Describe what you have done within your class to work towards meeting the success indicator.

As part of our inquiry this term, I have been developing children's digital citizenship particulary in the areas of surfing the web and digital responsibility. 

Surfing the Web: I have developed children's critical thinking in search the web for their research. We have particulary looked at how we can ensure that the information we retireve is both relevant and accurate. To introduce this, the class looked at hoax documentary video (http://room3stjames2012.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/walt-improve-our-researching.html) to develop and understanding that just because something is on the internet, doesn't mean it is true. We then looked at triangulating information from three different sources to cross-check information, as well as looking at the reliability of the website itself. For example, we came across a website called 'Canary Zoo' and the children thought the information would be accurate as it was a zoo website; however we used google to try to find if this was an actual zoo and it wasn't. We then came across information on a website that ended .govt.nz; knowing this meant it was a govenment website we considered that we could most likely rely on it. This is a copy of the collaborative class inquiry google doc and the triangulating of evidence is clear:

Digital Responsibility:  I have developed the children's knowledge of copyright, Creative Commons and how to find reusable images and videos on the web. We used Creative Commons images initally for blue screening in documentaries in the Digi Awards entries. Here is one the documentaries we made using Creative Commons images:

How does this activity/strategy empower your students as learners?

These activities have empowered my students as learners as they are able to take these skills and understanding and apply them not only across the curriculum in the classroom, but at home and in their future careers. They will always be relevant.

How could you take this further?

To take this learning further, I would like to explore with my children the how they can register their creations under Creative Commons license. They will then hopefully start to see Creative Commons as a way of sharing your work with others whilst protecting it, rather than just restrictions on what you can and can't do.

What evidence did you use to decide if this learning activity was successful/effective?

We used Creative Commons images initally for blue screening in documentaries in the Digi Awards entries. However, half a term later I asked children to compile a synthesis of their learning on the different types of rocks using a web 2.0 including images and it was the children themselves who bought up the issue around needing to use Creative Commons images as we were wanting to share it on the blog. This showed me that this learning was effective as they had applied it in a different context.