Did you know your child had a TATTOO?

This is the draft of my article for Issue 2 of the GEMS Family Magazine, due out in September. Comments welcome...

http://www.profitablesocialmedia.com/you-have-a-digital-tattoo/ 

At this time of year, many of our older students will have a keen eye on their futures beyond school. Will they be accepted by their first choice college?  Will they secure a place on their dream course, setting them up for the life and career they have already worked so hard for?  Exam results are important and they will also be working hard on their college applications this year, but there is another key factor to consider in this digital age - and it could make the difference between dreams being realised or shattered...

It is sometimes called a ‘digital footprint’ - the trail of data we leave behind every time we go online, everything about us stored, searchable and ‘out there.’  But is this footprint in sand, washed away twice a day by the tide, or is it set in stone forever?  The truth is probably somewhere towards the latter, which is why we are now also beginning to hear the phrase ‘Digital Tattoo.’  This gives the concept a far more permanent feel, perhaps more menacing - and it is something we should be taking very seriously.  Everything we post online, everything others post about us, even cookies stored on website sites we visit, can contribute to a permanent digital tattoo - our online presence, our reputation. In effect - us, our ‘digital selves.’   

So when should children start managing their online reputations?  Actually, the question should perhaps be: when do parents start building their children’s online reputations?  Almost invariably in the digital age, a child’s first footprint is the 12 or 20 week scan in the womb.  Seriously.  Then there’s the baby in the bath photo, so cute - and that swimming gala pic in Year 5, a proud moment indeed… and all over Facebook.  You get the picture, literally.  As proud parents, we may think that posting these images is harmless, but do we actually have a right to do it?  Does it conflict with the child’s right to one day manage his or her own reputation?  These treasured photographs used to be locked away in the family album drawer, brought out at gatherings to be shared with trusted friends and relatives.  Now they are, potentially, shared with the whole world, re-posted, stored and used for… well, who knows what and by whom.  And how will this indelible history be viewed by our children when they are 11, 21 or 31?  Will they thank us for charting their formative years so publicly?  The answer probably lies in the nature of the content, which is why we, as parents, should think seriously about modelling digital reputation management and guiding our children to take on that task themselves when they are ready.  

Creating a positive digital reputation starts with the parents, but it can be seen to become ever more important as our children become teenagers and start to think about college applications and careers.  A recent survey by Kaplan in the US found that, in 2013, 29% of college admission tutors had Googled prospective applicants and 31% had visited social media accounts to find out more information. Of those, 46% found something they felt negatively impacted the application. In 2008, the number of admissions tutors investigating applicants’ online reputation was around 10% and in 2011, 20%, so there is clearly a steep upward trend.  If this trend continues, it will not be long before the investigation of applicants’ digital presence becomes standard procedure in higher education.  Indeed, I met a teacher from the US recently who told me about one of her ex-students who has set up his own business offering exactly this service to colleges and universities.  He had created a new job for himself and is now, in effect, a ‘Digital Reputation Investigator.’

So what can our students do to ensure their digital reputation is positive and will act as a springboard and not a barrier to future success?   

Seppy Basili, Vice President at Kaplan Test Prep, says:

“Our advice to college applicants is to run themselves through online search engines on a regular basis to be aware of what information is available about them online, and know that what’s online is open to discovery and can impact them.  Sometimes that impact is beneficial, if online searches turn up postings of sports scores, awards, public performances or news of something interesting they’ve undertaken. But digital footprints aren’t always clean, so students should maintain a healthy dose of caution, and definitely think before posting.”

A digital tattoo, just like a real one, can be seen as a thing of beauty and pride or a permanent, unwanted blemish.  We need to help our children take control of their online reputations and futures - to help them design their own digital tattoos - before someone else does it for them!

Managing a Positive Online Presence: What can students do?

1. It starts with the parents - think carefully when posting online about your children.  Are you laying the foundations of a positive digital footprint which they themselves can build on in the future?  Have this conversation with your children as soon as they are old enough: what do they want to be shared with the world?  Respect their wishes.

2. Students should publicise their achievements, such as volunteer or charity work, sporting success, involvement in clubs and extra-curricular activities, awards and anything else that shows them in a positive light.

3.   Set up a blog or website, using a tool such as https://about.me/ to establish an official online area for colleges and prospective employers or contacts to view their profiles.

4. As well as sites such as Facebook and Twitter, teenagers may like to consider building their own profiles on LinkedIn or Google+, thereby getting a headstart with relevant and potentially influential contacts.  

