technology with intention
Digital Identity
Online personas, digital awareness, social networking, and the interaction of digital and real-world identity.
Parent Education Night!
172 days
by Jessie
in Digital Identity
Last night the Parents Association hosted a Parent Education night called “Parenting Digital Communication”. Ted Kalmus (Head of School) and I spoke about all things adolescent and digital, including gaming, texting, screen time limits and social networking. Here is a link to our presentation (made with Haiku Deck)
We had about 40 parents attend and we had some great conversations about digital communication and teenagers. These parents are enthusiastic and ready to learn. I left feeling energized!
Facebook and Body Image
187 days
8th graders spent a few class periods discussing body image and digital identity. First, we watched a video clip from ABC News detailing a now defunct page on Facebook called “Competition for the Most Beautiful Teenager”.
This led us to a discussion of how popular culture portrays the “ideal” male and female figure. Students had many ideas about what characteristics the media deems beautiful for both men and women including having a “fit” body, having tan skin, and blond hair. We got into more detail describing specific physical features of men and women, but also what personality traits are portrayed as positive by popular culture.
My Digital Life…
219 days
In tech this week students have been reflecting on their digital lives. We had a good conversation about what the differences are between “media” and “digital media”. Based on these reflections, students created an illustrated simile that represents their digital media lives. Below are examples from two 6th grade students.
Are YOU on Facebook?
548 days
Last week the 8th grade spent some time reading, thinking and writing about Facebook. We started off by taking a quick poll of who does and does not have a Facebook account. Roughly half the 8th grade class has a Facebook account. Opinions varied in terms of usage of Facebook. Some students said they use it to connect with friends who live in other cities and states, some said they use it to keep up with local and long distance friends and family, and others said they did not see the point in Facebook when it was easier just to pick up the phone and call. It was a fascinating discussion, especially when a common assumption by adults (and often other teens) is that everyone has a Facebook account.
What is “PLAY”?
657 days
What happens when you give 67 middle school students access to a camera, a question and no adult supervision?
Digital identity close to home
740 days
8th grade students examined two stories of digital identity occurring this week in Washington state:
Story 1: Two tweens charged with cyberstalking in Facebook incident
An 11-year old and 12-year old are accused of using an ex-friend’s Facebook account to post mean and sexual images and messages. This is a clear instance of posing, which we’ve previously studied as a form of cyberbullying. The 12-year-old student went before a judge today and pled not guilty.
Story 2: A superstar teen loses chance to be featured by the Seattle Times because of distateful tweets
A Seattle journalist was writing an article about a teen who is heading to college after beating the odds and moving to the US from a refugee camp. As part of his research, he took a look at the teen’s Twitter account, which contained lewd language and drug related posts. As a direct result of the tweets, the journalist has decided not to write the story.
8th graders spent time debating the conflict between the teen’s positive actions and negative digital identity. Which is a more accurate depiction of the teen? Do we all have negative aspects of our life that aren’t meant to be recorded forever? What are healthy ways to explore identity without putting everything online?
Texting frequency among middle school students
755 days
by Jac de Haan
in Digital Identity
Analysis of the 8th grade digital identity survey continues to yield interesting trends. This year we have 3x more power-texters than we did last year…we may need to change the high end of our response options next year to get a sense of how many texts these frequent folks send and receive in a month!
Digital identity quotes
757 days
The 8th grade recently deployed an annual digital identity survey of Billings Middle School students. We are still analyzing the data, but here are some interesting quotes that were submitted:
(more…)
300th blog post!
768 days
by Jac de Haan
in Digital Identity
This is officially the 300th blog post on Billings Beta!
What started in June 2007 as a way to document classroom lessons has evolved into an award-winning resource for students, teachers and families to understand the impacts of technology in real-world and digital communities.
Thanks so much to everyone: site visitors, educators that take the time to comment on stories, and the 270+ feed subscribers – your interest in our work keeps students motivated to share their experiences with the world.
Teen digital identity – Rebecca Black follow-up
788 days
7th grade students continue to follow the story of Rebecca Black, a 13-year-old singer who has recently risen to fame via YouTube.
Since our first introduction last Wednesday (6M views, like/dislike buttons disabled) to today (39M views, 1:10 ratio of like to dislike) she has been:
- interviewed on national news programs, including Good Morning America
- appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- been the topic of an interview with Lady Gaga
- is rumored to have made $25,000 in iTunes downloads.
Today students wrestled with the question is this fame worth the criticism she is receiving?
We spent most of the class looking at her production company, Ark Music Factory. This group of producers, choreographers and marketers seem to have a specific musical and visual idea of what might be successful online. They’ve drawn a lot of criticism in the last few weeks for charging families to make music videos for their children.
Finally, we watched another video from one of Ark Music Factory’s artists. Student debated the quality of the music in comparison to Rebecca Black, noted the guest appearance of one of the producers in the video again, and looked at ratings and viewing history for Alana Lee:
