I started my first lesson on Cyberbullying with 5th grade. The students went to my blog and posted a sticky using Wallwisher telling what they think cyberbullying is.
Once they posted they refreshed the wall and saw others comments, some added more information.
We then discussed how I separated the responses: people who used their names, a screen name, or left it anonymous. Why would you post a comment as anonymous? or use a screen name?
We discussed some of their responses, provided examples, and talked about the ways you could be bullied online.
I showed them examples of cyberbullying from their own classmates via Google Chat, which was disabled earlier in the year because of bullying and inappropriate use. It will be turned back on after this unit is finished.
For homework they will answer a series of questions on a Google Form about their own behaviors online. Once they are all submitted I will graph the results and share with the kids.
We briefly discussed what you should do if it happens to you or someone you know. Next week will discuss in more details what to do if bullied? Why bullies do what they do? How it makes people feel?
These are 2 of the classes responses. I found it interesting how one class was mostly anonymous/screen names and one was not.
A couple comments about Wallwisher:
- There is a size limit of 160 characters
- There is no easy way of arranging the sticky notes they show up all jumbled on top of each other
- You can move the sticky’s around easily in Chrome and Firefox but not IE if you are the owner they should stay the way you arranged them
- You need an account to create a wall so you can edit it later
- Students do not need to login
- Simply double-click anywhere on the page and a sticky note will appear there.
- Saving is instantaneous
- You can add photos, links, and videos
Cool idea to get the kids to post what they think cyber bullying is on wallwisher!
Their comments are very intriguing. It will be interesting if you get them to post what they think cyber bulling is after you are finished your class discussions on the topic.
When I was doing this course one of the activities I had the kids do was answer this questionnaire on whether or not they were a cyber bully. http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/kids/are_you_a_cyberbully.html
I think that sometimes kids do not realize the small actions that they take which are closely associated with becoming or being a cyber bully.
I also think that is interesting that your school shut down one of their web tools due to the silly behavior of kids. I think this would be a perfect opportunity to highlight the drawbacks and frustrations schools can have with technology integration, and kids having access to computers on a daily basis. If kids are in a school with a one to one laptop program and cyber bully at home, do you think it is the schools responsibility to deal with the issue or the parents? What if the parents really do not support the one to one program at the school?
A cool article related to this topic is: http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/10/how-does-cyber-safety-affect-technology-and-education/
Thanks for the comment. I used that questionnaire with the students in Google Forms. They answered the questions for homework and then I graphed the results. We had in-depth conversations on what they thought the question meant versus what it actually did mean. They did not think they needed to ask their friends permission to post a picture or tag a picture of them. They did not see the harm in sharing login information until we talked about possible outcomes.
We turned off chat while we educated the students about what was appropriate and what was not. We are not 1:1 but 2:1 and the students do not take them home. I think it is the school’s responsibility to help students regardless of where the bullying takes place. If we know it is happening I feel it is our duty to respond and assist in whatever way necessary. We have finished the lessons and have turned the chat feature back on.
I read the article, How Does Cyber Safety Affect Technology and Education?, you suggested and like the idea of “positive norming” but based on the results of the questionnaire it does happen and needs to be addressed.