take purposeful actions to support others and their environment? Can they initiate positive and sustainable change? Can they support diversity and defend human rights? (B.C. Curriculum, https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies/social-responsibility) These examples represent a few of the many competencies of social responsibility we want our students to engage in. I see a MAJOR need for technology to guide students in initiating this change. Whether they become environmental stewards or human rights activists, I am interested in how they can use technology to assist them.

Pedagogy related to this interest that would foster engagement would include inquiry based learning, collaboration, and digital literacy. Students would be the leaders in their learning, choosing an issue they are passionate about. Students would collaborate with each other and their community during their learning process, and students would develop digital literacy.

In the ebook “Why School”, by Will Richardson, some literacies identified by the National Council of Teachers of English, include skills such as sharing information for global communities and attending to ethical responsibilities. In order to foster/equip students with the tools and skills necessary to complete these goals, I see an issue arising in terms of teachers not being proficient enough themselves to really engage in this area of education. So while I am greatly interested in pursuing the above ideas surrounding social responsibility linked to technology, I am also focused on the need to educating myself, in order to educate others.

Keywords:
Digital literacy
Social responsibility
Inquiry based learning

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Hi fellow classmates,

Welcome to my blog! This is very new for me so excuse me ahead of time if I post something twice or if it doesn’t look visually pleasing ! PS I inserted this image just to play around with the blog; if you are curious, the picture shows a small section of the beauty that is the Oregon Coast.