Digital Tools to Mobilize a Community to a Goal

Today, as I was looking over the scope and sequence that ISTE has put out as plausible technology integration standards to support the ISTE student standards I found myself stuck on one standard and feeling the weight of the pros and cons stacking up equally on both sides of my brain as I wrestled with this idea: "Use digital tools such as blogs, websites and social media to crowdsource, crowdfund and mobilize a community toward a goal."

On one side I immediately swiped it under the doormat when the words "crowdsource" and "crowdfund" appeared. Why is this a skill that a graduate of our school must need to know? When I see those words I think of begging to support a cause for funds. And then the rumination began. I asked myself these questions:

• Why is the standard there?
• If we don't do it are we creating a disadvantage to our students?
• Is this about exposure? integration? or even more...stewardship?
• Are we just called to teach students how to navigate the internet or are we called to teach them how to add value to it as well?
• As I forward think, is the internet always about taking or are we to give as well? Every click we make is monitored by an algorithm that learns us. How can I use that for good?

These questions led me to think about my own life. Do I crowdsource? Have I ever sought to crowdfund for a greater goal? YES on both accounts. I use social media to share the things I've learned via blogs to help others, I've asked people to join me at educational events like Edcamp Gig City and CoffeeEDU, I've asked people to support me in my JDRF walks to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, and more recently I've reached out to an entire city to help me find my lost dog. I've done this using social media, blogging, and various websites. 

I realized I am the epitome of this statement but the question that continues to ruminate in my head...should it be a REQUIRED skill? I don't like the terms "crowdsource" or "crowdfund" but I think there is value in the meaning of the statement. As I look at my job as an instructional technologist I see this as a way to use technology for a greater good. It definitely doesn't have to be to the extent I utilize it but if at my christian school it is a goal to graduate stewards of this world then technology and the internet can't just be seen as something to consume but also something to make better through our usage. The words "value added" come to mind. According to the dictionary value added means:

noun

ECONOMICS

1. 1.

   the amount by which the value of an article is increased at each stage of its production, exclusive of initial costs.

adjective

1. 1.

   (of goods) having features added to a basic line or model for which the buyer is prepared to pay extra.

Are we as educators truly teaching our students to add value to the digital world if we don't embrace mediums to do this? Even more, in a christian school setting aren't we called to it? Maybe I'm digging too deep and creating comparisons that only work in my head. But if all we do is take, learn, discern, and lurk are we becoming true stewards? As a steward we are responsible "for taking care of something, to arrange and keep in order in a way that glorifies God." Does this just mean personal intake? In our world that values collaboration and growing together I believe it means not just becoming fat babies off all the information on the internet but also exercising our right and responsibility to add to that environment as well.

I do struggle with the wording of the statement because I don't think crowdfunding is a particular skill that every student needs to know but I look at two instances in my life where crowdsourcing made a huge difference to me.

• In 2010 after a very hurtful attack through the use of social media on myself and my donut business, a friend and educator, Jennifer Rimback, created a community support page for me on Facebook that helped me through a terrible week in my life due to poor digital citizenship skills of the masses in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Just this year after losing my dog for a week, she was returned back to us due to a bombarding of social media and websites being shared over 500 times by people I did and didn't know. 

These were life changers. Is this a skill that should be taught is the question that keeps running in my mind?  Is this just something people should do if they want to but not be expected? I'll be honest, until today I thought so but as I have thought and rethought on this today and reflected on how much negativity we see on the internet, my mind has changed. Perhaps it is time to model appropriate and value-added internet opportunities to bring it to the forefront in today's world. Should it be crowdsourced? I don't know...but I do believe the power of the internet can be seen better through this choice. To experience the positive benefits of crowdsourcing exposure is a beautiful thing, take it from someone that has also received the opposite because of a donut named "Obama." 

What Obama Taught Me About Digital Citizenship

The beginning: It started off with a simple tweet...On July 24, 2013 I innocently tweeted these two tweets inviting the President of the United State of America, Barack Obama, to visit my donut shop while he was coming to Chattanooga, Tennessee:

The results: While coming back from a technology conference in Atlanta, I was contacted by a local news reporter asking me if I would be willing to be interviewed about Chattanoooga's Julie Darling Donuts idea to create and name a donut after the President in honor of him coming to town. I said, "Yes!" In the video interview (which apparently is no longer available in archives) I said that it wasn't a political stance, it was honoring the office of the Presidency. I then discussed that I came up with the flavor, a chocolate donut with salted caramel icing, based on researching what President Obama's favorite flavor of candy was- salted caramel chocolates. At the most it was a 3 minute interview that set off a flurry of events that left me sick in bed for 3 full days.

