Lamplighter:
FEATURE
By Jenny Bruce, Associate Director of Communications
10
The first iPhone hit the market in 2007, just fourteen years ago and a year before most of our eighth graders were born. Our current Allen-Stevenson students have never lived in a time without the internet, smartphones, and social media. Coming to this realization, in 2014, Allen-Stevenson’s Sarah Kresberg and Liz Storch (later joined by Tatyana Dvorkin) proposed that our students needed to learn the critical tools necessary to navigate this new, fast-paced, and often turbulent digital world. And thus, Digital Fluency was born. Ms. Storch, who is also the Upper Division Librarian, stated, “The reason we call this class Digital Fluency and not digital literacy or something else is that, like with any other language, we want our students to achieve fluency.” Digital Fluency means that students will achieve much more than practical technological skills. Fluency in any language brings a level of self-confidence, deeper understanding, and the ability to cultivate appropriate responses when confronted with new, possibly uncomfortable situations. The internet, which remains primarily unregulated, has much to offer; however, students must learn digital responsibility to avoid potential pitfalls. Sarah Kresberg, Director of Library Tech Commons, recounted that many of her sixth-grade students admit to having “seen things on the internet they wish they hadn’t seen.” Apparently, this experience is not at all uncommon and further reinforces why it is vital to our students’ well-being that they understand responsible digital citizenship. Knowing what to do when confronted with inappropriate information and how to, when possible, avoid it altogether is something students learn about in class.
Ms. Kresberg teaching a digital fluency class
S A F E A N D S AV V Y S U R F I N G : D I G I TA L F L U E N C Y AT A L L E N - S T E V E N S O N
Ms. Kresberg’s class was recently introduced to the “Harvard Meme Scandal” where over ten students had their acceptances to the illustrious college rescinded after posting highly offensive memes in a Facebook messaging chat. Our young students were shocked to learn that colleges and potential employers frequently look at prospective students’ or employees’ social media accounts. What an individual posts “privately” or “just for fun” has the potential to jeopardize their chances of getting into the school and/or the professional position of their choosing. “One of my students said, ‘Well, how can people know what we post? It’s personal. It’s my private space,’ said Ms. Kresberg. The students often experience an essential awakening and engage in thoughtful, conversations about what should and should not be shared through social media. It is vital that students come to the realization that “online” communications, including personal text messages and emails, are anything but private and may even be admissible as evidence in a court of law. While social media protocol is one of so many important topics covered in Upper Division Digital Fluency classes, students are also taught how to perform fruitful internet searches, learning to parse opinion from factual reporting and advertisements from the news. In a time where misinformation is running rampant through social media, the boys learn that responsible research requires knowing (and citing) your sources and learning what factors make a source a
