The worst flood in recent memory hit Nebraska last month, causing over $1.3 billion in damages and forcing at least 4,000 people to evacuate their homes. Although traditional news outlets reported on the devastating event, social media coverage quickly outpaced traditional coverage. People’s timelines and newsfeeds became saturated with images of calamity: floodwaters rising to the eaves of family houses, torn-up roads like bombed-out lunar surfaces, a single cow struggling across muddy water.
Users began marking themselves safe on Facebook. They shared information about supply drives, donation platforms, and other ways to help flood victims. And they bemoaned the fact that national news outlets did not seem to be covering the disaster in sufficient detail.
It was digital citizenship in action.
Digital citizenship is a broad term, encompassing issues of cybersecurity, cyberbullying, civic activism—any form of online behavior, basically. It is “the responsible use of technology to learn, create, and participate.” What you do online reflects who you are offline, for better or worse.
While a lot of the conversation around digital citizenship necessarily deals with keeping oneself safe online, one thing is sure: social media can be a powerful force for good, especially in times of crisis.
When Missouri River floodwaters inundated the western Iowa home of comedian Tyler Walsh, he was devastated. Walsh and his girlfriend, Bailey, lost everything. Forced to evacuate, they had nowhere to go.
That’s when comedians Zach Peterson and Dusty Stehl stepped in to help. They rebranded Stehl’s weekly comedy open mic at Omaha’s Barley Street Tavern as a special edition fundraiser for Walsh and Bailey. People could give money in person or donate to a GoFundMe account to help cover some of the couple’s expenses.
“I got the idea for the fundraiser when I was on Facebook and became overwhelmed with all the pictures I saw of the flooding,” Peterson said.
Peterson reached out to Stehl, who immediately agreed the fundraiser was a great idea.
“Tyler is a frequent guest host of the Barley Street Tavern Comedy Open Mic, so he’s well known,” Stehl said. “He’s a good guy, so he’s well-liked.”
Peterson and Stehl shared the event on their social media networks, as did many local comedians.
About 40 people came out to the fundraiser, packing the cozy Barley Street Tavern venue last Wednesday. Thirty-five comedians did sets. Onstage, Walsh tried out new, flood-inspired jokes, to loud support.
“He had a great set!” Stehl said.
Between in-person donations and contributions to Walsh’s GoFundMe account, the night helped raise nearly $2,000 for the stricken couple.
“I want to say the biggest thank you in the world to the Omaha comedy scene,” Walsh posted on his Facebook account the following morning. “Thank you so much, thank you to all the comics that came out, raised money, and reached out. It’s all incredibly overwhelming how much everyone has done for us. Omaha comedy is truly a community I am proud to be a part of.”
The fundraiser is a powerful example of good digital citizenship. Social media activism leveraged heart-wrenching photographs, grassroots reporting of disaster, the urge to help out, and crowdfunding technology against great catastrophe, and helped soften the hard times for a family in crisis.
AIM Institute’s Lana Yager teaches a course at the Brain Exchange on digital citizenship, called Gen Cyber. Gen Cyber helps youth think not only about ways they can stay safe online, but also about developing empathy for others and using their tech skills responsibly.
Though Yager hates to think about it, her experience in cybersecurity tells her there will probably be those online who try to cash in on flood victims’ misery.
“I could see a lot of fraud,” Yager said. “These are people who have critical needs right now. I can’t imagine all they’ve lost. And your insurance company can’t get to you for how many months? Or you don’t have flood insurance.”
Yager said she could envision a scenario where fraudsters offer victims false promises of help in exchange for valuable personal information. The perpetrators could then turn around and sell that information to anyone willing to buy it.
What concerns Yager more, however, are the victims who don’t have access to their computers or smartphones having to use public wifi to sort out their personal affairs. Unsecured networks are terrible places to traffic sensitive personal data, such as insurance or banking info.
“I can’t imagine there won’t be people out there capturing that data,” Yager said.
Flood victims should try to the greatest extent possible to conduct their online business solely through secured networks. Those in position to help might think about allowing someone affected by the flood supervised access to their wifi to pay bills or deal with insurance issues. For those able to donate, Facebook has instituted a crisis response button for online donations.