5.   Carry out regular ‘self-searches’ using Google or specialist sites such as https://pipl.com/.  This will ensure that students are aware of what others may see if and when they become the subject of an online search.

Finally, always follow the THINK rule before posting online - always ask, “Is it…”

True?

Helpful?

Inspiring?

Necessary?

Kind?

...and follow the Golden Rule: ONLY POST WHAT YOU WOULD WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE - including your parents, grandparents, college admissions tutors and future employers or business contacts.

Parents, teachers and technology

This week I was asked to write an answer to the following prompt for a publication called 'Abu Dhabi Week.'

"The impact of gizmos, tablets, gaming consoles on children's mindset - what parents and teachers think should be done..."

This is my draft response - we'll have to wait and see what the final edit brings but I've had fun writing it... comments welcome!

The relatively recent explosion of consumer digital technology, in particular, smartphones, tablets and sophisticated gaming devices, has understandably given rise to serious concerns for parents, teachers, school leaders, educational policy-makers and all others involved in the education and welfare of today’s children.  The late US President Harry S. Truman predicted over half a century ago that technology may advance at a faster rate than we are capable of using it responsibly.  And therein lies the challenge.  

Distraction, technology addiction, cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, risky online interactions, obesity, eye-strain, underdeveloped social skills, sleep and eating disorders and largely unknown radiation risks.  These are just some of the dangers we must better understand and actively guard against if we are to help our children safely navigate a path through what is now undoubtedly a digitally connected world.  It is easy to see just from this short list why there is so much fear around our children’s use of technology.  I do believe that we can prove Truman wrong - but we have to act together and act quickly, with a sensible, measured and balanced approach to the challenge before us.

Dr. Paul Howard-Jones, Reader in Neuroscience and Education at the University of Bristol in the UK, provides compelling evidence that video games can have a positive effect on brain development and boost learning significantly.  He argues that the technology itself is not inherently dangerous, rather it is a question of when, how much and what you do with it that counts.  

I remember when NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle pilot, Barry “Butch” Wilmore visited GEMS schools in the UAE several years ago.  He was asked by a young student at one of our schools, “What do I need to do to become an astronaut?” Wilmore’s answer was very interesting:  “Study hard, go to college and major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics - and play video games… lots of video games.”  He was in no doubt of the potential that modern technology has to develop key skills and transform learning.

Of course, not many children will become astronauts and technology is not all about video games - even though ever more sophisticated games are now being developed which teach and assess real life skills such as collaboration, negotiation, critical thinking and decision-making.    Nevertheless, according to the European Commission, by 2020, 90% of jobs will need digital skills.  It is, perhaps, hard to imagine what the other 10% will be!  Digital literacy is now a key skill and schools are embedding this as an integral part of the curriculum.  Indeed, the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau now expects students to “use technology effectively to support their learning” and the Abu Dhabi Education Council, through various initiatives and substantial investment, has taken significant steps towards its stated educational goals, as policy-makers, educators and industry partners look to “harness students’ technological prowess.”

As well as the on-going efforts of those of us privileged to be working in education, it is essential that we also acknowledge the key role of parents in meeting the digital challenge and that we work to form effective partnerships between the home and school.  As parents, we are our children’s first, longest-serving and most important teachers and research shows that effective parent engagement can add the equivalent of between two and three years to a child’s schooling.  Numerous studies and guidance from organisations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics also stress the importance of parents in monitoring their children’s use of media and providing a range of digital and non-digital activities, as well as ensuring that any digital media consumed is of high quality and that the parents actively engage with their children.  As Paul Howard-Jones contends, the technology itself is not the danger - if used correctly and responsibly, it can bring significant benefits.  

So I do believe we can prove Truman wrong.  The key to eliminating the dangers of technology is education and I believe it is an exciting time to be both an educator and a parent.  We need to understand and embrace the opportunities digital technology is offering to the new generation and come together as a community to realise the positive impact it can have on our children’s life chances, whilst promoting, teaching and modelling a balanced and healthy lifestyle.  ‘Digital citizenship’ and digital learning skills are fast becoming  key components of the modern curriculum and sites such as https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ are providing outstanding resources and guidance for both schools and parents.    

Common Sense Media, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping children and families thrive in a world of digital media and technology, recently certified GEMS World Academy-Dubai as a Common Sense School for educating its students to be safe, smart and ethical digital citizens.  The Academy is the first school in the Middle East and the first GEMS school worldwide to be certified.

“We applaud GEMS World Academy-Dubai for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students’ education,” said Rebecca Randall, Vice President of Education Programs for Common Sense Media.  “GEMS World Academy-Dubai deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21^st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large.”

