Not Another Email, I'm Stuffed!!

Every week when we read a new book, I think, this is the best book so far (except for Mind on Society, for obvious reasons)!! I absolutely LOVED The Information Diet by Clay A. Johnson. While I was reading it, I kept stopping to read aloud parts to my husband that I found fascinating or unbelievable. I did that quite a bit, much to his annoyance.

Prior to reading the book, I didn't think that I overindulged in technology. After the book, I now think otherwise. I am the exact type of person Johnson referred to when discussing the anxious feeling one gets when a text or email comes in. I have this need to answer them immediately. I even get annoyed when I text someone, and they don't immediately reply. I think that they must always have their phone with them like I do and are choosing not to answer me. I check my email at work constantly, and my phone is always with me. During the summer, I did take steps to reduce the amount of time I was trolling Facebook, and now I rarely go on it anymore. It seriously is not a big loss for me. However, I do enjoy reading Yahoo! News and BuzzFeed. Come on, who doesn't want to know which secret Starbucks drink you should order based on your favorite Disney princess (BTW, mine's the raspberry latte). I have also recently noticed, but didn't make the connection until reading The Information Diet, that the ads on Yahoo! News are geared directly towards me personally; I just thought they were a coincidence. Bottom line, to me, this means that I need to go on a serious information diet.

In my middle school, especially when I am doing locker duty, I overhear the conversations students have with one another. Sometimes what they are saying is totally untrue, and the person listening will just nod along in agreement or even reply with a much more absurd comment. I don't feel that I have the right to jump into their conversation and set the record straight. But, what I can do is what I do best-teach. I can teach my students how to use the Internet responsibly. How to check sites to make certain they are unbiased and reliable. They need to know that everything they find on the Internet is not true. If they do find something they are uncertain about, they can use the Internet to help clarify and give them understanding. Being a good digital citizen is not something they will develop on their own over time. Just like organization and studying, it's a skill students need to be taught with guidance and allowed to practice. Once they master this skill, not only will they become better, more informed digital citizens, but they will be over-all better citizens in society.