As floodwaters recede and residents return to see what they can salvage, the true extent of the damage will emerge. The need for good digital citizenship will remain high. Do what you can.
Tyler Walsh’s home. Click here to donate to Walsh and Bailey.
Whenever someone would ask Noni Williams what she wanted to do with her interest in math and technology, she would start to answer honestly. She wanted to be the problem solver she saw herself as when she was the little girl at the front of the classroom, scratching out algorithms and bad poetry in her notebooks. But before she could finish answering, the asker would usually interject: “Be a teacher?”
Williams noticed nobody ever interrupted her male peers with that question. It was like they were trying to send her the message she would only ever be able to teach the world’s future innovators, not be an innovator herself.
“The best it seemed I could hope for was to grow up to be a teacher to inspire some little boy to change the world,” Williams says. “Teaching is not a consolation. It is a calling. And it wasn’t mine.”
Her childhood notebooks were filled with mock-ups for inventions and algorithms for solutions to questions she did not yet have the capacity to communicate—not drawings of blackboards and rows of kids smiling at their desks.
Now, as the Manager of Solutions and Continuous Improvement at United Way of the Midlands, she spends her days solving tech problems for the organization.
“I’ve been introducing a lot of automation into this job, trying to bring us into the 21st century in terms of using data efficiently,” Williams says. She recently built an app that houses vital demographic and organizational data that colleagues can use to answer the questions they need answered when they meet with funders.
Williams loves being able to use data to solve problems, and to write programs that automate tedious processes. The time saved through automation frees her to focus on more exciting problems.
She didn’t always know she wanted to pursue a tech career. During college, she originally majored in civil engineering. Despite her obvious talent and aptitude for the discipline, the attitudes she encountered there frustrated her.
“Be a woman in the room,” Williams says. “Be a woman in the room and dare to be anything but exactly right. You’re met with glares and sighs for wasting everyone’s time. Have a slightly different thought process in front of the class and you’re told that you’re wrong.”
It was exhausting not being given a chance to grow along with everyone else.
“I got tired of being shot down in front of everyone. So I spoke up less. Which I guess is what the unconscious, or conscious, culture of those classrooms wanted in order to maintain the status quo.”
So she switched her major to Mathematics after two years because she likes numbers and problem-solving.
At the time, however, Williams wasn’t keen to embark on the computer science curriculum required for her math major. “I left my computer science classes until the end of undergrad because I didn’t want to take them,” Williams says. “A year later, I was like, ‘I really like coding.’ It became fun for me.”
Eventually, Williams decided to pursue her master’s degree in math with a concentration in data sciences. Now she is a crucial member of a powerhouse nonprofit, working on the algorithms and dreams she began scribbling into her notebooks years ago. She’s leading the innovation, silencing the interjectors.
It hasn’t been an easy road. But Williams dealt with her challenges by never losing her sense of wonder, by writing poetry to contextualize her frustrations, and by leaning on supportive friends and family, she says. “I kept people around me that knew what I was capable of and would not let me forget it. With a creative outlet and a strong support system, I felt unstoppable. And I still do.”
For women considering a career in tech, Williams has good advice.
“Think about what types of problems you like to solve. What challenges you in an exciting way? What feels good? What skills can you grow here? What relationships can you build? Seek these out.”
She also advises women not to feel hemmed in by their past.
“Do not let your past employment determine how much your time is worth. Consider your skills, your experience, your education, your geographical location, and the position or contract work you are applying for. Do your research about what the typical compensation is. Ask for what you consider to be fair.”
Williams also has advice for women who aren’t necessarily thinking about a career in technology, who have perhaps been misled into believing tech was not for them.
“Tech is for everyone,” she says. “I have friends who majored in psychology, English, computer science, math, various types of engineering, horticulture, business agriculture, biology, etc., that work in tech. You may not realize it, but your voice and your perspective could be extremely valuable in the tech world. Tech needs you!”
Whenever someone would ask Noni Williams what she wanted to do with her interest in math and technology, she would start to answer honestly. She wanted to be the problem solver she saw herself as when she was the little girl at the front of the classroom, scratching out algorithms and bad poetry in her notebooks. But before she could finish answering, the asker would usually interject: “Be a teacher?”
Williams noticed nobody ever interrupted her male peers with that question. It was like they were trying to send her the message she would only ever be able to teach the world’s future innovators, not be an innovator herself.
