Churchill Fellowship report

THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA

Report by - STEVEN CALDWELL - 2010 Churchill Fellow

To study programs that support young Australians to develop positive values in online communities.

I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this report, either in hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication.

I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim of proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of a Report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet.

I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy laws or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off or contravention of any other private right or of any law.

Signed

Steven Caldwell

Dated

04/01/2011

Index

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..page 3 Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………..page 4 Programme…………………………………………………………………………………..page 5 Background: Snapshots of American Education……………………………………………....page 6 Main Body • Stage 1 - Nonviolent Communication………………………………………………..page 9 •

Stage 2 - Best Practice in Digital Citizenship o The School of Tomorrow?..........................................................................................page 11 o What can games teach us about positive values?...............................................page 14 o A curriculum for young digital citizens……………………………………....page 16 o Nothing to fear?..........................................................................................................page 18 o Full Sail Ahead?...........................................................................................................page 20 o Catch Us If You Can – Adora Svitak………………………………………...page 23 o Think locally. Act locally?...........................................................................................page 25

•

Stage 3 – Quest Atlantis……………………………………………………………..page 27 o Developing ‘The Isle of Tosturi’……………………………………………....page 29

Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………….page 35 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………...page 36 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………............page 37

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Introduction “Only Connect…” EM Forster The word ‘Connectivity’ is a significant buzzword in both the telecommunications and education domains. But it’s not the speed that matters but the quality of that connection between individuals and groups.

There is a great shift underway right now in how and where kids communicate. The linguist David Crystal argues that we are participating in a new form of communication that has arisen in the internet age, particularly with the advent of Web 2.0 tools. As communication is changing, it is imperative that educators critically evaluate what is evolving in order to remain relevant and connected to young people. If we can't communicate effectively, we can't connect.

Even when in your home or classroom, young people may be far away in the company of others, through their participation in social networks, online games and virtual worlds. How are they being best prepared to be citizens in these new worlds? Who are their guides and is there a place for educators and parents alongside them? And just what are they saying to each other?

My experience as an Australian classroom teacher has shown that in some instances there is a distinct lack of care, consideration, compassion and consequentiality in online interactions. Half of the discussion about the online presence of young people revolves around pedophiles and the other half around the damage inflicted by cyberbullying. Susan McLean, Australia’s self-appointed leading cybersafety activist, says that the ‘Internet is the new toilet door’.

McLean’s voice is an important one but her fear-based rhetoric, loud as it is, does not address the fundamental need to present alternative ways to connect online. Her approach is only part of the solution. So, how exactly can cyberspace be a valuable tool to create connections rather than destroy them?

The purpose of this Churchill Fellowship was to explore how schools, individual teachers, libraries, universities and students themselves develop ways of helping young people make and maintain meaningful connections in online spaces.

There were three stages in the Fellowship: Stage 1 I sought training in Non-Violent Communication (NVC) or Compassionate Communication, a process now practised in conflict resolution, mediation and in restorative justice programs worldwide. I wanted to gain skills in the methodology and evaluate its suitability for implementation in online spaces.

Stage 2 I investigated best practice in digital citizenship training across the levels of schooling from elementary to tertiary, guided by the question: ‘What is being done to help young people connect more deeply to their core values and to each other in meaningful ways?’

My investigation involved meetings with the Director of the New York City School Library System and visits to assess pioneering educational programs and institutions in New York and Florida.

Stage 3 I worked closely with Indiana University’s Center for Research in Learning and Technology to devise a game-based virtual world and curriculum that would assist in the development of compassionate speech and empathy.

I want to express my gratitude to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for supporting this inquiry into promoting compassionate communication. In addition, my thanks go to my two referees, Mrs. Barbara Stone and Dr Bronwyn Stuckey, who were generous with their time and interest. To all those dedicated, innovative and committed educators I encountered Marianne Malmstrom, Peggy Sheehy, Barbara Stripling, Rafi Santo, David Phelps, Jenna McWilliams, the EMDT team at Full Sail University, Janine McGrath and Jesus DeLeon - you have my admiration and deep respect. Lastly, I am extremely grateful to Stephen Groenewegen for bringing a keen editorial eye to bear on this report.

Executive Summary Steven Caldwell 143 Probert Street, Newtown NSW 2042 Director of Online Learning (Middle School) MLC School, Burwood 0412754320 To study programs that support young Australians to develop positive values in online communities.

Highlights • • • • •

Training course in Nonviolent Communication, New York City Visit to Elisabeth Morrow School in New Jersey Interview with Anne Collier from ConnectSafely.org Presentation on what adults can learn from young people by 13-year-old Adora Svitak Working with the Quest Atlantis team to develop a learning unit on Compassionate speech.

Recommendations 1. Development of resources • Support the implementation of Cybersmart resources produced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

• Develop non-fear based resources that showcase the possibilities presented by effective online connections.

2. Upgrade the 'Heart-ware’ • Align digital citizenship/online safety curriculum to values outlined in the National Framework for Values Education.

• Construct values curriculum that explores ways in which identity is constructed online.

• Develop Wellbeing and Mindfulness programs across all ages of schooling based on the recommendations of the Values in Action Schools Project: Final Report.

• Implement nonviolent communication training courses for schools.

3. Further education for the community • Make a more comprehensive survey of youth presence online.

• Provide further education to families that go beyond the potential dangers lurking online.

• Develop partnership programs where young people and their parents collaborate in online environments on joint projects.

• Increase professional development for teaching staff on new media literacies, including games in learning.

• Training for teachers, students and parents in the use of Quest Atlantis as an effective, safe learning space that models 21st century skills.

4. Increase access and experimentation • Relax filtering of internet content and/or provide network administrators with greater flexibility in responding to teacher/student needs.

5. Celebrate youth online • Create a national youth forum to explore the presence of young people in online spaces where best practices and problem-solving strategies are shared.

• Involve young people in the creation and implementation of acceptable use policies in schools in order to ensure their ongoing commitment.

Implementation and Dissemination • Continued development, testing and implementation of the Quest Atlantis Compassionate Speech

unit in 2011 in Australian schools participating in the research program.

• Share the experience of a Churchill Fellowship and the writing of a game-based learning unit on

my professional blog and the official Quest Atlantis (QA) Blog.

• Share the report with ACMA and the Values Project team.

• Encourage Australian teachers to create more Australian content for QA using the National

Curriculum and the Framework for Values document in ‘mission’ writing workshops.

• Apply to the Australian Computers in Education, Generation Next and Values conferences to

share the findings over 2011-12.

• Research ways to create a Youth Online Forum as outlined in this report.

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Programme 22 September - 3 October - New York • New York Center for Nonviolent Communication (3 days) • Marianna Malmstrom, The Elisabeth Morrow School, New Jersey (1 day plus three 'virtual visits') • Barbara Stripling, Director of New York City School Library System • Peggy Sheehy, Suffern Middle School, New Jersey (1 day) 3 - 17 October - Indiana University, School of Education, Bloomington, Indiana • Center for Research in Learning and Technology (CRLT) • Interview with Anne Collier • Lawrence Paska PhD, New York State Education Department • Global Kids (virtual visit) 18 - 24 October - Orlando, Florida • Full Sail University (1 day and a virtual visit) • Attended address by Adora Svitak • Seminole County Public School System (various schools over 3 days) 25 October - 10 November - Indiana University, School of Education, Bloomington, Indiana • Center for Research in Learning and Technology (CRLT)

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Background: Snapshots of American Education, October 2010 What follows are a series of snapshots of America at the time of my visit. Much of what concerns the American Education scene is in accord with the Australian experience. Reflections on these contemporary issues fed directly into the recommendations of the report as outlined below.

Picture1: Peeking Out The ‘It Gets Better’ initiative

The topic of cyberbullying dominated the media in the month of October following the tragic and unnecessary suicides of seven young people in the past months. The youngest was Seth Walsh - a thirteen-year-old boy who hanged himself following years of being tormented.

The most publicised suicide was that of college student and talented musician Tyler Clementi who allegedly threw himself off the George Washington Bridge in New York following the surreptitious posting on Facebook of footage showing him engaged in a sexual encounter.

The ‘It Gets Better’ initiative was founded in September 2010 in a concerted attempt to provide support to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) people, particularly those at risk of self-harm or, at the very least, low self-esteem due to the lack of positive images of a more promising future. It Gets Better is a video archive of people’s voices speaking out to encourage young people to get the help they need and realise that what they are experiencing now is transient. It serves as a permanent record of encouragement and support. The public response has been phenomenal.

