Mobile+Devices+and+Ministry+-

Assignment #2
 * Mobile Devices and Ministry - The Church is Moving Ahead! **
 * Digital Etiquette and Student Permission and Agreement Guidelines **

Expected time to complete reading and the written assignment: 15 - 30 minutes

As we move ahead, Digital Etiquette and Student Permission and Agreement Guidelines are very important!



Your assignment for this segment is consider how you will encourage your participants to use good digital etiquette. In addition, if you are using cell phones with your participants (especially children), what guidelines will you share with them?

** Digital Etiquette: **

Please add how you will encourage good digital etiquette: > [] that includes lesson plans and links to other sites
 * (Example) - I am involved with RCIA candidates. As I begin prayer, I invite the candidates to have their cell phones at hand, as they will be invited during prayer to "text a friend" or I may have another team member "text a Scripture Phrase" that is part of our prayer service. After they have used their phone, I simply remind them to put their phone on a quiet mode, so that we will not be disturbed with calls during our session.
 * To maintain digital etiquette I would recommend that standards and or policy for use of mobile devices be published by the parish and made available for the users. We must be guided by our parish leadership to assure a sound foundation for the use of mobile devices in our parish.
 * (Sheila). I teach in a community college and insert a paragraph on use of mobile devices right into the students' syllabus. It is read aloud at the beginning of each course, and I have never had any difficulty. If students are expecting an important call due to a family emergency, they put their phones on "vibrate" mode and go outside the classroom to answer incoming calls that might be urgent. The Secular Franciscan group I work with are all adults, so they are used to turning off their phones at the beginning of meetings, or putting them on vibrate. This is also the policy in most parishes, where this request is made politely at the beginning of each Sunday Mass.
 * (Paul)-In my safe environment classes I like to compare the use of technology with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I say that technology is just there, and we have to decide how to use it as a positive and constructive tool. God gave everything and saw it was good, but like in the Genesis story our fallen nature has a tendency to twist and pervert God's gifts. So whether in the Garden or technology, the key to proper use and etiquette is still a well developed conscience. No matter what emerges through human ingenuity, we have the decision regarding which voice we will hear and act on. The problem isn't technology in and of itself, but our spiritual maturity in its use.
 * (Madeleine). In my classes at New Mexico State University, I require participation in online discussions. My syllabus provides a code of conduct for posting. Here are a couple of my rules: 1. Do not post deliberately inflammatory material to Blackboard. Make sure that you edit carefully for tone as well as for grammar, style, and spelling. 2.Do not upload music or video files to Blackboard. This might constitute a copyright violation. Blackboard is not a forum for file sharing. I allow students to use laptops and tablets in my classroom, but when they are using these tools, what they view or type must be class-related. For example, I expect my students to refrain from working on assignments for another class and from checking or sending email messages unrelated to the class. At present, I do not allow the use of cell phones in my classroom, and do have written in my syllabus that cell phones may not be used. Also, at the beginning of any course, I verbally explain my guidelines for cell phone infringement. I explain that in the classroom, my cell phone is in a vibrate mode and that I will not answer my phone at any time during the class period.
 * (Lorraine) When I do Adult Confirmation classes I could see using the Penance Project app that was included in Catholictechtalk to prepare the candidates to receive this sacrament. After the Examination of Conscience they could use their phone to contact someone they either want to pray for, such as someone they have hurt or who hurt them, and let that person know they are thinking and praying for them. After the prayer experience I would ask people to silence their phone until the break, explaining that when we are together as a class we should value the time together are meant to be there for each other 100%. I came across several sets of rules for digital etiquette, or as they call them netiquette at the following links that I think are helpful: [] and

www.commonsensemedia.org, which provides content describing Parent education and activities for participating in their child's on-line life. The learning units cover: 1. Digital Life- Describes tools and how they can effectively be used to enhance learning and communication in society. The rights and responsibilities of the organization, parent, student; forms for parent consent and permission, student agreement for compliance to rules and responsibility. Use of filters for safety. 2. Privacy and Digital Footprints- Emphasis on protecting personal identity and that of others as well as the technology that tracks internet usage and leaves a digital record. 3. Self-Expression and Identity- Emphasis on teen and pre-teen's need to establish their own personal style and identity; and the importance making good choices of how they portray who they are and how they express that in language, social contact, image. Encouraged to be authentic and cautioned against false profiles. 4. Connected Culture-Discusses the on-line culture, etiquette, courtesy,being respectful online and not participating in online bullying. Report miss use of network to [] 5. Respecting Creative Work - Guidelines for using music, images and written creative materials in mixed media presentation, assuring atribution and avoiding violations of copyright. This Program was comprehensive and had a very strong unit for teaching Digital Citizenship and how to develop parent support and monitoring. Walt Smith I have been in discussion with our new YM as to how we can/should incorporate cell phones into our ministry. We discussed using them in retreat settings to maintain timing on group discussion time. also, we discussed using them to text our parents during Little Peoples ministry if there is a problem with their child. We also thought of having them do a discussion thread on important topics discussed at the retreat and bringing the responses back to the next gathering.
 * I usually leave my phone in my car/in my office when attending meetings so that it is not a disturbance. Not having a smart phone, the only ways that I can encourage good digital etiquette are to stay off my phone - and if it must be with me, silencing it - when in meetings, and using good grammar and punctuation when texting, of course applying some of the most common shortcuts. U c? Joanna


 * Student Permission and Agreement Guidelines: **

For those who have the book, review pages 17-21. How would you adapt this material to fit how you will communicate to your students about using this tool in your classroom? Please add your comments below, and remember to add your name at the end.
 * Add your comment here.
 * I have to admit that I purchased all three recommend books, but gave two to David thinking that I would not use them. I kept and read //Technology Tools for Your Ministry// - which I love - and wish you had assigned it to us at the beginning of the class. It helped so much with the vocabulary! But back to the assignment, I will have to get this book back from David and complete this part of the assignment next week. - Joanna
 * (I finally got the book back!) I am in few "classroom" settings, but I could see setting up some situations in which folk at a workshop or training session could be asked to connect to the diocesan or another website, in which case I would want to ask them to only use their cell phones/tablets/computers for the duration of the task or request at hand and then put them away/on vibrate. Joanna

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