Net Smart

After reading Net Smart by Howard Rheingold, I would say this book encompasses everything we have been discussing these past few weeks. I felt that it was closely linked to Information Diet. Rheingold mentions five literacies, attention, crap detection, participation, collaboration and network smarts. With each, he goes into great detail and gives several examples of them.  The one that stands out to me is attention  because it’s something I feel I deal with every day. My middle school is a 1 to 1 program and every time the kids walk through my door and sit down they immediately open their Chromebooks. I find myself saying each time they walk in ‘Chromebooks are closed”. Even when I have them working on an assignment with the Chromebooks, if I want to add a piece I can tell which ones are not paying attention because they have this glassy eyed look while staring at their screens. As a teacher, I’m now competing with the very technology I introduced to peak their interest. Rheingold wrote that while we are obsessed with technology we can still train our attention and teach our students how to train their attention.

In order to be able to teach my students how to train their attention, I really need to understand where I focus my attention. Most everything I do is now on the computer or the internet. That’s how I pay bills, create lessons, watch tv and communicate with my family. I am constantly connected and rarely find myself not. I have noticed that I can’t even sit still long enough to watch a movie or show without pulling my phone out. Usually, it’s to look something up about what I am watching but still my attention is never fully focused on one thing anymore.  I have a friend who is a nurse for an ophthalmologist, she told me that most people do not blink when they are scrolling through their phones, which is, in turn, causing eye dryness. How bizarre that our attention is so focused on what we are looking at on our phones we don’t even stop to blink!

While attention really stood out with me I do feel that Rheingold’s other literacies are just as important to creating a population of ‘net smart’ and net savvy users. When we teach and model the five literacies for our students we are creating a new well-rounded technology smart group of students.

Copyright Clarity

My understanding of Copyright law and Fair Use was very limited. I really didn’t think much of it when it came to my resources for my classes. I assumed that because it was for education I was good. While I was reading Renee Hobbs kept saying how some teachers lived in fear of copyright and the whole time I kept thinking, really?! I thought about my colleagues, none of them seemed to be working in fear. I wondered if they even worried about copyright and fair use. After I read Copyright Clarity, I realized that I wasn’t completely covered under this education immunity I had created in my head.

The hardest piece to understand is Fair Use. I really thought that as long as I cited the source and didn’t make money off of it then it was fair use. Now I understand that it’s not that simple. I can use a copyrighted item as long as I transform its intended use. I also need to be able to back up my fair use. When I told my colleagues this they were surprised, many like me, did not have a clue about how copyright worked.

If I didn’t have a clear understanding of copyright law and fair use then I know for sure that my students wouldn’t either.  I was concerned for them not just on school assignments but also on their digital lives. Many of my students create content and put it on the internet. There was a huge possibility that they could be in violation of copyright laws. It’s important for me to not just explain the law to them but to also model it for them. They need to see how copyright and fair use, how transformativeness works for them.

Information Diet

After reading Information Diet, I would have to say I was surprised by how careful I am about the information I consume. I honestly thought that my consumption would be just garbage. That’s not to say that my consumption is great, it’s just better than I thought it would be. For starters, I do not have cable. When I want to watch something it’s either via YouTube, Hulu or Netflix. I can also stream the programs I want to watch with definitely cuts out most of the junk tv. I have the same setup for the radio. I used to listen to talk radio and music constantly, but now I have the ability to listen to Spotify with no commercials, so again I am getting to choose what I want to hear. Because I have taken so much control over what information I input, I really only care about what’s inside my “bubble”. If it’s not of interest to me or directly applies to me then I honestly don’t really care. That’s terrible because I have the opportunity to have so much control.