“The best it seemed I could hope for was to grow up to be a teacher to inspire some little boy to change the world,” Williams says. “Teaching is not a consolation. It is a calling. And it wasn’t mine.”
Her childhood notebooks were filled with mock-ups for inventions and algorithms for solutions to questions she did not yet have the capacity to communicate—not drawings of blackboards and rows of kids smiling at their desks.
Now, as the Manager of Solutions and Continuous Improvement at United Way of the Midlands, she spends her days solving tech problems for the organization.
“I’ve been introducing a lot of automation into this job, trying to bring us into the 21st century in terms of using data efficiently,” Williams says. She recently built an app that houses vital demographic and organizational data that colleagues can use to answer the questions they need answered when they meet with funders.
Williams loves being able to use data to solve problems, and to write programs that automate tedious processes. The time saved through automation frees her to focus on more exciting problems.
She didn’t always know she wanted to pursue a tech career. During college, she originally majored in civil engineering. Despite her obvious talent and aptitude for the discipline, the attitudes she encountered there frustrated her.
“Be a woman in the room,” Williams says. “Be a woman in the room and dare to be anything but exactly right. You’re met with glares and sighs for wasting everyone’s time. Have a slightly different thought process in front of the class and you’re told that you’re wrong.”
It was exhausting not being given a chance to grow along with everyone else.
“I got tired of being shot down in front of everyone. So I spoke up less. Which I guess is what the unconscious, or conscious, culture of those classrooms wanted in order to maintain the status quo.”
So she switched her major to Mathematics after two years because she likes numbers and problem-solving.
At the time, however, Williams wasn’t keen to embark on the computer science curriculum required for her math major. “I left my computer science classes until the end of undergrad because I didn’t want to take them,” Williams says. “A year later, I was like, ‘I really like coding.’ It became fun for me.”
Eventually, Williams decided to pursue her master’s degree in math with a concentration in data sciences. Now she is a crucial member of a powerhouse nonprofit, working on the algorithms and dreams she began scribbling into her notebooks years ago. She’s leading the innovation, silencing the interjectors.
It hasn’t been an easy road. But Williams dealt with her challenges by never losing her sense of wonder, by writing poetry to contextualize her frustrations, and by leaning on supportive friends and family, she says. “I kept people around me that knew what I was capable of and would not let me forget it. With a creative outlet and a strong support system, I felt unstoppable. And I still do.”
For women considering a career in tech, Williams has good advice.
“Think about what types of problems you like to solve. What challenges you in an exciting way? What feels good? What skills can you grow here? What relationships can you build? Seek these out.”
She also advises women not to feel hemmed in by their past.
“Do not let your past employment determine how much your time is worth. Consider your skills, your experience, your education, your geographical location, and the position or contract work you are applying for. Do your research about what the typical compensation is. Ask for what you consider to be fair.”
Williams also has advice for women who aren’t necessarily thinking about a career in technology, who have perhaps been misled into believing tech was not for them.
“Tech is for everyone,” she says. “I have friends who majored in psychology, English, computer science, math, various types of engineering, horticulture, business agriculture, biology, etc., that work in tech. You may not realize it, but your voice and your perspective could be extremely valuable in the tech world. Tech needs you!”
Last week, AIM Institute accompanied 28 Upward Bound students from Bryan and Papillion-La Vista high schools on a spring break college campus tour through Oklahoma and Texas. The trip capped eight months of planning and a school year’s worth of TRiO-Upward Bound programming. (TRiO and Upward Bound are grant-funded programs that help prepare underserved students for college. AIM provides TRiO-Upward Bound programming to multiple schools across Nebraska and Iowa.)
Students and their chaperones visited five universities: University of Oklahoma (Norman); Sam Houston State (Huntsville, Texas); Rice University (Houston, Texas); Texas A&M (Corpus Christi); and University of Texas (Austin).
Apart from the campus visits, students went on a variety of field trips, including the South by Southwest (SXSW) gaming expo, a contemporary arts museum, a rodeo, and the beach at Corpus Christi. The trip gave students the opportunity to experience different campus environments, possible career fields, cutting-edge technology, and arts and cultural opportunities they would not experience otherwise.
