C4Ta #3

This week I read Mr. Dean Shareski's blog Visitors and Residents and Digital Citizenship. In this post Mr. Shareski talks about digital citizenship. He starts by saying when schools and districts want to discuss digital citizenship they usually emphasize the dangers and problems of thoughtless online behaviors. He thinks that most people visitors of the web because they are told to be on their best behavior. He used for an example, when parents take their children to visit other families, the main focus to the parents is making sure the children behave themselves. Referring back to digital citizenship he said it is largely about damage control. He said when we grant someone citizenship we speak of responsibility to make things better, not just staying out of trouble. He went on to say that the messages that most students are receiving about how to live and act online are from visitors. He said that this is an obvious disconnection because many of the students are residents. He closed by saying it would be like him telling his American colleagues how to be good U.S. citizens.
I replied by introducing myself. I told him that I enjoyed reading his post. I also told him that his post brought some good points to my attention about being a digital citizen.



The second post I read was On Motivation and Engagement. In this post Mr. Shareski opens by saying It is no secret to his readers, friends, and students that he has a thing with grading. He listed a question that he said he might give to his students. "If I were to give you an A at the beginning of the class and you didn't have to take the course, would you accept that offer?" He said that he would guess that most of them would take the deal. He said that the question led him to challenge himself with a similar question. "If the University were to give you your stipend and you didn't have to teach the course, would you accept that offer?" He said that he realize that the two questions were not entirely equal and fair, but it makes him wonder about motivation for both him and students. He said that he loves teaching and that he is currently working at two institutions. He said that the pay is twice as much at one and he does not put in half the time. He closed by saying that he is struggling a bit. He said that he preach to his students often about how he feels that grading is overrated and he does not really value them. He wants his students to focus on learning, not grade.
I replied by telling him I enjoyed reading his post. I also told him that I have encountered plenty of teachers that have the same feelings toward grading as he do.