I see this in my students also. Many of them only are interested in things relevant to their lives. I also see how this leads to misinformation often. Recently in a class I had a student tell me “Srta. did you know that Tupac (yes the rapper) died of AIDS?” I stopped looked over at him and said, “Where did you hear that?” He continued “Tumblr”. I’m not familiar with Tumblr and when I looked it up I really didn't understand it, but what I do know is he really thinks this musician died of AIDS and he probably isn't the only one who saw that site and thinks it too. I told my student I thought he had the wrong information and to check a more reliable source. They next day he came back and told me I was right and he didn’t die of AIDS. When this happened I laughed, but after reading Information Diet, I can see how important it is to teach our students, to not just use the internet correctly but to be able to decipher truths that they find.


What I do not have control over is how connected I am. Recently in my school, we have added a 1:1 program. While this is very exciting and good for our students, it also means that I am connected to them 24-7. They either email or message me via Google Classroom, at any time of the day. I want to be helpful and supportive for them, but I don’t try to cut them off or give myself “digital office hours”. It could be 10 at night and I will hear the special Google Classroom ding, that I’ve set up, and immediately rush to my phone to see who and what they need.


When I am not prepping for school or work, I spend my free time on the internet. The only time I am not online is when I’m cooking, (not a new recipe), showering or sleeping (but I have fallen asleep with the phone in my hands!) In my free time I am on Social Media. Most of what I am doing is looking at garbage. Even when I am watching a movie, I am connected, either looking up who the actor is or trivia surrounding the movie. When I think about it like this, I realize that I rarely spend time disconnected or looking at the quality material. I need to model better Information Consumption for my students so that they learn and can use the tools properly.

Students as Designers and Creativity

We have reached the end of the Design Principles. This week bringing it all together was fun and exciting. The way our classrooms should be. We learned and reviewed each principle while creating videos on the DooDLeS program. When we use and implement the design principles correctly in our classroom not only will we see satisfaction but our students will become the designers themselves and start solving authentic problems on their own.

Each week I have tried to bring in what I am learning into my classroom and I am already seeing changes in my students. When I create my lessons I am trying to make sure I am following the design pattern and including authentic problems for them to solve. I also am trying to keep the creative spirit. My job is not to stand at the front of the room and toss out information for them to memorize and regurgitate. I need to be their guide, show them the steps to becoming a designer and then giving them the tools to take the reins and become designers themselves.  

When we allow our students to have more of a voice in their learning we see a successful outcome. They are eager and motivated to learn. I recently told my class of 8th graders they were becoming fashion designers since we are learning clothing vocabulary. We talked about traditional clothing from different countries. Then they each created traditional outfits using their vocabulary terms and the different styles from each country. They loved making the designs and I loved watching them use the vocabulary in action.

I feel like I am able to add more to my lessons in order to make my students more engaged. It’s no longer making a vocabulary list and memorizing them. I need to create authentic situations where they will need to use their vocabulary in their world. When I first started this class I thought how on earth is this going to work with Spanish, but now after learning the six design principles I can’t believe I ever taught without them.

Affordance Analysis

I have, to be honest, when I read the article on affordance analysis, I wasn't sure I fully understood it. I had a basic idea but didn’t feel confident enough to write my own affordance analysis, so I googled it. After looking at the different searches I didn't feel any better. I spoke with some colleagues because I thought I needed to “talk it out”. When I had a handle on it I wrote an affordance for Google Classroom. Thank goodness for class! When I spoke u and said I wasn’t clear yet on what an affordance was Priscilla gave an example of trying to hand a nail with a knife, you can try and might succeed but it's not the best tool for the job. A hammer will be the better tool. It made perfect sense! After our class discussion and then creating our own affordances on the Ozobot and the Osmo I realize I did my Google classroom affordance wrong. I didn't consider the learning goal in mind, I wrote a review more or less of Google classroom and its features.

What I took most was how important affordances are in designing. I need to think of my learning goal before I pick my technology tools instead of trying to make it work. Just because something is cool and new does not mean we need to immediately use it. We need to constantly ask what is the goal in mind and how does this allow me to reach it.


One thing we discussed was how affordance was about utility and not usability. Utility is considering a tools possibilities and constraints, while usability is how well does it work. This I took to heart, often we get distracted by the “shiny, new technology” that we immediately try to find a way to make it work without considering the benefits to our learning goal.