The ‘It Gets Better’ model is a powerful and effective one which allows people to speak up about their experience of difficulties and successes in order to help others. A similar approach could be taken by young Promotional poster people to share not only how they have worked through issues arising online but also their successes and innovations. ‘It Gets Better’ has inspired me develop a youth forum for youth presence online.

Picture 2: Slamming Shut The ‘Stop, Think. Connect.’ initiative

Australia is well ahead of the US in its support of citizens online. ACMA’s Cybersmart resources are a thorough program for ensuring online safety for all ages.

Whilst I was in America, The Department of Homeland Security made a bold display of announcing the first ever Federal public cybersafety awareness campaign.

Stop. Think. Connect homepage released on October 4

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Called Stop. Think. Connect, this initiative is the first“…national public education campaign designed to increase public understanding of cyber threats and how individual citizens can develop safer cyber habits that will help make networks more secure.

The campaign fulfills a key element of President Obama’s 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review, which tasked DHS with developing a public awareness campaign to inform Americans about ways to use technology safely.”

Department of Homeland Security http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1286211160622.shtm It is striking that up until now there had been no national strategy for internet safety in America, given the country’s shared perception of omnipresent cyber threat.

A review of the site’s content makes it clear, even with the money and time invested in this campaign, that there is still no national strategy of any significant consequence. What the website contains is less than one A4 page of standard safety ‘netiquette’ that one might glean from any pre-existing cybersafety website. Australia is leading the field in this area.

Picture 3: Locked Out The documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ An attempt at finding a simple solution to the inequalities of the American education system is the subject of the controversial documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’.

At the core of the film are the stories of five children who are all applying to attend Charter Schools. These schools are seen as the means to escape institutionalised failure and future disadvantage.

As depicted in the film, entry to these schools is not based on testing or economics but lottery- students are placed according to whether their ‘ball’ falls into place. It is chance, not merit that determines their future.

The film is a salient lesson about the dangers of losing sight of the individual within a system. It asserts the significance of listening to the voices of young people. It is also a reminder to all Australian educators who believe NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy And Numeracy) scores are a valid reflection of a child’s learning.

Movie poster

Picture 4: Under Lock and Key The ideals and realities of internet usage.

The New York State Office of Educational Design and Technology (OEDT) directs all state curriculum in online safety for students 8 years and older. In addition to providing safety resources, the OEDT shares lists of safe, appropriate websites and media toolkits that students might find useful for their learning.

But, as I learned from my conversation with Lawrence Paska, directing curriculum is not the same as implementing it.

American schools’ over-dependence on formal testing and scores impacts on how much time is freed up to explore non-examinable subjects. As there are no formal tests for the acquisition of computer skills, information technology usage, cybersafety or e-citizenship, there is a reduced likelihood of schools fully utilising resources that are provided by OEDT. When it comes to the materials and directives created by the OEDT, it is only recommended that they be implemented – there is no formal directive to use resources that the OEDT produces as it is in effect only an advisory body servicing 700 individual school districts with limited resources. OEDT recommends that new media tools and educational websites are made available to students but, what tends to happen is that, like in many Australian schools, administrators –

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‘…just shut off the access because they are very afraid of lawsuits, or they’re very afraid of students bullying each other or they’re very afraid of teachers and students getting into harassing situations and they are trying to limit their liability.’ Lawrence Paska The reality of students’ internet usage is not reflected in school policy. The Regents Statewide Learning Technology Plan report contains data from a poll of 16,000 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 that demonstrates a clear disparity between home and school use of new media.

So, young people are using tools at home that are banned in the classroom. There is a legitimate concern that the policy of opening doors to social networking sites out of fear of litigation means that young people are already in them but without the guidance they need.

The same report also presented recommendations gathered from over 800 New Yorkers at nine community forums. Three of the key recommendations were – • • •

Ensuring adequate, sustained professional development for pre-service and in-service educators and administrators in integrating technology across content areas, not as a stand-alone practice.

Establishing more collaborative spaces online for vetting and sharing promising practices statewide.

Removing the filters and blocks to access of specific resources (such as Internet sites) to allow for more innovation in instructional practice.

I support the findings of this report and advocate for a similar model of consultation to be carried out

by ACMA.

Conclusions and Implications The American education system has great potential to guide young people in being model digital citizens but existing structures and policies are hampering that possibility. Individuals sharing their own experience, as modeled by the ‘It Gets Better’ initiative, indicate that personal voices have the potential for greater impact than government-sponsored programs. We need more conclusive data on how young people are engaging online and ways to allow them to share their stories with others.

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Stage 1 – Nonviolent Communication The Center for Nonviolent Communication, New York City.

My Churchill Fellowship began with a three-day training course at the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication facilitated by Thom Bond. The course was an effective blend of the theoretical, experiential and the reflective.

Participants were from mixed professions – health care, social workers, teachers, artists, students – and it attracted people from around the world. Most participants voiced both professional and personal motivations for attending; I was there to see if this particular methodology could be applied in online communication. Could young people practise nonviolent communication as a way of reducing the destructive relationships found online?

What is NVC? Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is sometimes also known as Compassionate Communication. It is a methodology that allows communication with ourselves and with others in a more compassionate, constructive manner through identifying and articulating core human ‘feelings’ and ‘needs’. Beyond being a personal development tool, NVC is valued as a mediation practice that is implemented in hundreds of schools worldwide as part of restorative justice programs.

NVC addresses two key questions – What happens to disconnect us from our compassionate nature, leading us to behave violently and exploitatively?

What allows some people to stay connected to their compassionate nature even under the most trying circumstances?

NVC suggests that we need to contact our true needs in any given moment of conversation so that we speak from them. Drawing attention to our feelings - those responses to needs being met or unmet - we can then amend our course so that we can be more fulfilled. Much of what we do in conversation can be judgmental – building barriers rather than bridges between people. (For more detail on the NVC course, go to http://milarepa.edublogs.org/2010/10/06/reactive-creative-part-1-disconnection/ or visit http://www.cnvc.org/ for more resources.)

I see all of these things happening in the communication I observe between young people today. They are extremely vulnerable to acting/speaking based on feelings alone. They constantly react to stimuli rather than take the more creative, if time-consuming approach, of forging connections and mutually meeting needs.

Stage 1 – Conclusions The course raised more questions than it answered, not the least of which being just how one might be able to implement such an all-encompassing approach to communication. For NVC to be effective it needs to be practised in more than a few stand-alone lessons on NVC and during an extended period of time. With the presence of so few qualified trainers in Australia the difficulties are further compounded.

With regard to students online, it is clear that much needs to be done to share the value of empathic communication. The model of NVC is one that can be applied to social networking and email. The greatest impediment is the impulsiveness of youth. Developing courses on mindfulness and meditation practices would be an essential adjunct to NVC. Both mindfulness and meditation allow minds to calm and provide greater opportunity for discernment. With the Values Project advocating for Wellbeing curriculum in Australian schools, the time is ripe for the development of Mindfulness and Compassionate Communication courses for young people.

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The publishing arm of NVC has produced a number of resources, including lesson plans to assist in the implementation of NVC in school contexts but there has been no translation of the NVC process to online communication. This needs to be addressed, firstly through exposure to the vocabulary of feelings and needs and then, through exercises drawing on young people’s experience of those states.

From the course it became clearer how the methodology might be modeled in a computer simulation to allow young people to progress at their own pace. This became the focus of my time at Indiana University towards the end of the Fellowship.

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Stage 2 – Best Practice in Digital Citizenship The School of Tomorrow?

Elisabeth Morrow School, New Jersey In an affluent wooded suburb of New Jersey, only a short car ride from the towers of New York City, lies the Morrow mansion. Since 1930 it has been known as the Elisabeth Morrow School. The ancestral home of the Morrow family is now at the centre of a complex of specially outfitted school buildings that cater to the needs of 460 co-education students aged from 3–14. It is a remarkable school in many ways, not least because it bases its entire philosophy on four keystone concepts that it terms ‘The Four Cs’: Consideration Consider other people’s feelings Help others when needed Invite others to join activities Cooperation Work together as a team Practise self control Follow directions Courtesy Be kind Treat others as you would like to be treated Have good manners

Compassion Be tolerant of small annoyances Accept apologies Be understanding of other’s feelings and needs

Learning from the wise Marianne Malmstrom (aka Knowclue) is a technology teacher committed to engaging students in dialogue between these Four Cs and access to emerging social technologies. She empowers her class to use safe and proactive practices online and advocates for wider access to online tools. Her method is simple – let the young people share what they already know and deeply value their contributions. In essence, she impeccably models the Four Cs in her interactions with young people.