Other GEMS schools are now working towards this certification as they look to further enhance their digital citizenship provision for all students and to support parents in this key area.    

In Abu Dhabi, GEMS American Academy (GAA) is also blazing a trail in the community with their innovative online digital citizenship portal.  David Rynne, the Academy’s Digital Leader, explains:  “The integration of daily communication into the digital landscape requires that we ensure explicit preparation is given to young learners to make them thoughtful and careful users of social communication. The GAA digital environment prepares our students to be aware of the social aspects of online communication.  In this secure and managed environment, students have access to all the features of a social networking site and are able to develop familiarity with concepts such as instant chat, managing friend requests, creating and managing groups, creating and managing avatars, writing and tagging blogs and making thoughtful comments as part of an online community.”

In many ways, technology has transformed the world and schools are now embracing the best tools and methods to improve their students’ learning.  What hasn’t changed, however, is the need for our children to become well-rounded citizens, who know how to be successful and to live happy, healthy lives in perfect balance.  It is everyone’s responsibility to rise to this challenge and I believe that, by working within and across communities, we can harness the combined power of technology and humanity to make the world a better place.   The work continues.

Phil Redhead

Senior Advisor, Digital Learning  

GEMS Education

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Digital Balance: Top Tips for Parents

1.      Model the behaviours you want to see in your children.  If you are constantly checking emails and Facebook on your phone, this sends a powerful, negative message to your children.  Put your own technology out of reach (e.g. upstairs) at certain times when the kids are around.

2.      Have dinner together whenever possible.  Switch everything off and talk!

3.      Build relationships, based on shared interest, practice, accountability and trust.  Take an interest in your children’s technology and what they do with it.  Play the games they play and familiarise yourself with the sites they use.  The more interested you are in what interests them, the easier it will be to share in other, non-digital activities together.

4.      Keep all technology, including chargers, in shared areas.  There is simply no justification for children to have any sort of screen in their bedrooms.  That’s where they really need to sleep.

5.      Plan activities with and for your children that do not involve screen-based technology.  From karate to cooking, ballet to basketball, it is essential that we actively help our children to engage in a wide range of learning and leisure opportunities.  

No Rules Learning

No Rules Learning has evolved from a wide range of experiences I have had in my teaching career and has really started to come together in the past few months, with contributions from a number of colleagues, notably Mark Stone, Rebecca Dickinson and Ed Bell at GEMS Royal Dubai School, Louisa Larsen and Alasdair Lightbody at Jumeirah College and Andrew Nolan, Education Technology Advisor at GEMS Education.

The idea first came about when we were asked by UNESCO to provide material for their upcoming publication on global ICT use in primary schools and also to run a workshop at a related conference which took place at Atlantis, Dubai in March 2014.  The UNESCO team had visited the school in the previous academic year but I, along with Mark and Rebecca, felt that we had all learned so much since then, that it just wouldn't be good enough to showcase what the school had been doing almost a year ago.  A year, as we all know, is a very, very long time when we are learning every day!  So, we started to think about how good learning really could be if we brought together everything we knew, believed and had learned, from global research and our own experiences, from students, parents, colleagues and our PLNs... altogether in a workable model of effective learning.  

One thing became clear very quickly: this was about great learning, not technology.  We knew the digital element would be important, but also that it would not dominate the model.  We started with the English Language Learning department at GRDS, asking a BIG question of ourselves and our students, 

"What would you do if you weren't in school?"

This was a BIG question because we were looking to redefine the model of learning, taking all that was effective in our current practice and from global research whilst at the same time, crucially, discarding and destroying anything we were doing just because we'd always done it or because it was 'policy' at school, local, national or any other level.  This was indeed to be "No Rules" Learning.  If we thought it would work (and did not put the children at risk) then we did it.  If we thought there were things we were currently doing just because they were expected, but were actually ineffective or even damaging, we binned them. 

The result is the model shown below.  It is certainly not complete.  It is ever-evolving as we keep on learning. There is a story and a whole raft of research, theory and practice behind each element - and this will be the subject matter of future posts.  For now, I would just say we believe we are heading in the right direction.  How do we know?  Because student achievement has gone through the roof.  The children are buzzing.  The parents are loving it and raving about how engaged their kids are at home, as they carry on learning however they need to.  

There's a lot more of this story to tell and it will surely never end.  We are certain of one thing, though:  we need to constantly challenge old paradigms, archaic systems and ineffective practices if we are to do the best we can for the children we are teaching right now and in the future.

This is No Rules Learning and we are loving it!