“It gets them out of their bubble,” said Jonathan Holland, AIM’s Senior Project Director for TRiO. “It allows them to see different universities that they might not even know exist out there, and helps them expand their horizons. We also picked cultural experiences to widen their knowledge and have them participate in things you just can’t do in Omaha, Nebraska.”
The group embarked on their journey Sunday, March 10, and returned Saturday, March 16. Here is a brief overview of the trip.
The group visited the University of Oklahoma in Norman and toured the Radar Innovations Lab of the Advanced Radar Research Center, where students got to witness a mini-tornado and experience an anechoic chamber, a room designed to completely absorb sound and electromagnetic waves.
“We got to see a lot of cool stuff there on how they are working to advance weather prediction,” Holland said.
Students interested in criminal justice and forensic science found the Sam Houston State tour particularly interesting because the university has a strong criminal justice program, Holland said.
That evening, the group attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo—the world’s largest rodeo.
“Cowboys do exist,” Papillion-La Vista student Haian said of the experience.
A significant number of students were interested in Rice because of its generous financial aid package. Starting in the fall, the university is offering free tuition for anyone whose family makes under $130,000 per year. All Upward Bound students meet this threshold. Rice will also offer free tuition, grants, and stipends for room and board to students whose families make under $65,000 per year.
After Rice, the group went to the Museum of Contemporary Arts-Houston. Some students found the work confusing, and others enjoyed being asked to think outside of their comfort zones. Everyone participated in an art workshop where they made projects dealing with space and spatial relationships.
NASA came next. The group toured the Space Center Houston, saw the Saturn V rocket, and sat in on a Q&A session with retired astronaut William S. McArthur.
According to student evals and chaperones’ real-time observations, the Corpus Christi leg of the trip may have been the most enjoyable. Students toured the Texas A&M campus located on Ward Island in Oso Bay.
“We have a lot of kids that are interested in looking more into the college and thinking about attending,” Holland said. “They have a good engineering program and a good marine biology program.”
The university also offers a unique selling proposition that not a lot of other schools have. “They said at least ten times in their tour presentation that they’ve been on Shark Week for the last five years,” Holland said.
Next, the group visited the Lone Star Unmanned Aerial Systems Center for Excellence & Innovation, an FAA-approved site for drone testing and research.
Finally, the group went to the beach. A majority of the students had never been to a large body of water before. Multiple evals cited the feeling of waves as their favorite part of the excursion.
On the last full day of the trip, the group traveled to Austin to tour the University of Texas and attend the SXSW gaming expo, where students interacted with gaming culture by listening to game developers and testing out new video games.
“It was exciting meeting and seeing game developers because I got to learn a little about how games are developed,” Papillion-La Vista student Chelsea said.
Bryan student Kimberly agreed. “I’ve never been to a gaming expo. Seeing all those video game nerds was cool.”
Despite a bus breakdown outside Salina, Kansas, on the way back, the trip proved successful and informative, even life-changing.
“My senior year became amazing because of Upward Bound,” said Papillion-La Vista student Ayomide.
Likewise, the trip had a major positive impact on AIM staff chaperones.
“Sometimes it’s hard to stay focused on our goals when we are buried up to our necks in the grind,” said Manager of Development and Technical Operations Nate Work, who helped guide the trip. “But what we do makes a huge difference to those kids.”
Holland concurred: “My favorite part was looking at some of the evaluations on the last day and seeing how grateful, thankful, and excited the kids were. Getting those was super awesome. It made all the stress and sleepless nights worth it. We’ve already started thinking about ideas for next year.”
Part of the Saturn V rocket on display at NASA.
Students tour the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Houston.
Student work made during an art workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Arts.
More student artwork.
Touring the anechoic chamber at the University of Oklahoma’s Radar Innovations Lab.
Heading home.
Recently, AIM Institute accompanied 28 Upward Bound students from Bryan and Papillion-La Vista high schools on a spring break college campus tour through Oklahoma and Texas. The trip capped eight months of planning and a school year’s worth of TRiO-Upward Bound programming. (TRiO and Upward Bound are grant-funded programs that help prepare underserved students for college. AIM provides TRiO-Upward Bound programming to multiple schools across Nebraska and Iowa.)
