Van Meter Ninth Graders recognized as Global Citizens

The Goody Awards recently recognized the ninth grade students at Van Meter School in Iowa, as global citizens with Hero Goody Necklaces for their 1-week communications projects. The students helped make the world a better place by looking at how global technology in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam, China, UK and US has positively and negatively impacted us.

Technology is moving at warp speed, and we congratulate these students for raising ethical questions on a global scale. In groups of 2-3, they studied how social media, cell phones, satellites and TV have helped and hurt us.

To educate each other on how technology has made cultural impacts, these Van Meter ninth grade students created and shared presentations using PowerPoint, iMovie and YouTube. Many posted group presentation videos, which you can watch on YouTube. Several of these Van Meter class projects covered hop topics, including:

How did technology impact finding the Boston Marathon Bombers 

How does cell phone technology impact Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria?

How does the China Firewall that keeps people from social media impact the culture?

How did TV impact the Vietnam War?

TV in South Africa

One of our favorite presentations is called, “Social Media Impact on the UK.” The students reviewed the positive and negative impact that Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and messaging apps have had on students.

Positive impacts – The class discovered that new Twitter alerts are set up in the UK at schools for crisis management. If an emergency happens, students receive a tweet from a Governor or Police Chief.

Negative Impacts – The Van Meter students also felt teenagers spend so much time on social media sites, and studies show it can impact their grades if they are on social media while doing their homework.

Another concern raised is that social media can start false rumors way too easily, and this misinformation causes cyber bullying. Many added that it was easier to bully when you aren’t face-to-face. The students felt Ask.fm can encourage bullies because users can ask things anonymously. One presentation shared an example of a teen who committed suicide after being cyber-bullied on that site.

Technology has created a very small world, and we send a standing ovation to the Van Meter students for taking a week to study the impacts. We live in an interdependent world, and education is critical for finding ways to be a better planet.

Many thanks to the teachers who led this initiative (Renee Martin, Shannon M Miller, Trey, and Adam). And special shout out to the future global leaders in this class for making a difference through education. Thank you for saying cyber-bullying is not ok, and for looking for the good in tech. Keep the dialogue going, and congratulations on your Hero Goody Awards!

© Goody Awards 2014