Marianne allowed me to survey her Grade 7 class (of 13-14 year olds) about their attitude to online safety at school and at home.

diagram showing how students perceived their supports at school

The students identified that they possessed specific Knowledge about online safety, Skills with the tools and, most originally, ‘Wit’ which I took to mean cleverness, humour and a sense of perspective. In turn,

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they knew that their teacher and the school also possessed degrees of Knowledge, Skill, Experience and Wit which informed their choices. All these factors filter out anyone undesirable from entering the students’ online environment.

We then turned to look at the home environment to see if there was any difference in their perception of safety.

diagram showing how students perceived their supports at home

This diagram had less layers, more components and more ‘holes’ as one student put it. Firstly, the students identified differences between Face to Face (F2F) friends they also meet online and purely online friends (their ‘Peeps’) which was revealing. Interestingly, they cited Gaming Friends (such as through World of Warcraft) as a separate category. Membership to these groups is not mutually exclusive. Siblings, they noted, had differing degrees of understanding about online safety practices due to age and education. Parents seemed to monitor their Internet use less than teachers did at school.

The lack of connection, as indicated by the orange-highlighted outlines in the model, is indicative of the lack of communication or even exposure to the various aspects of a student’s online presence. Do parents or siblings know to what extent a child participates online? Is there open discussion and sharing? For that matter, do teens invite such interest from family members?

My reflections on this diagram are in accord with the recommendations put forward by Susan McLean in Australia. Four of her five top tips for safety online relate specifically to the whole family being united in discussing, knowing and planning for how the Internet is to be part of their communal and private lives.

I then asked the students to tell me the questions they should have been asked in the survey. Their questions were insightful and reflected their need for guidance and support. Here are some of their key questions –

•Have you ever been in a fight on a computer?

•Is it easier to chat with people online than with friends F2F? •Is it safe to friend anyone on Facebook or social networking sites?

•Where would you go if you have a problem online?

•Would you say stuff online that you wouldn’t say in person?

•When you post something bad about other people do you think about your future when you post something bad? Do you consider the consequences of your actions?

•Do you save your chats or do you delete them?

•Has someone in a chat ever changed your emotional state, for example made you sad?

Conclusions from the day Elisabeth Morrow’s Four Cs could be a global template for building positive connections online. For this to occur, however, schools may need to revise student Codes of Conduct to reflect the undeniable fact that students have existing online identities with associated behaviours.

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In order to enact the Four Cs fully we need to understand that young people need to take risks but do so in a supportive environment. I would suggest that schools take a more relaxed approach with regard to network administrators blocking Internet content but, at the same time, increase the implementation of programs that empower students to critically evaluate content and engage in more proactive selfmonitoring. Otherwise, we are enfeebling their ability to make informed choices apart from adult intervention.

Lastly, if students were to enact the Four Cs online they will be, in turn, adding to the societal norms of online spaces. By keeping students out we deny knowledgeable, skillful, experienced and witty young people the opportunity to challenge the existing paradigms. Were young people to bring the Four Cs to bear in online spaces with commitment and consistency, we may, in time, have a very different Internet. This would be the lasting legacy of the true School of Tomorrow.

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What can games teach us about positive values?

Suffern Middle School, New Jersey ‘Words have a great deal of power. They have a power to lift people up, to give people courage and strength, to make it a better world and they have the power to break down, be hurtful and destroy. We want our words to build and lift and bring up to the light.’

Peggy Sheehy, spoken to a Grade 7 class during a ‘teachable moment’ Suffern Middle School is a co-education public school that caters to just over 1000 students. Suffern is proud of its Full Value program which consists of seven core values. These are proudly displayed and were frequently referred to during my visit. These values are not school rules to be obeyed but rather qualities to enact which will enhance their experience of learning and assist in building positive experiences for others. They were present in all the interactions I had during the day. The seven Full Values are – Be Here Be Safe Be Honest Have Fun Care for Self and Others Let Go and Move On Set Goals.

Suffern was the first school to begin a learning presence in Teen Second Life and is presently championing the role of World of Warcraft in learning. One of the key figures in this is Media Specialist Peggy Sheehy, who is dedicated to integrating technology into the curriculum in meaningful ways. She is an inspiring leader who is now leading the field in, among other things, using World of Warcraft as a learning tool. I wanted to ask her whether it was possible for massively multiplayer online role-playing games to promote positive values and build connections between young people and the world?

Why online gaming?

WoW (as World of Warcraft is known amongst players), is a multi-person online fantasy role-playing game in which individuals and groups (Guilds) complete quests in order to gain skills, equipment and points. Their trajectory through the complex narratives is dependent upon their success with individual and group tasks. It is an engaging allegorical vehicle for young people to explore a number of issues and concepts in a relatively safe environment.

‘Relatively safe?’ Don’t games like this inspire violence? Peggy cites research from the US Department of Justice and the Bureau of Statistics to examine the correlation between juvenile violent crime and the advent of games that have been argued to increase violence.

http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/violence_and_videogames

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Adult fears of growing violent streaks in young people are constantly raised but frequently unfounded.

They are more likely to be exposed to real violence on television, in fairytales or sporting competitions.

Why only relatively safe? These spaces can be unpredictable and hard to completely control. But it is the open possibilities that attract young people in the first place and encourage exploration and experimentation.

Nor are online games socially isolating. Peggy cites the research and findings of Henry Jenkins (Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California) who states in Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked ‘Much video game play is social. Almost 60 percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirtythree percent play with siblings and 25 percent play with spouses or parents. Even games designed for single players are often played socially, with one person giving advice to another holding a joystick. A growing number of games are designed for multiple players — for either cooperative play in the same space or online play with distributed players.’

The legacy of ‘The Legacy’ Although I had the opportunity of sitting in on several classes during the day and speaking with Peggy and other teachers, the highlight came after school when I met members of The Legacy – a Guild of players who meet as part of an after school program. These students were experienced WoW players and they completely floored me with their level of self knowledge, their ability to articulate - and their sound understanding of - what it means to be part of a community. The students manage an online Wiki for which they write narratives based on their avatars and share game tips. They have learned some useful group management skills and grown familiar with the tools that make long distance team work possible (they play with students in North Carolina and Florida). They embody the Seven Full Values of the school. But what have they taken away from the game that has been applied to their daily life?

This Youtube video made by players from another school eloquently expresses the value of their time in WoW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTnr95vrzBI&feature=youtube_gdata_player The skills WoW exposes students to are skills we need in the 21st Century. Teamwork, communication, social responsibility, map reading/orienteering, goal setting, resource and time management, new media literacies, machinima and traditional text-based literacies are all developed within the game platform. Employers are acknowledging the team skills consolidated in gaming environments to the point of asking if prospective employees are gamers.

But it goes deeper than this. Peggy is unequivocal about this next point – this is a program for character development, moral development and values formulation. Our avatars allow us to, in her words, ‘Put our best faces, our best thoughts, our best ideas, our best dream and our best honour forward’ into the world. How does this happen? By collaborating to solve problems young people learn the value of community and the qualities needed to make it strong and effective. The game environment allows them to make mistakes, to even fail spectacularly and then try once more.

Members of The Legacy who may once have been social isolates are now effective, collaborative team members communicating purposefully across state lines in an attempt to make their communal fantasy world a better place by contacting that which is noblest within them. In so doing, they are learning skills and life-affirming qualities that, in the future, just might save ours.

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A curriculum for young digital citizens Department of Library Services, New York City Barbara Stripling is the Director of Library Services in the New York City School Library System. As part of her role she is responsible for developing a Grade 1-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum for implementation in 75 schools in the city. Barbara sees the 21st Century library as a site where students engage in active discovery and produce materials inspired by their imagination. Meeting with her was an essential catalyst for recommending students as creators of digital citizenship lessons.

Barbara believes that libraries should become places of provocation where different perspectives are debated. In her view, social media tools have not added significantly to the arena of inquiry and debate. Students research online laterally – only finding repetitions of information that confirm their initial findings. There is little effort to discover contradictions or alternative perspectives on issues and then come into some relationship with the tension that arises between these contrary positions. Instead, they see their opinion as just as valid and true as anyone else’s because it is published on the web. The Cult of the Amateur, though providing a voice to students is not helping them say much of any depth, particularly when locating solid evidence is not valued. When critical thinking skills are not overtly taught and maintained, this is a fair assessment of how young people interact with information.

