Cyberbullying

 

I have followed Mychal Threets' library stories and enjoy his Instagram posts detailing his library experiences.  I feel that his story relating to cyberbullying has helped shed more focus on this topic.  Teenagers are experiencing cyberbullying at alarming rates. I found the definition of cyberbullying by the Cyberbullying Research Center (n.d.) interesting since bullying must be repetitive.  One time that a person is harassed online does not fall under the cyberbullying umbrella, it must be repeated harassment.  Cyberbullying is all-encompassing to the victim and the victim feels that there is not an escape from the harassment. The statistics regarding cyberbullying are especially alarming to me as a parent and an educator.  The Cyberbullying Research Center’s study (2023) found that 55% of students have been victims of cyberbullying in their lifetimes and 27% experienced cyberbullying within the last 30 days of the study.   My teenage sons have cell phones and my oldest has social media accounts. I place restrictions on their phones, such as time limits for applications, and downtime, and the phones are not allowed in their bedrooms at bedtime. As a parent, I can try to best educate and place restrictions on my children’s social media presence.  But, how can I best help educate students about cyberbullying and representing themselves as digital citizens? 

As a librarian, I feel that it is important to collaborate with the school’s guidance counselors regarding digital citizenship and cyberbullying.  This is a first step in addressing digital citizenship at the school and observing programs that are currently in place.  In the elementary school librarian role, I would highlight stories that detail experiences of cyberbullying and then have students role-play scenarios.  In addition, students could also write about how they would address harassment online (stopbullying.gov, n.d.).  All of these conversations would open up further conversations for assisting students with resources and making them feel comfortable with telling a professional about instances of cyberbullying.  In my current role, as a kindergarten assistant, we discuss daily social-emotional learning skills like words that can help build others or words that take away.  Digital citizenship plays into this same concept.  We are trying to teach students to be kind and respectful in person and also behind the screen of technology.  Digital citizenship is an ongoing, daily conversation with our students. 

References

stopbullying.gov (n.d.). Prevention at school. https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school

The Cyberbullying Research Center (n.d.). What is cyberbullying? https://cyberbullying.org/what-is-cyberbullying

The Cyberbullying Research Center (2023, October 4). 2023 cyberbullying data. https://cyberbullying.org/2023-cyberbullying-data

 Blog 9 Social Media

I am really looking forward to creating advocacy for the school library through social media. As a parent, I subscribe to the various social media accounts for my children’s programs and I feel like it keeps me connected with what they are learning and experiencing in school.  In order to reach students and their families in the elementary school setting, I would utilize YouTube and Instagram for the library’s social media presence.  The Pew Center Research study (2023) rated Instagram and YouTube to be mostly used by teenagers and students.  In addition, Instagram reaches a target audience of parents and caregivers (Green, 2024). SnapChat is also very popular with teenagers, but I do not surmise that it would be an ideal social network with trying to reach elementary school students and their caregivers.  

School Policy

I am employed in the Fort Mill School District and I viewed our social media policy.  We are not allowed to use TikTok for school social media accounts.  In addition, X (formerly known as Twitter) is no longer recommended for use. Before posting students’ pictures on social media, an employee must check the students’ FERPA status on PowerSchool.  Another aspect of the social media policy is that your private and school accounts must be kept separate.  If you acknowledge that you are employed with the district on your private account, then you must be mindful of the information that you are posting since it will reflect on the school district, also (Fort Mill School District, 2024).  Since I am currently employed with the school district, I am already adhering to these policies.  We are sent an email from administration which provides the names of students who are not allowed to have pictures taken of them and posted on social media.  In addition, I keep my private social media accounts private and separate from my employment with the district. 

Instruction, Communication, and Advocacy

I have used social media like Instagram to collaborate with other professionals and foresee myself utilizing this resource more often when I am in an elementary school librarian role.  The Davis (2018) podcast discussed collaboration through finding similar interests on social media. Chats through specific hashtags provide many professional ideas.  In addition, through social media, the librarian can gain further outreach to classroom teachers by highlighting various tools and resources being used in the library (Davis, 2018).  I found this particularly relevant since the school that I work in currently operates with the library on a fixed related arts rotation.  Social media could help me with collaborating with these classroom teachers, when I am especially constricted for time with meeting with classroom teachers.

Social media plays a crucial role with student instruction, also. For example, Robertson (2017) stresses the importance of students in early grades creating classroom digital portfolios through a platform like Seesaw.  Students are able to watch the teacher demonstrate critical digital literacy skills while also viewing their own personal growth.  Digital portfolios are a living document that grows with the student as the student progresses through their educational journey (Robertson, 2017). We currently use the platform Seesaw with our kindergarten students.  Families and students are able to access their personal accounts and view the photos we post about our instruction, activities, field trips, and classroom life.  

