Introduction Blog Post

  I recently watched The Social Dilemma  on Netflix with my fiancé. He had already watched it and for me it was my first time. It was one of my goals this school year and it was especially eye opening as I took this class. As a psychology teacher, I am well versed in the behavioral techniques like reinforcement schedules and the reward pathways in the brain that social networking sites use to increase user interface with their platforms. Anyone who is in denial of the addictive nature of these platforms needs to take read more about B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning and about the powerful neurotransmitter dopamine in addiction. I found the documentary enlightening and powerful. I think it's important to hear first hand accounts from business insiders who know the ins and outs of these major tech giants.  Image Source I was especially impressed by computer scientist and ethicist  Tristan Harris who used to work for Google and who in 2013 wrote A Call to Minimize ...

Crap detection, one of the fundamental aspects of digital literacy under critical consumption  according to Howard Reingold  is the one I think is most important.  All five are essential: - Attention - Participation - Collaboration - Network Awareness -Critical Consumption However, most of them directly impact the student, however the critical consumption  skill can have much more far reaching consequences. As a social science teacher, I cannot emphasize enough this important skill both in print and digitally. We do so much source analysis with our students to try and help them understand how to think critically about both primary and secondary sources, including the OPCVL strategy below. Image Source Without the skill to detect the crap, or the fake news that is espoused daily, the very fabric of our democracy is being eroded from both outside and inside our nation . That was clearly evident in the 2016 and 2020 elections. So many users of social media cannot tell...

  Many people find studying laws boring, but I found that very interesting. I was interested in attending law school when I was in high school. After learning so much over the past several weeks about privacy and data mining, it's more imperative than ever to have protections in place for people, but especially for our most vulnerable students. I found the Student Data Privacy Laws  handout to be very helpful in understanding each law as well as the image below.                                                                        Image Source I think these laws do quite a bit to protect children, but I think the age should be 17 and not 13. Our students have underdeveloped frontal lobes which gets in their way of emotional/impulse control, long term planning, self-awareness, understanding conseque...

 I have been using the term digital tattoo  instead of digital footprint  for several years now and warn my students regularly to be mindful of what they post on social media and the world wide web. I also try and google myself several times a year to check and see if there is anything I should be concerned about. As someone who engaged in online dating for several years, it was important to check the internet for information about potential partners. I have not had a chance to mine data from other sites than Google, so I chose that option for my adventure for the week!  Image Source When searching for myself on Google, I got the most hits when searching for my first and last name in quotations as opposed to my username. There were 6 pages worth of information and articles Much of the information pertained to my role as a teacher and a Chicago Teachers Union delegate. There were several articles about my opposition to a charter high school that was being built direc...