Stripling Inquiry Process Barbara has created a methodology that incorporates a respect for diversity and incongruence, which can be applied to any research task. It poses a fresh way of accessing and evaluating information. It begins with connecting our understanding of the general field to which our findings might relate once we have conducted the research. This leads us generally to wonder about these fields and locate some key terms to help direct our attention. The next three steps are pretty traditional research stages with the additional refinement of the need for real audiences for the finished product.

from http://www.upw.henderson.k12.nc.us/StriplingInquiryProcess.ppt

She believes that this model allows students to actually think about what they are discovering rather than just repeat what they have found. This process is an improvement upon the existing Information Skills Process provided by the NSW DET which does not build into it the reflection process or how to work with non-congruent information. Basically, the Stripling process slows the process down in order to build in more thinking and less clicking.

NYC Digital Citizenship Curriculum Barbara and her team have laid out a comprehensive Digital Citizenship scope and sequence for New York City’s schools that encompasses Grades 1 through 12. The curriculum is structured into two strands - Safety and Responsibility - that spiral through each of the grades. This is to both acknowledge school administrators’ necessity to monitor Internet Safety and to challenge the predominantly fear-based discourse at the same time by indicating that students are active participants in the community and, as such, have certain responsibilities.

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The program is remarkably similar to the Australian resources produced by ACMA- they even share common resources. There are, however, issues with the sequence. Children as young as six are sending emails, so leaving it until Grade 8 to address etiquette is not best meeting students’ needs. Also, looking over one of the sample lesson plans for Grade 9 about digital identity I was troubled by the strong moralistic judgments students were being asked to make about their own identity and the identity of other people. Depending on the level of discussion and reflection, this moralistic language would be problematic as it might suggest that only certain expressions of identity were acceptable.

The innovation lies in the manner in which the curriculum is being constructed. Rather than have it written

by District-level consultants, the plan is to invite classroom teachers to apply for a grant. As part of the grant, teachers receive training, a flip camera, a digital projector and a Netbook. In return, they write and deliver demonstration lessons on one of the content areas. The student products of these lessons, small Common Craft style animations, will then be hosted on the department’s website as a future resource. These are a simple way for students to develop conceptual understandings around the concepts of Safety and Responsibility.

Grade 1 2

Responsibility Respecting yourself and others Respecting your own privacy

3

Respecting the privacy of others

4

Digital communication tools and netiquette/respectful collaboration

5

Intellectual property/plagiarism

6

Evaluation of online information

7 8

Fair use/respecting the digital privacy of yourself and others E-mail etiquette Social Networking

Safety Only talk to people you know Cybersafety (Real friends vs. digital friends) Safe Searching – staying in a kid friendly zone and what to do when things go wrong Safe navigation and keeping your computer safe (don’t click here – avoid viruses) Protecting your own privacy (digital footprint, creating strong passwords, logging off your accounts, thoughtful uploading ‘Think before you post’) Cyberbullying – social networking digizen.org “Let’s Fight It Together” Cyberbullying and responsibility to self Cyberbullying and responsibility to others

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Plagiarism

Use of technology tools – viruses, ‘phishing’.

Digital footprint: creating a professional online identity

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Intellectual Property and Fair Use (using diverse formats)

Digital Footprint: Cyber slander

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Multiple points of view

Digital Footprint: Going Viral. ‘Think before you post!’

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Social networking for college and career Plagiarism Multiple points of view

Digital footprint: Credit card, financial information

Draft of NYC Digital Citizenship Curriculum – Grade-by-Grade Outline

The benefits are that teachers are rewarded for best practice and for adding to a larger community pool of resources. Students are presented with a high-stakes audience to present their findings to.

Despite Barbara’s best intention to challenge the Fear-based paradigm, the program lacks the strand of Possibilities – what is possible by connecting with others online. This moves us beyond just the technology and into its purpose – to connect people and ideas. I would argue for a stronger component on what is possible, if digital citizenship were to be embraced effectively.

This pilot program has a novel approach and it will be interesting to observe the results. The main challenges it faces in the US environment are a perennial lack of funding for libraries and deficient infrastructure. Schools do not have the bandwidth or the capacity to handle even the amount of internet usage being attempted now let alone that which is planned for the future. The unfortunate reality is that the young people may never see the fruits of their efforts unless there is investment in the network and hardware.

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Nothing to fear?

Interview with Anne Collier, Journalist and Cybersafety consultant A journalist by profession, Anne is a ‘Truth-teller’ whose work through NetFamilyNews.org and ConnectSafely.org is cited by those who seek a more reasoned, less sensational voice in this highlycharged domain. Anne served on the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, formed by 49 state attorneys-general at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society as well as participating in various advisory boards, attending international conferences, and co-chairing the Obama Administration’s Online Safety and Technology Working Group, which sent its report to the US Congress last June.

For a more detailed account of our discussions, particularly concerning the origins of moral panic around young people and the internet, see http://milarepa.edublogs.org/2010/11/03/nothing-tofear-but-fear-itself/.

The Limitations of Fear The mainstream perception is that fear is a useful tool; the understanding being that if you scare parents and children, you will ‘scare them straight’ into becoming model citizens. Fear does the exact opposite of what we actually need which is to generate a culture of reasoned discussion and debate.

What fear does is scare parents and administrators into closing down access based on fear of what might happen.

Fear-based reactions remove the very resources young people need to help them make informed decisions. Safe, loving and informed adults are removed from the equation, replacing them with frightened reactionaries who shut off avenues for discussion. Thus, young people are left to go underground and rely on their peers to negotiate the complexities of online cultures, putting them at greater risk. As Quentin Crisp, a renowned victim of perceived fear put it, ‘The young always have the same problem – how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.’

The Discrediting of Fear

The fear-dominated discourse is being challenged as the findings of comprehensive studies question many of the assumptions held by parents and school administrators. Anne mentioned two significant reports published in recent years with which she was involved that have attempted to dispel misconceptions.

At the request of the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprising 49 state attorneysgeneral, the Enhancing Safety and Online Technologies Report (2008) was commissioned. Written by the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce, comprising leaders from social network sites (including Facebook), academics, technology developers, teachers, internet service providers and consumer advocacy organizations, the report was published by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

The report deals a serious blow to the rhetoric of fear and to the framing of young people as innocent victims of adult manipulation.

‘The Literature Review shows that the risks minors face online are complex and multifaceted and are in most cases not significantly different than those they face offline, and that as they get older, minors themselves contribute to some of the problems.’ Executive Summary, page 4 The report makes three key recommendations, none of which involved banning access or censorship1. All stakeholders in online communities need to share responsibility for protecting young people online.

2. More training in risk assessment and online safety practices needs to be developed for all who work with young people.

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3. Parents and caregivers need to educate themselves about the internet and evaluate the use of tools in their own family context.

The second report, published in June 2010, Youth Safety on a Living Internet – report of the online safety and technology working group, evaluated existing online safety practices/resources promoted by the telecommunications industry and the education sector. One of the key understandings raised in this report is that‘…thanks to the growing body of youth-online-risk research, we are now able to seek solutions as a society which are fact-based, not fear-based, but also that minors themselves – mainly pre-teens and teens (though the tech-literacy age is going down) – have a role to play in improving their own safety online and that of their peers.’ Executive Summary, page 4 The sub-committee on Internet Safety Education also made some powerful recommendations-.

•’Nationwide education in digital citizenship and media literacy as the cornerstone of Internet safety.’

•Avoid scare tactics and promote the social-norms approach to risk prevention.

•Create a Digital Literacy Corps for schools and communities nationwide.

•Encourage full, safe use of digital media in schools’ regular instruction and professional development in their use as a high priority for educators nationwide.

•Respect young people’s expertise and get them involved in risk-prevention education. (my emphasis) The most significant aspect of both these reports, aside from taking a less reactionary approach and presenting a reasoned response to the issues, is that young people themselves are considered part of the problem itself and also part of the solution. Young people are now seen as stakeholders in their own right who are not only to be protected but also respected.

The Alternative to Fear – Respect for Youth The Macarthur Foundation recently invested 50 million dollars and three years to do both quantitative and qualitative ethnographic research on youth culture in the Digital Youth Project. The extensive research acknowledged a new sociology of youth. The book Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out – Kids Living and Learning with New Media drew on the findings of the Digital Youth Project and makes it abundantly clear that there is a lot we need to do to earn the respect of young people. There is an imperative to respect what they have to offer and to hear their voices on matters that concern them in a meaningful, consequential way.

Sadly, Anne believes that in all her travels, talking to students, presenting to parents and administrators, attending conferences, consulting and chairing working groups, she is yet to find a forum that is deeply respectful of youth. There are organisations that do enlist student voices – Inspire USA, Reachout.org, Childnet International, Common Sense Media, Be Very Afraid and Global Kids – but none that respect the wisdom and experiences of youth or inquires of them in ways that give them leadership in the field of online safety/digital citizenship.

