Online life
From my experience I agree with the statement, “Music is cultural glue among youth,” (Boyd, 2009, p. 122). My students love to listen to music at any moment during their day at school. About 1/3 of my class own a device to listen to their own music on a regular basis. Music gives them an opportunity to feel connected at a time in life when they are unsure of themselves.
Boyd also points out that when teenagers write in a public space on the Internet they “are taking social interactions between friends in the public sphere for others to witness” (2009, p. 124). Displaying a message on social media allows a broad audience (those who are linked to the accounts) to view the message and in asynchronous time. I taught grade 6/7 this past year and I found out there is another social network beyond the classroom. Two female students who hardly ever associate together at school were exchanging year-end cards and gifts. As their teacher, I was caught by surprise by this interaction and obvious relationship as I thought I had a good sense of the friendships associated with all the different circles in my class. This experience revealed to me that their online social world is just as important as the face-to-face interactions that occur in the classroom.
Searchability is something I have used in the last few years. I have often looked up my own name or family members to see what public works online that I am linked to or what associations I connect to. I know that my students today live in a different world, one in which their entire life can be depicted online. From photos or videos posted by parents as they grow up to comments on blogs of their own published work have the possibility to be publicly documented and available. It is essential for youth to start the process of having conversations about ethical decisions online as according to developmental psychologists it takes children about 12 years to develop the cognitive structures that enable them to engage in ethical thinking (Graber and Lieberman, 2015). Students need to reflect about what their own morals that govern their online behaviour and what the implications of positing something online may be. James et al, (2009) claim it is important for students to learn about identity, privacy ownership and authorship, credibility and participation. All of these components help students to develop a better awareness of their ethical knowledge and online decision-making.
Text and e-mail can sometimes be hard to interpret when the volume, tone, and expression are missing. Boyd found that it is much more common for there to be misinterpretations of what was written in digital bodies compared to in person conversations (2009). In my experience, e-mails or texts often require a follow-up message or conversation when they have been misunderstood to verify the original intent of the message.
Boyd, D. (2009), “Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life.” Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Edited by David Buckingham. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 119–142.
Graber, D. & Lieberman, C. (2015). BeCyberwise LLC. Retrieved from http://www.cyberwise.org/#!whoo-whoo-are-we/c1g9d
James, C., Davis,K., Flores, A., Francis,J., Pettingill, L., Rundle,M., Gardner, H. (2009). Young people, ethics, and the new digital media: A synthesis from the GoodPlay project. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Report on Digital Media and Learning. Boston: MIT Press.
Hello Rebecca,
Thanks for sharing your post. As I was reading I was struck by the story of the two girls in your class who for all outward appearances were not close. As the year approached an end it became revealed that though the students were not behaving in a way that we as adults would perceive as friendship; there was a genuine connection. As I read Boyd’s (2007) work I became aware of how little I understand about the current modes of socializing available to the students in my classroom. I never had to construct an online identity. Even now that I exist online very little of my socialization or self-identity is tied to what occurs in those arenas.
I wonder if we are becoming ill equipped to deal with the new socialization our students are going through. I will admit to certain level of confusion when a student is upset around an event occurring on Facebook or another social media site. To me these sites are an external tool used to connect me quickly to friends I wish to contact. I have not created a self that exists in those worlds. I found Boyd’s work to be quite informative and in some ways challenging as I am now forced to rethink a how many of my students create their identity, and how I as a teacher can support them.
Boyd, Danah. (2007) “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life.” MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning – Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume (ed. David Buckingham). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hi. Thanks for you post. The first comment that I would like to respond to is the one you made about music being the cultural glue (Boyd, 122). I am finding more and more as I continue in my teaching career (year 20 this fall!) that music is very important to youth. When I was a kid, you were lucky to have a Walkman if your parents could afford it for you. Radio was very important (I remember calling in requests and then taping the radio to hear myself on it! Soooo exciting!) and Muchmusic actually played videos! We bonded over albums (yes real vinyl or cassettes) and we were excited by music video premieres. Storing music took actual physical space. Today, I see my students exchanging music, listening to music on their phones (who has an iPod anymore..they are sooo early 2000s!), accessing Sound Cloud through the computer lab (by proxy no doubt..they’re figured a way to bypass our controls!) and so forth. Music is important to them as much as it was to me, but it is just manifesting itself in a different way. I allow music in my classroom much of the time. In fact, I force them to endure my choices on the radio *70s, 80s, 90s* LOL Some appreciate it. I figure it is an opportunity to expand their musical palate. And yes, I do allow them to choose from time to time, so it’s not as dictatorship as it sounds.
The final comment I would like to address is the searchability factor. It is scary to see what can come up when you “Google” yourself. I have an uncommon name, but apparently there are at least 3 others with my exact name. Image searches usually bring up my Linkedin profile picture. Sometimes a really old article about me from a local newspaper comes up and every time, the dreaded Rate My Teacher comes up. I never read it because the anonymity of the internet allows students to say things they wouldn’t normally say to you in person (i.e. no accountability). Sites like that this irritate me to no end, but that’s another story.
Great post as it got me thinking!
Works Cited
Boyd, D. (2009), “Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life.” Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Edited by David Buckingham. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 119–142.