Students and their chaperones visited five universities: University of Oklahoma (Norman); Sam Houston State (Huntsville, Texas); Rice University (Houston, Texas); Texas A&M (Corpus Christi); and University of Texas (Austin).
Apart from the campus visits, students went on a variety of field trips, including the South by Southwest (SXSW) gaming expo, a contemporary arts museum, a rodeo, and the beach at Corpus Christi. The trip gave students the opportunity to experience different campus environments, possible career fields, cutting-edge technology, and arts and cultural opportunities they would not experience otherwise.
“It gets them out of their bubble,” said Jonathan Holland, AIM’s Senior Project Director for TRiO. “It allows them to see different universities that they might not even know exist out there, and helps them expand their horizons. We also picked cultural experiences to widen their knowledge and have them participate in things you just can’t do in Omaha, Nebraska.”
The group embarked on their journey Sunday, March 10, and returned Saturday, March 16. Here is a brief overview of the trip.
The group visited the University of Oklahoma in Norman and toured the Radar Innovations Lab of the Advanced Radar Research Center, where students got to witness a mini-tornado and experience an anechoic chamber, a room designed to completely absorb sound and electromagnetic waves.
“We got to see a lot of cool stuff there on how they are working to advance weather prediction,” Holland said.
Students interested in criminal justice and forensic science found the Sam Houston State tour particularly interesting because the university has a strong criminal justice program, Holland said.
That evening, the group attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo—the world’s largest rodeo.
“Cowboys do exist,” Papillion-La Vista student Haian said of the experience.
A significant number of students were interested in Rice because of its generous financial aid package. Starting in the fall, the university is offering free tuition for anyone whose family makes under $130,000 per year. All Upward Bound students meet this threshold. Rice will also offer free tuition, grants, and stipends for room and board to students whose families make under $65,000 per year.
After Rice, the group went to the Museum of Contemporary Arts-Houston. Some students found the work confusing, and others enjoyed being asked to think outside of their comfort zones. Everyone participated in an art workshop where they made projects dealing with space and spatial relationships.
NASA came next. The group toured the Space Center Houston, saw the Saturn V rocket, and sat in on a Q&A session with retired astronaut William S. McArthur.
According to student evals and chaperones’ real-time observations, the Corpus Christi leg of the trip may have been the most enjoyable. Students toured the Texas A&M campus located on Ward Island in Oso Bay.
“We have a lot of kids that are interested in looking more into the college and thinking about attending,” Holland said. “They have a good engineering program and a good marine biology program.”
The university also offers a unique selling proposition that not a lot of other schools have. “They said at least ten times in their tour presentation that they’ve been on Shark Week for the last five years,” Holland said.
Next, the group visited the Lone Star Unmanned Aerial Systems Center for Excellence & Innovation, an FAA-approved site for drone testing and research.
Finally, the group went to the beach. A majority of the students had never been to a large body of water before. Multiple evals cited the feeling of waves as their favorite part of the excursion.
On the last full day of the trip, the group traveled to Austin to tour the University of Texas and attend the SXSW gaming expo, where students interacted with gaming culture by listening to game developers and testing out new video games.
“It was exciting meeting and seeing game developers because I got to learn a little about how games are developed,” Papillion-La Vista student Chelsea said.
Bryan student Kimberly agreed. “I’ve never been to a gaming expo. Seeing all those video game nerds was cool.”
Despite a bus breakdown outside Salina, Kansas, on the way back, the trip proved successful and informative, even life-changing.
“My senior year became amazing because of Upward Bound,” said Papillion-La Vista student Ayomide.
Likewise, the trip had a major positive impact on AIM staff chaperones.
“Sometimes it’s hard to stay focused on our goals when we are buried up to our necks in the grind,” said Manager of Development and Technical Operations Nate Work, who helped guide the trip. “But what we do makes a huge difference to those kids.”
Holland concurred: “My favorite part was looking at some of the evaluations on the last day and seeing how grateful, thankful, and excited the kids were. Getting those was super awesome. It made all the stress and sleepless nights worth it. We’ve already started thinking about ideas for next year.”
Part of the Saturn V rocket on display at NASA.
Students tour the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Houston.
Student work made during an art workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Arts.
More student artwork.
Touring the anechoic chamber at the University of Oklahoma’s Radar Innovations Lab.
Heading home.