Where is the opportunity to allow young people to meet their social needs and provide a forum/community of inquiry around safety and global citizenship? Instead we have teachers, politicians, journalists and businesses applying their value sets and societal norms to young people without consultation. These informed, authoritative voices of ‘cybersafety experts’ make it clear what has to be done to and for young people, but not alongside young people.

There is a need for us to step back and for the young to step up. We may be chronologically older, but in terms of experience in online spaces, young people are our elders.

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Full Sail Ahead?

Full Sail University, Florida About Full Sail

Since its inception in 1979, Full Sail has been preparing people for careers in the entertainment and media industry. It is frequently listed in the popular media as one of the top five film, music, new media and game schools in America. Graduates of Full Sail work for the most influential names in Entertainment Media today – Sony, MTV, Dreamworks, Paramount Pictures, Disney, Pixar, Nintendo, Electronic Arts and even Cirque du Soleil.

Meeting with the academic faculty and students of Education Media Design and Technology (EMDT) was an opportunity to observe the ethical dimensions of instructional design curriculum represented at the university. They were particularly keen to hear about my research.

This relatively new department of Full Sail is at the forefront of educational change, training existing teachers in new pedagogies that incorporate games and other interactive media into learning. They were particularly interested in how we can collaboratively construct creative, risk-taking environments that respect learners whilst maintaining a degree of safety.

Six key themes can be distilled from our discussion.

1. Little Boxes The faculty and I share the view that the American education system is invested in controlling youth – their experiences, output, and responses – by reducing their education to a series of standardised tests.

Free play (where children imagine and create on their own or in groups) has been removed from the Kindergarten curriculum in favour of more early literacy and Numeracy classes, presumably with assessment of achievement. The expectation is that all children will be reading set texts by the time they leave Kindergarten. Whilst literacy is essential, what is the cost?

As a student’s personal agency is eroded by repeated testing, conversely the authority of the teacher is reinforced. Teachers are placed in the position of providing the information required to be regurgitated on demand in testing situations. Added to this the threat of reduced funding and the very real threat of loss of employment, there is a worrying co-dependent relationship developing in American classrooms.

The EMDT faculty, like Sir Ken Robinson, noted that the long-term impact of the American education system (in particular the previous administration’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ initiative) is a significant cultural decline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U). With schools and teachers ranked, and their abilities to teach evaluated purely on their student’s test scores, the profession feels ‘enslaved’ by a system that does not recognise or value creative capital. Students, in turn, feel ‘belittled’ on a daily basis by this reduction of learning to testing.

2. Upgrading the Heart-ware Our critique of American education examined the overemphasis on the technology curriculum and safety agenda rather than on character building programs or values education. We agreed that values for, but not limited to, such things as Creativity, Acceptance, Respect, Challenge and even Uncertainty, are our Human birthright irrespective of faith and would make a significant contribution to education.

That said, we thought it a huge shift for schools to move into the territory of Values education when other areas such as access to YouTube are easier to ‘police’.

The US public education sector fails to invest attention in building the character and resilience of the young people typing – the Heart-ware – preferring the safer route of technology management to the problematic and potentially vote-losing path of values/ethics education. The ongoing debate around the Australian Ethics curriculum is in a similar position.

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Interestingly, Full Sail is clearly a market leader in the use of technology both in the media industry and education sector but it does not run a discrete digital ethics course. Whilst there are no specific classes on ethics in virtual spaces, appropriate netiquette is assessed in all project-based work. Up to 10% of a course grade is derived from compliance with appropriate netiquette.

3. Who do you want to be when you ‘Level Up’?

Following on from the need for Values education, when the discourse around online identities is limited to safety and security, we reduce the potential young people have to make meaningful connections with others and with their own core values. Young people want to be better people but we are only telling them how to be safe.

Social networking tools can provide a useful scaffold for exploring identity. Just how do young people want to be perceived online? What life do they want to lead online and how does it connect to their first life? What is their ultimate profile and, of greater relevance, how will they work to bring it about?

These are questions that the new technology could draw our attention to.

We discussed the origins of the word ‘Avatar’. None present knew of its origins any further back than James Cameron’s film of the same name or cyberpunk novelist William Gibson’s popular use of the term. Epistemologically the word derives from the Sanskrit avatāra that literally means ‘a passing down’ rather like a legacy or heirloom. Within Hindu culture an avatar refers to the ‘descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.’ Of greater relevance to us is the second definition, ‘an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.’ Thus an avatar might represent beauty or wisdom or compassion or even wrathful energy. It could represent one’s wit, or passions or interests. In essence, an avatar is an aspect of one’s higher self refined and made manifest.

Do we consider a deeper quality of ourselves, something that transcends a shallow fixation on physical perfection, when we construct and name our avatars? For every ‘Socr@tes’ or ‘Wisdomseeker’ there are 100 ‘Killzones’ and ‘HotChiks’. I advocate for more work on self-image and identity throughout the process of integrating new media.

4. The four letter word starting with F We all agreed that a fear-based response to technology was shortsighted and potentially damaging to youth. Rather than dissuading young people we actually gave them ‘Clues to a Mystery’ that lead to further inquiry and experimentation.

Fear gives rise to a discourse of moral panic that has been prevalent at many times during America’s history, most recently in a general prejudice against Moslem people and Islamic culture following the events of 9/11. The internet and social media are yet further reasons to keep flexing our moral panic muscles.

Young people perceive that we are holding something from them and don’t always buy into the dangers that we depict as inherent. Increasingly, they learn less from being told something (particularly by those perceived as being in positions of authority) and more through direct experience. The more we take control away from them the more they seek it out as we are seen as ones who are denying freedom. Will we run the risk of escalating and thus proving the existence of a massive internet threat by blocking access and opportunities to learn with it?

5. Time’s up. Game over.

The demands placed upon us by our fascination with technology are shaping a new future. With the increased speed of communication that technology offers and the multitasking that ensues, it can be hard to keep focused amidst a myriad of distractions. Why do young people choose a life spread thinly across multiple windows? What does this kind of life offer?

Some of the most appealing functions of the online world are an anathema to the sorts of personal reflections for which we were advocating. A reflective, mindful approach is one that requires time invested in directed thought but technology is constantly demanding that we move on, keep up and click here. The very thing that stimulates and motivates young people, that thrill of immediate gratification that one finds in gaming environments, is the antithesis of reasoned analysis.

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EMDT Faculty noted that the further we can distance ourselves from a stimulus the greater creativity that is allowed but we tend to lead with our initial thought, the habitual strategy that may have served us well in the past. So how we do we balance the innovation and speed with a more reflective, considerate model that fosters creativity? And what need is being met by constant flicking between screens? One student at Full Sail offered their theory – in the online world there are amazing choices on offer and we are afraid to miss out on something. Is it avarice, therefore, that keeps us clicking?

We agreed that in order to infuse online spaces with greater ethical awareness and compassion, we needed strategies to disengage the clicking and re-engage the thinking or reflection. Mindfulness strategies such as meditation were discussed as a potential way of helping young people be more discerning in their approach to information. A valuable resource for Mindfulness curriculum is ‘Mindful Teaching & Teaching Mindfulness: a guide for anyone who teaches anything’ by Deborah Schoeberlein and Suki Sheth. This book outlines practices for classroom use as well as practices for teaching professionals.

6. Who’s driving the car?

Following on from the last point, as teachers using technology, are we obliged to integrate as many online tools as possible in our classes? Do we let the tech lead – allowing the car to drive itself – or are we appreciative of our students’ – the drivers – needs?

The choices available to us can be overwhelming so we need very clear criteria for selection of suitable tools that best meet our needs. Once selection criteria are defined, evaluative processes also are required. Therefore, more work in tool identification, selection and evaluation needs to be done.

Whilst innovation and experimentation is essential, they should not be utilized at the cost of students’ social/emotional and academic needs.

Conclusions: Back to the Future or Forward to the Past?

Clearly the key to best practice with new media is investing in a blend of good pedagogy and Values education with a liberal serving of Reflection. Drawing on past techniques and applying them to new contexts with the intent to open up possibilities rather than reactively shut them down is key to changing online behaviour.

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'Catch Us If You Can' ~ An evening with Adora Svitak ‘By listening to young people we are embracing what is at the heart of a democratic society- the idea that everyone should have a voice and a say. By including us in your conversations you are not only learning from us and hearing ideas you might otherwise not hear, you are also making us more motivated to become involved in issues … When we are included, we contribute.’ ~ Adora Svitak Whilst at Full Sail University I had the honour of hearing 13-year-old Adora Svitak give an address to faculty, their families and students in their new state-of-the-art conference facilities. This was not part of my planned itinerary but was a serendipitous moment.