Advocacy for the library is what I am most passionate about when assuming a role as a librarian.  I find the value and importance of the community recognizing and witnessing the resources that the library provides.  I love the idea of engaging students with the decision-making process in the library because it is ultimately their space to learn and enjoy.  Students can become involved with developing a logo for the school library, and social media page.  Also, I appreciate keeping the posts consistent with the content displayed for each day of the week (Green, 2024).  At a time when research shows that schools tend to take an easy path with cutting the library program, I am passionate that advocacy for the library is central to our position as a school librarian. 

References

Anderson, M., Faverio, M, & Gottfried, J. (2023, December 11). Teens, social media and technology 2023. Pew Center Research. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023/

Davis, V. (Executive Producer). (2018, August 17). 5 ideas to tap social media to enhance PD and student learning [Audiopodcast]. Cool Cat Teacher Blog. https://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2018/08/5-ideas-to-tap-social-media-to-enhance.html

Fort Mill School District (2024, August). Guidelines for the use of social media. https://www.fortmillschools.org/departments/communications/guidelines-for-the-use-of-social-media-in-schools-and-classrooms

Green (2024, March 10). Harnessing the power of social media to advocate for the school library [Presentation]. ISCI 761 University of South Carolina. 

Robertson, N.D. (2017). Blogs and digital portfolios. In Connected librarians: Tap social media to enhance professional development and student learning (pp. 54 - 62). International Society for Technology in Education.

 Digital Curation Assignment

For my digital curation assignment, I chose to provide additional resources on makerspaces in the elementary school library.  First I must state that I really enjoy and love curation.  I have learned that I enjoy the organization of curation and how every topic has a place.  This is just another reason why I am drawn to the field of library sciences.  For my assignment, I chose to use Wakelet to organize and present my materials.  I have used Wakelet for another course which I have bookmarked resources about the various instructional roles of librarians.  I have found Wakelet to be an easy-to-use resource while also aesthetically presenting the material.  The only aspect which I did not like about using Wakelet, is that it was difficult for me to create subcollections within my main collection.  I spent a lot of time researching how I could present my collection with subcollections and was not able to find what I was exactly looking for.  Overall, the experience of organizing my topics and research on Wakelet was seamless and I am happy with my final product.

I chose the makerspace movement as my curation topic because it is an aspect of the elementary school library that I have not fully researched.  Through my education coursework, I have learned about different learners and specific methods to reach different learners.  I found the makerspace movement to fall into this category of reaching all learners.  Makerspaces allow students to problem-solve in the classroom through creating, designing, and building.  Students are garnering critical problem-solving skills through hands-on application.  My curation assignment on makerspaces includes subdivisions for the benefits of makerspaces, how to create your own makerspace, picture books and professional books, and software programs that a professional can utilize with students.  My curation link is below:

https://wakelet.com/wake/walV6PlU2FDDFdSWAitTO

 3D Printer and the Technological Implications in K-12 Education

My children have experience using a 3D printer in technology classes in elementary school and I am always fascinated by the objects that they have created.  I have never used one and chose the 3D printer as the focus for my blog post to understand how they work and explore the educational possibilities.  A 3D printer has the capability of transforming a digital file image from a computer into a 3-dimensional object.  3D printers utilize an additive process to form the object through several layers of material.  A user can choose to develop a 3D image using specific software or utilize an image that is already created.  Many industries have the propensity to utilize 3D printers, like industrial products, prosthetics, eyewear, or even movie sets (3D Printing.com, 2024). How can 3D printers be applied in the educational realm?

3D printers help students with their creativity by making their images come to life.  Students are engaged with their creativity, mathematics, processing, engineering, and science when using 3D printers.  Through utilizing 3D printers, students can integrate technology learned in the classroom through the Replacement, Amplification, and Transformation (RAT) technology integration model (Read, 2022). For example, students can collaborate and work on their projects using digital software.  The software technology enhances the educational process and the 3D printer improves learning through the multidimensional printing process.  The end product can help aid students who could not learn in traditional manners by physically seeing and feeling the outcome of the product that they creatively developed (FunTech, n.d.). By using 3D printers in grade school, students are enhancing their future career roles since so many industries utilize CAD software and 3D printing. Furthermore, 3D printers can cut down on costs for classroom supplies and handouts.  As opposed to purchasing items for the classroom, an educator can utilize the benefit of having a 3D printer and print out the necessary materials required.  

I found 2 valuable educational resources that would be beneficial for educators looking to incorporate a 3D printer in their classroom.

Thingiverse - provides webinars, lessons, and ideas by subject matter for employing 3D printers.

https://www.thingiverse.com/education

Makerbot - provides educators with training information, support, and relevant descriptions of various 3D printer models.

https://www.makerbot.com/

 

References

3D Printing.Com. (2024). What is 3D printing?. 3D printing.com. https://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/

FunTechBlog. (n.d.). 3D printing for kids: What parents need to know and is it safe? https://funtech.co.uk/latest/3d-printing-for-kids-what-parents-need-to-know-is-it-safe

Read, M. F. (2022). RAT: The RAT technology integration model. EdTechnica: The open encyclopedia of educational technology. https://doi.org/10.59668/371.7485