And so I digress: Being in Atlanta for the three days leading up to my interview, I had no idea that a large portion of our elected officials in our city were taking the stand not to attend the President's speech at Amazon in Chattanooga. I had no idea that the subject was a ripe petri dish full of dissension and animosity. I was a small business owner of a young company thinking I could get some free publicity while honoring the office of the presidency. 

There were a few things the public didn't know about me: 

1. My political affiliation.

2. My more prominent role as an Instructional Technologist, not a donut maker.

3. My people pleasing nature.

4. My desire to not live a drama-filled life.

5. Basically anything about me as a person, period.

As soon as the interview was broadcast and posted on the website of the local station, as well as on their Facebook page, the craziness began. As someone that isn't interviewed on TV that often, the event went from a feeling of "pride" in thinking I might have helped our shop be recognized in the community a bit (although pride isn't really the right word, maybe the word is more like accomplished) to feeling a sense of dread, remorse, anxiety, and overwhelmedness. Over two simple twitter posts inviting the President to my donut shop? Yes.

Immediately, both the donut shop and myself were publicly ridiculed and attacked. I was attacked from every angle imaginable:

•  First off by the republicans that wrote all over social media that they would never set foot in my shop again because of my choice, and man were they vocal. (Did I mention I didn't even vote for Obama?)
•  Next there was a group that attacked me for my "money grubbing ways" by taking advantage of him coming to town for free publicity. (Obviously none of those people have ever been small business owners and haven't learned how hard it is to get a new business off the ground. According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. That's 80%, folks.) 
• The one that rubbed me the worst, that my choice of flavor was a RACIAL thing because I chose a chocolate donut. I won't chase the rabbit down this trail but suffice it to say, I have never ever been accused of being racists before in my life.

The first day all this started happening I tried to defend myself but for every statement I made, someone out there misinterpreted it or it was just more fuel for the conversation. I had friends that actually tried to come to my rescue- posting positive things amongst all the negativity and even creating a Facebook event to show support for the donut shop and me. 

I was scared. I feared my very innocent desire to have the President come to my donut shop was going to close the doors of Chattanooga's Julie Darling Donuts forever. Now you may see this as extreme but let me just share SOME (a small percentage) of the comments I dealt with after the idea went NATIONAL not just on the Chattanooga local news networks:

Click on the link below and read the comments that are associated with it (but beware, they are NOT g-rated)

http://twitchy.com/2013/07/26/empty-calories-introducing-the-chocolate-obama-with-salted-caramel-icing/ 

or this one: http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=195778 (same warning regarding to language).

So what did this Edutechie Donut Shop owner learn: THE VALUE OF TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP! There is a lot of speculation out there that the term "Digital Citizenship" is just the latest educational buzz word but I believe in the need and I have lived it out. The digital world has allowed us to voice our opinions to the universe with a click of a device. In the past, if people had disagreed with a business owner, they might have written a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, they might have "called in" to a talk show to voice their concerns, they might have called or written a business owner BUT it would not have caused a bandwagon of responses in most cases. 

Today's society has to be taught the ramification of abusing social media and the Internet. We as educators, business owners, parents, church leaders, all have a responsibility to walk thru the field and glean the best and the worst examples and share it with our students, employees, children, etc. I spent two days throwing up in a toilet when I was able to get out of bed because of the hurtful, harmful words that were hurled at me for 3 full days. I also felt the outpouring of support from friends, acquaintances, and strangers that saw what was going on and felt it was an injustice. 

As an educator, I stand firm on the fact that we need to teach children to respect the office of the Presidency and to pledge allegiance to their country regardless of the political views of the current person in charge. Never in a million years did I think I would become my own greatest lesson to share with students on Digital Citizenship regarding digital communication, digital etiquette, digital rights and responsibilities, and digital security. Within this one event in my life, I have been given a platform to discuss 4 of the 9 elements of digital citizenship: (http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html). If you are interested in me speaking to your students about this or looking for more information on Digital Citizenship, please contact me. I am passionate about this.

On an ending note: That was the best money making week the donut shop has ever had. We still make the donut- sans the name Obama...it's just labeled "salted caramel chocolate donut" and it is still one of our best sellers. We are still open and we love all our customers.