Several hundred people were present to share Adora’s interactive presentation on what we can learn from the youth of today. At the end of which, the entire room rose in a standing ovation out of respect for this confident, articulate and thoughtful young person’s reflections. In her presentation Adora modeled her thesis – by involving the learners in the process and providing them with consequentiality, commitment increases.

Who is Adora Svitak?

Adora published her first book on writing at the age of seven, which lead to her starting a career in public speaking. Since then she has written a book of poetry and become a frequent guest at education conferences. In her own words, she is ‘compelled’ to share her ideas with adults about what she values most – creativity.

Until recently she was the youngest speaker at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks event (‘What adults can learn from kids’: http://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html) and even hosted her own TEDX conference where she gathered together 19 prominent young people to speak about issues affecting youth in the world today (TEDX Redmond http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/766.html). Read more about the amazing life of Adora at www.adorasvitak.com.

Boundary issues Today’s technology – smart phones, mobile devices as well as the internet – make the world significantly smaller by providing information instantaneously.

With this growing access to the world there is a growing awareness of global problems. Education needs to re-evaluate its purpose- is it merely to put people into the workforce or could it be to foster citizenship in order to address global issues? How are we preparing young people to respond to complex problems that affect them? Issues such as extremism, cyber conflict, resource scarcity and climate change impact on the lives of citizens but are they reflected in the curriculum to the degree that is necessary? Of greater significance is the fact that new global issues will arise. Are we fostering the creativity, innovation and problem solving skills needed to generate the solutions to those as yet unforeseen difficulties?

But Adora did offer words of caution. Just because students have a wider access to the world and to larger networks, it does not follow that the communication is deeper. Sometimes wider can lead to shallower and narrower communication as young people build up barriers around themselves. She believes, however, that it is imperative to challenge the view that technology only forms shallow relationships – it can offer depth but only if the process is modeled and alternatives are presented.

Creativity is the key. Adora defined creativity as making the most out of what is at hand in order to solve problems. Fostering creativity is, in her view, a democratic act as it allows individuals to form meaning for themselves. Do we as educators provide opportunities for true creative development and expression or do we only value those who can follow instruction over those who innovate?

Increasing connectivity ‘You make connections by listening and by hearing what their story is and by giving them the opportunity to explore, to play. Most of the time as educators we forget to play. We forget to have fun because it is

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so easy to focus on the standardised tests. We forget to connect with our learner and to enjoy the relationship with our learner.’ Dr Dan Siegel Adora invited her audience to contribute their ideas and opinions on what makes a great 21st Century teacher. This was done through a combination of open microphone and interactive Smartboard technology where we were able to type our responses. (The quote from Dr Siegel mentioned above being one example.) She then collated the results in real time and made some interesting observations based on our input.

It was fascinating to see the children, young people and teachers surge up to the microphone in order to share their experiences. The perfect 21st Century teacher is one who-

•Brings everybody together •Doesn’t take themselves too seriously •Is willing to be vulnerable •Inspires by complimenting and giving ideas •Erases the fear from the students by telling them that everything is possible •Allows young people to be creative •Is more communicative – responds to emails •Is less of a bureaucrat •Teaches us more but not from a textbook •Has integrity and is not two-faced •Explains errors more carefully •Is aware of our busy personal lives •Does not shame people in front of others •Works with us to solve problems •Helps me learn what is important to me not just what they have always done •Teaches us to have fun The best teachers were ones who not only made connections between ideas but who made personal connections, who took an interest in the lives, passions and needs of the students. There is a reciprocity that arises from this connection as well – when I am respected, she says, I am more likely to return that respect in kind.

Making Learning fit the learner Learning occurs anywhere and at any time; it is not something that occurs when one sits down in a classroom. Virtual schools, and blended learning environments where access to courses meets the schedule of the learner have proven that learning can be flexible and successful.

The ‘One Size Fits All’ approach to learning, which germinated in the 19th Century, is still flourishing in contemporary classrooms. This was hinted at when children as young as ten spoke into the microphone and told of teachers just teaching from books. It is clear from the young voices heard in this session that they want to be included, they want to be involved in the decisions being made that affect them. They also want a say in how they share their creativity.

Conclusions These notes cannot capture Adora’s wit, enthusiasm or the multi-modal way in which she communicated her message. She embodied the young person who was the subject of her talk – one who draws on the wider world of perspectives with a discerning eye and with the intent to solve problems creatively.

She saw that the relegation of students to passive recipients of knowledge was contrary to democracy.

Learning should be what arises when people, regardless of age, meet their needs for mutuality and connection.

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Think locally, Act locally?

Seminole County District Schools, Florida Seminole County holds 65 schools including Elementary, Middle, High and even a Virtual School. Some participate in the International Baccalaureate program. Included amongst them are Magnet schools schools that take a specialist focus. I spent two days in one such magnet school - South Seminole Middle School, the Leadership and Global Connections Magnet – alongside staff from the Department of Instructional Technology on professional training in the use of Quest Atlantis. This was an opportunity to hear teacher concerns about what values they thought students were learning online. Also, it being a school designated as having a global focus, I was curious to see what protocols were in place for students meeting and collaborating with students around the world.

Pressures on the profession Many teachers felt threatened by the demands placed upon them by their regional and state education departments. I had experienced something similar in Australia, particularly when schools mandate training in new programs and methodologies: teachers can be resistant to change which can either maintain the divide between teacher and student or, worse, transfer to the students themselves.

Concerns about safety Teachers here experienced similar concerns about their students' potential misuse of technology to those in Australia - harmful postings on social network sites, cyber bullying etc. Despite very clear guidelines, written in strongly worded, almost threatening language posted on all machines in the computer labs, such infringements did occur and were dealt with in a punitive manner. Students were not involved in the creation of such policies or procedures.

Global in name only Despite its title, the school did not participate in any global collaboration programs. 'Global' in South Seminole meant that students studied foreign languages, could participate in the International Baccalaureate and attended classrooms named after the world's continents. There were no pen pal exchanges, no study of literature from other cultures and no global service programs.

As a result, there were no existing protocols other than those displayed on the monitors to assist with maintaining peaceable communication online. This came as a great disappointment.

Rules of online conduct at South Seminole Middle School

Rules of Online Conduct at South Seminole

Teachers, particularly Language teachers, were eager to make connections with foreign schools but felt hamstrung by the demands placed on them by an already packed curriculum and the professional development agenda which did not always coincide with their needs or interests. Added to this the restrictions placed on the network by filtering software and you had teachers who felt that immediacy and relevance was often lost when engaging websites became known but remained blocked. I shared the names of many international groups that were engaged in global partnerships in the hopes that access to their resources might be opened.

Conclusions Whilst it was useful meeting with teachers and hearing their concerns as well as their hopes for online safety curriculum as modeled by Quest Atlantis, overall this aspect of the Fellowship did not live up to expectations. I suspect the teachers learned more from me and the Trainers than I did from them.

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Stage 2 – Conclusions From the interviews and sessions with leading educators in the field, it is clear that what is missing from discussions around youth presence online are young people themselves. Upon my return to Australia, I became interested in the work Stephen Heppell does in the UK with an annual youth conference called ‘Be Very Afraid’. Here the excellent, creative work done by young people online is celebrated and discussed. It is imperative that we develop a youth forum in this country that in some capacity will share successes and provide assistance to young people.

The culture of fear that leads to closing down opportunities is not supported by evidence. Whilst there are tragic incidents that arise out of cyberbullying, they are not the norm. Also, the internet does not automatically expose young people to more questionable content as previously supposed.

Quality teaching of critical thinking skills in conjunction with values education is the key to help young people develop positive identities online.

Stage 3 – Quest Atlantis Center for Research in Learning and Technology at Indiana University The Center for Research in Learning and Technology (CRLT) at Indiana University is at the forefront of educational change in the United States. Its purpose is to help people find the ‘appropriate application of technology to improve teaching and learning in diverse settings.’ http://crlt.indiana.edu The CRLT host several research projects that involve learning sciences professionals and classroom teachers. These include the Children’s School Success (CSS) project which seeks to reduce the educational disparity for disadvantaged youth; Transactive Art: An Inclusive Game-Based Programming Context that aims at enhancing creativity in after-school centres around the world and the Quest Atlantis project.