When I got to work on Friday my colleagues, who were listening to me panic about affordances, were eager to know what it was. I was excited to share my knowledge and examples. Then we discussed how easy it was to get sidetracked and confuse the newest technology integration with our main learning goals.

We shouldn't be trying to fit new technology into our designs but instead working to find those pieces that complement our design and goals.

Victorian Internet

Compared to last weeks reading I was relieved when I started reading Victorian Internet. It was such a good read I even recommended it to my best friend who is a technology librarian in North Carolina Public lIbraries.

Victorian Internet is the story of the invention and rise of the telegraph, what is great about it is how similar it is to the rise of the internet in the 20th century. As I read this I knew the bare minimum of the invention and use of the telegraph. It was very interesting to see how people reacted to the invention of the telegraph, especially the fear and hesitation many people had (“Black Magic”) as well as the misunderstanding of how it works (trying to send soup through the wires!) .The telegraph parallels the Internet in so many ways. The creation of the telegraph, brought people together making our world smaller. The telegraph opened doors for new job opportunities and more government regulations. The telegraph also faced negative issues and abuse. People tried to find ways to cheat the system and scam others. These are all things we’ve experienced now with the internet.

The invention of the telegraph changed the world and people had to adapt to the changes brought about by the telegraph. As our world expands we too need to grow with it. Our students are more connected than we could have ever imagined. With everything at their fingertips, it becomes our job  to help them navigate through this world with the right tools. The internet has changed the classic classroom and the way we learn. We have students that are Skyping with classes around the world!

In class, we talked about how inventions or new ideas travel through a wave or a predictable pattern of  diffusion. First, it’s the few and the gimmick then there is a gradual adoption which then leads to gradual spread. Many trends in education follow this pattern, although some may fizzle out before the gradual spread step, most do follow this pattern. As teachers, we need to find the tools to that enhance our classrooms and avoid the gimmick step. Just because it’s “technology” doesn’t always mean that our students will actually benefit from it. Finding the right tools to provide our students with the best outcome is how we prepare them to be global citizens in this world.

The internet has brought many wonderful opportunities for our world but it also has its drawbacks. Finding a balance is essential.

Vygotsky and Play

I had to read Vygotsky aloud to really understand what I was reading. At times I felt like I was just spewing psychological jargon not even in sentences. The examples in Vygotsky were interesting and helpful in understanding what I was reading. I found myself wishing they were videotaped to see them myself.

The main idea was play. Children learn through play and really never stop learning through play. Vygotsky felt that there weren’t stages or benchmarks that children passed through, but instead it was a more fluid process that could start at any stage and move from there. Playing was the process of understanding their environment. They often re enact parts of their world around them. When I thought of play I thought of children playing house or school at recess, and couldn’t see how you would apply this in a classroom setting. During our class we talked about how play is much more, than just “house”. It’s an opportunity for students to become the role they are learning. It went along with Situated Cognition and Authentic Activity, we need to provide out students with real activities that they can experience in order to learn.

Play is perfect for learning a language. Most of what I teach (Spanish 1) is very basic and normally things native speakers would learn in pre-k or kindergarten. My students play through different  situations to practice the language and normal conversations that would occur. For example, we are learning clothing vocabulary this week, and my students playing as  Fashion Designers. They are designing outfits and discussing them with each other.

I know from experience that it’s easier to just hand out a vocabulary list. Have the students define the terms and write them in sentences, but the reality is this is just busy work. They aren’t learning anything from this, writing the term “la bufanda” (Scarf)  and creating a sentence about it does not in any way apply to their real life. However becoming a Fashion Designer and adding “la  bufanda” as an accessory to their outfit is more realistic for them.

While I am still learning I feel like I am constantly changing the way I do things in my classroom for the better. I am even hearing positive reactions from my students. (Especially 8th grades who are already with one foot out the door!) I feel more accomplished each day.