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Blog post Food for Thought How the Web Works

“Nugget” Asignment

“Often when schools talk to students about their presence on the Web, they do so in terms of digital citizenship: what students need to know in order to use technology “appropriately.” Schools routinely caution students about the things they post on social media, and the tenor of this conversation — particularly as translated by the media — is often tinged with fears that students will be seen “doing bad things” or “saying bad things” that will haunt them forever.”

This paragraph, from this essay, was probably the one that made me realize the, while we surf the web every day, we don’t actually fully grasp what we can do with it. We flitter from one social media website to another like bees or butterflies, but we don’t really have a nest to call our own. We warn others about the dangers of the web, but instead of teaching them how to deal with it and manage the web, we restrict web access or tell them not to go to one website or the other.

It seems kind of like a pool to me. Bare with me on this analogy. What we do everyday on social media is like frolicking in the shallow end. Not much danger unless someone holds you underwater too long. The rest of the web is like the deep end, but instead of teaching us to swim our parents just warn us never to go to that end of the pool or we’ll drown. They may even put up a safety net or distract you with toys to keep you in the shallow end.

But, if you learn to swim and go to the deep end, suddenly you’ve discovered all new ways to have fun in the pool. Yes you can still drown, but since you know how to swim there is less danger than before.

Of course it’s not a perfect one-to-one analogy, but that’s just my two cents, especially after having built this website for myself. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings! Keep it Reel!

3 replies on ““Nugget” Asignment”

An informative and entertainingly written blog post. I liked the pool analogy, as it helped me understand where you’re coming from a lot better. Definitely agreed–the conversation about the dangers of the internet should be driven by precautions and advice, not just fear-mongering.

I agree with you that we should learn how to use the internet in a way that it would be beneficial and enjoyable to us, instead of completely cut off due to potential dangers. I also liked the pool analogy!

Another +1 for the pool analogy (though I think I’ll pass on the “bare with me” part ;).

Yes, I think you’ve captured what Watters is getting at. While some scaffolding and mentoring is certainly advisable when learning how to participate on the web and social media, the prevailing tone should not be one of fear and restriction.

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