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an innovative research project that combines aspects of online gaming environments with rigorous, standards-based curriculum. Students engage in real-world problem solving within a safe virtual world space. Within the environment they are presented with opportunities to play, learn, help and lead whilst also orienting themselves to 21st Century media skills. All learning is also linked to one or more of seven core social commitments of humanistic values:

•Compassionate Wisdom •Social Responsibility •Healthy Communities •Personal Agency •Environmental Awareness •Creative Expression •Diversity Affirmation These values are explored in rich narratives where students become active participants who are able to observe the consequences of their actions upon the virtual spaces. This ‘transformational play’ makes use of safe, moderated social media rewards to students for positive interactions. Young people are acknowledged for the learning, playing and helping they engage in.

The QA team consists of Learning Scientists, professional writers, game designers, tech support, researchers and curriculum specialists who collaborate to produce individual learning ‘quests’ (discrete learning tasks), ‘missions’ (learning embedded in more complex narratives) and ‘units’ (incorporating the previous two but supported with richer in-class resources.) At any one time there are multiple ‘worlds’

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being developed and curricula designed. In addition, there is a small team of support staff who help teachers and students worldwide when problems arise.

The program is now implemented in five continents with students demonstrating large gains in sciences, mathematics, language art and social studies. At present there are just over 100 schools in Australia who utilise QA in some aspect of their curriculum. In Queensland, it is integrated into the ‘Games in Learning Initiative’ based on the strength of its essential cybersafety curriculum. The NSW Department of Education and Training has endorsed the project as part of its ‘Connected Classroom’ program as a way of developing global citizenship. In December 2010, QA won the prestigious global Edublogs Award for Best Education Use of a Virtual World.

Why Quest Atlantis?

The 2010 Horizon report published by the New Media Consortium made several key recommendations with regard to the impact of emerging technologies on teaching and learning. Quest Atlantis meets many of those recommendations. It • Mentors students for the future by modeling positive values in modern media • Is a flexible learning environment that allows students to study whenever and wherever they want as long as they have an internet connection • Allows student work to be accessed at any time through archiving of all ‘quests’ • Is multidisciplinary and collaborative on a global scale • Connects students to broad social issues through civic engagement by creating engaging simulations that draw on real life concerns such as homelessness or civil rights • Makes explicit the skills needed in new digital literacies by modeling chat, Instant Messaging, Blogs and other digital media. http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/chapters/executive-summary/ Personal experience I have implemented Quest Atlantis at MLC School, Burwood since 2007 and have found it to be a stimulating and engaging way to learn. Both students with special needs and those with recognised gifts are able to find ways to succeed and lead in the program. The curriculum is rigorous and the ongoing support in terms of resources and assistance is considerable.

Of most relevance to this Fellowship is the extensive training QA offers in online safety. All students must complete basic training in considerate and safe online communication before commencing other missions. In addition several other units explore the dangers of cyberbullying, the difficulties that can occur in chat rooms and the threat of internet stalking. In those units, students operate as consultants and mediators who apply best practice to simulated but feasible scenarios.

Based on personal experience, the recommendations of educational experts and its own record, Quest Atlantis was selected as the means through which the findings of this Fellowship would be synthesised and communicated. Thus, my understanding of Nonviolent Communication, the Rules of online behaviour in QA motivation of gaming and the need for young people to be active shapers of their learning would be woven into a narrative. You will read more about the process of constructing the curriculum for Quest Atlantis in the next section.

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Developing 'The Isle of Tosturi' – a Quest Atlantis unit on Compassionate Speech.

In the four weeks I was at Indiana University, the groundwork was laid for the construction of a virtual world and curriculum designed to help young people develop more empathic communication in both real and online contexts.

The process is remarkably similar to that of making a film. It begins with brainstorming and pitching a story then collaborating with experts in various aspects of production to realise the vision. From that point it comes down to intensives hours spent creating character motivations, appearances, personalities and dialogue. Under the watchful eye of producers and editors, the narrative is refined until it is ready to be play tested.

It became clear within the first week that my intent to complete the unit and create the virtual space within the duration of the Fellowship was extremely naive. Normally, units of this kind take teams of six people (Curriculum specialists, writers, 3D character designers, 3D architecture builders and usability testers) about nine months to complete and trial units of this nature. As the proposed unit was complex, ambitious beyond my skill level, and staff were only able to assist in consulting roles, it fell to me to carry out the majority of the 3D construction as well as the curriculum development. It was a steep learning curve (and not helped by succumbing to illness for the first two weeks of my time in Indiana).

The unit on Compassionate Speech is, unfortunately, not complete at the time of writing this report however it remains in development with the full confidence of the QA team that it will be completed for a beta release (pending some legal negotiations) in September 2011 with full implementation to the Quest Atlantis Community after that time.

What follows is a week-by-week overview of the process through which 'The Isle of Tosturi' was realised.

Week 1 - Conceptual beginnings There were a number of preliminary meetings with the members of the Quest Atlantis team in order to familiarise myself with the production schedule. Quest Atlantis utilises some unique software in order to structure the learning 'narratives' that required extensive training in html code as well as an introduction to logic trees. In addition there are numerous game-based activities that require specialised coding.

From the outset this was a daunting experience for one with only a rudimentary knowledge of computer programming.

I pitched the concept of creating a unit of work, or in QA terms a series of missions, based around Dr Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication to the Program Director Donna Macri-Stevens. She found the concept intriguing and in accord with the QA core values, particularly that of Compassionate Wisdom. She acknowledged that this was one of the QA Social Commitments that required further expansion and gave the go-ahead for the missions to be developed. She provided office space, computer resources and access to the design tools database and opportunities to meet with the design team whenever required.

As mentioned previously, QA places learning within rich narratives so the missions needed to have a virtual space, engaging characters and elements of drama to stimulate student commitment. An example is the Plague Unit that uses themes drawn from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as its stimulus.

Below is an extract from the unit snapshot.

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Extract from Unit Snapshot for the Plague Unit

Its gothic world of Ingolstadt is the context through which students explore bio-ethics through examining the question 'Do the ends justify the means?' and develop skills in persuasive writing. Having taught this unit on a number of occasions I can attest to the quality of commitment and written work produced by students. Therefore, I sought for a suitable text to inspire the themes and visuals of the world.

The novel Momo by the German author Michael Ende was selected as the stimulus for its theme of the healing power of empathic listening.

Through its strong, almost prophetic allegory, Ende depicts a world where people are so caught up in themselves and in their desire to 'save time' that they lose the ability to connect with others or their own deeper aspirations. A brief synopsis of the premise is provided below‘In the ruins of an amphitheatre just outside an unnamed city lives

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Novel cover

Momo, a little girl of mysterious origin. She is remarkable in the neighbourhood because she has the extraordinary ability to listen — really listen. By simply being with people and listening to them, she can help them find answers to their problems, make up with each other, and think of fun games. The advice given to people "go and see Momo!" has become a household phrase and Momo makes many friends, especially an honest street-cleaner, Beppo, and a poetic tour guide, Guido.’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momo_(novel) The novel's setting is an unnamed Italianate city which prompted some discussion about suitable visual references for the look of the learning space. At this point in the process it was considered that some 3D designers would be made available to custom build the architecture for the virtual world. I synthesised two locations from my own travels abroad – Portmeirion in North Wales (for its faux Italianate aesthetic) and Namche Bazaar in Nepal for its tiered topography – which would provide a curious scale to the virtual space. The 3D designers were excited by the possibility of creating new whimsical environments.

Portmeirion led also to naming the island where the 'adventure' would take place. The Welsh word for compassion is Tosturi, which incidentally has a pleasing Romanesque sound.

The remainder of this week was spent mapping the Isle of Tosturi, brainstorming characters and sketching out a rough narrative trajectory for the students.

Week 2 - Tightening the focus After days of writing the proposal, designing the island on paper and sketching the key characters the students would interact with, I sought out the editorial eye of three key individuals on the team.

Ed Gentry (Lead Game Designer and Writer) urged for the narrative to have more game play features so that it did not function as a virtual novel. The reading demand placed on students alone could have had an impact on their level of engagement, or more accurately, disengagement.

He recommended a number of game tools that would encourage students to investigate the virtual environment in order to further their understanding rather than just reading character dialogues. Given the revised schedule, it was not possible to learn how to construct these new tools in the time provided.

They will feature in later aspects of the narrative.

Janis Watson (Implementation Manager and Curriculum specialist) made the case for Draft map of Tosturi with photo references from Portmeirion integrating the Tosturi narrative with the existing QA backstory and a clearer connection to American

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educational standards. She also requested a reduction of the number of characters so that the narrative did not get bogged down or overly confusing for younger readers.

