Today Jesse Miller visited the class via Zoom! He spoke on safety and privacy using technology and websites in the classroom.
His company, Mediated Reality, among other things, educates students, teachers, and parents on how to engage with social media safely and in an informed way. This video of his TedTalk is a good summary:
One of the biggest issues with social media and having students use it safely is their fully understanding their actions. While Jesse talked about ‘cancel culture’ as becoming more forgiving as the online community grows and understands that one comment does not embody a person’s identity, students (and adults) need to understand that what they post online is there for good. Sure, there are ways of hiding information, but once it’s out there … well, it’s out there.
Being open with students about this is important, especially since most of them have phones and social media pages they’re already engaging with on a regular basis. A teacher might even show a class their profile and talk through what’s there, and what’s not there to demonstrate.