Donna Macri-Stevens' feedback was to refine the focus - to bring it back to the core curriculum demands of empathic, compassionate speech. The creativity of the island was drawing the attention away from the learning. Also, to make the unit viable for American schools and not just for Australia, the learning needed to be tied to one or more curriculum standards. The most common set used by the QA team, and schools in general, are the McREL standards - a synthesis of benchmarks from preKindergarten across 14 different content areas which are broadly compatible with existing Australian outcomes. Lastly, we revised what was going to be feasible in the timeframe provided by the Fellowship. It was agreed that the first of the four missions would be the goal of my time in the QA office, rather than the four-mission epic that was initially conceived. With these valuable comments, the proposal was constructed and a more realistic timeframe adopted.

Once the draft proposal had been refined, I started construction of the virtual 3D space. Demands of other projects meant that the initial plan to have other designers and builders available to create Tosturi was not feasible. Therefore some compromises in terms of the design aesthetic were agreed upon. Several days were spent working with Scott Miller, a freelance designer, to create the overall topography, dwellings and other features of the island. This is a time-consuming process.

Some basic buildings and characters placed on the island.

Week 3 - Curriculum and Casting The majority of this week was jointly spent in the construction of the 3D world-space and scripting the character dialogues.

In QA terms, each character exists as a series of dialogue pages that are accessed when a student interacts with the specific 3D-rendered character. Most interactions offer a student a series of alternative responses that, reminiscent of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books of the 1980s, alter the narrative for each individual person. It is a complex process of looping dialogue back on itself to maintain narrative flow when necessary. Some interactions with characters can only occur when certain previous conditions have been met, for example - a door may not open until one has learned of the importance of the door from a certain number of characters. Or, in some cases, there is more freedom to explore and discover at one's own pace rather than be led through the story. A blend of the two approaches allows students to feel that they have a say in how the story unfolds but also are able to hit key narrative beats that maintain their momentum.

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On the left are the lists of character dialogues in the designer interface that each expand.

On the right is an example of completed dialogue as students might experience it

The Isle of Tosturi is, however, not just an engaging computer game; it needs to have a valid learning sequence without collapsing into being preachy and didactic. A further revision of the synopsis distributed the learning focus into four key parts corresponding to the four missions and the four components of Nonviolent Communication.

Mission 1 • Orientation to the Isle of Tosturi and characters • Pre-testing student understanding of the difference between Observations and Evaluations Mission 2 • Training in Observations and Evaluations • Training in Feelings and Needs Mission 3 • Applying these skills in interactions with characters on the Island • Training in Making Requests Mission 4 • Mediating conflicts on the island using the skills developed • Reflecting on the experience and making recommendations for their own use of the methodology.

Week 4 Script revisions and rehearsals The remaining week was spent editing dialogue pages for consistency and relevance. The key reflection during this period was how does this interaction with the characters further the student's understanding and practice of nonviolent communication?

The final 'casting' of the characters occurred during this week and appropriate animations for each were created. Several custom-built locations were completed and final set dressing of the island took place.

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You can see a walk through of the draft island space here on my Voicethread page:

Follow the link to see a Voicethread about the whole Fellowship.

Slide 23 is the walkthrough of the Island http://voicethread.com/share/1471654/

Also, some initial testing of the character dialogue sequences occurred during this time to reduce the reading density and maintain the focus.

Stage 3 - Conclusions Upon reflection, this ambitious unit of work far outweighed my capacities to bring it to completion in the time allowed. The complexity of programming and 3D design was well beyond my skill level at the outset of the project though my skills have grown significantly over the four weeks. I remain committed to the completion of the mission series and intend to bring it to fruition as set out in the proposal.

Feedback from the QA team suggests that 'The Isle of Tosturi' is a valuable addition to their existing units. It furthers the research agenda and the development of the positive social commitment of Compassionate Wisdom.

Throughout the design and writing process there existed a tension between offering students the freedom to explore the game space at their own pace and the need to control the pace of the learning. How do we allow students to be active in constructing knowledge whilst providing a guiding presence? This dissonance between freedom and control is the working ground of any educator, whether they work in virtual, blended or bricks-and-mortar environments. Transformational Play, as proposed by the team at CRLT and embodied in the Quest Atlantis project, encapsulates this dilemma.

The QA team is also developing tools that will allow young people to design missions themselves. The intent is for students to construct learning narratives that reflect content areas, thus empowering students to be teachers/leaders and give back to the online community rather than leave the construction of learning sequences to teachers alone.

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Conclusions What began as research into the ethical use of technology shifted into the domain of values and character education. Technology, regardless of whether it’s social network, smart phone, email or pen and paper, is the means through which what is alive in us is shared with the world. If we lack selfawareness and are not in touch with our core values, what is ingrained and habitual is what seeks expression.

By shifting from a reactive model of communication, through implementing reflective strategies which bring to the forefront an attitude of care, consideration and compassion, it is theorised that a more creative response, and thus a stronger connection, will occur. This can only occur with the implementation of programs that explicitly explore mindfulness practices, compassionate communication and thinking/reflective strategies. These are needed to develop the personal capital, the inner character of young people so it is the best of them that is shared online. Games in learning initiatives such as World of Warcraft and Quest Atlantis are well placed to blend character education with emerging technologies if only testing regimes could be loosened to allow time for them.

The United States did not, as initially believed, provide the answers to creating effective online safety and citizenship curriculum. Whilst there are innovative ideas and principles in place, policy, funding, over-assessment and lack of shared vision hampers the development of curriculum. In many respects, the Australian experience is far ahead of the American, mainly in terms of our policy: we already have Values education initiatives and existing online safety curriculum resources. We have, however, an obligation to learn and build upon the American experience and move beyond fear-based rhetoric and consider the value of experimentation and managed risk-taking.

More significantly, we have a precious opportunity to bring young people into the process of designing what meaningful online connections may look like. The recently released 'Send your Parents a Tech Support Package' resource created by Google positions young people as the elders, the advanced practitioners who are able to offer assistance to their less skilled parents. It is a useful way of encouraging communication and connection between what is increasingly a generational divide. So too, Stephen Heppell’s initiative in Britain called ‘Be Very Afraid’ aims at involving young people and policy makers in the discussions about creative use of online spaces. I share Heppell’s vision that by learning from and sharing young people’s experiences we validate their own learning journey and, perhaps, reduce the perceived divide between parents and young people.

It is my sincere wish that this report stimulates discussion and debate that includes young people.

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Recommendations 1. Development of Resources The existing resources about online safety provided by ACMA are an excellent starting point but they are limited to a safety and fear paradigm. Critical Thinking skills and reflective practices need to become integrated with existing online practices.

Whilst ACMA's programs are thorough in exploring the dangers and alternative responses, there is no actual student presence in the discourse. There is potential for these resources to be expanded to showcase examples of creative, collaborative work made by young people. This would challenge the emphasis on youth online as being one solely beset with problems and shift towards sharing what is possible. This would also give voice to those who may, indeed, be more familiar and skilled with the technology than the people who take on the role of policing it.

2. Upgrade the 'Heart-ware' I endorse the findings of the Australian Government's Values Education Program and the educational resources distributed to schools as part of that initiative, yet more needs to be done to align digital citizenship/online safety curriculum to meet the values outlined in the National Framework for Values Education.

Mindfulness programs need to be implemented across all ages of schooling to support the recommendations of the Values in Action Schools Project: Final Report that argued for developing Wellbeing curriculum.

Training school communities in the practice of Nonviolent Communication would assist in reducing interpersonal conflicts both in face-to-face and online environments. This may require certifying more Australian trainers in this methodology.

There is a need to create resources that explore the construction of identity and personal values systems when working online.

3. Further Education for the Community There needs to be more done in the area of educating parents and the wider community about youth presence online. The development of partner programs where young people and their parents collaborate in online environments, such as those put forward by Quest Atlantis's ‘Family Quest’ initiative, is one way to bridge the generation gap.

4. Increase Access and Experimentation School networks need to be flexible to the needs of teachers and students in order to promote creativity and experimentation with the host of online tools available. In conjunction, there would need to be increased professional development for teaching staff on the use of these new Media literacies such as games in learning.

Make Quest Atlantis available to all schools as a suitable and safe virtual world for students to develop effective online communication skills.

5. Celebrate Youth Online I endorse the findings of Harvard's Youth Safety on a Living Internet – Report of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group, that acknowledges youth responsibility in maintaining safe spaces online.

Create a national youth forum to explore the presence of young people in online spaces where best practices and problem solving strategies are shared. Following on from this, young people themselves must be involved in the creation and implementation of acceptable use policies in schools in order to ensure ongoing commitment.

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