Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to have a brief discussion of all I have learned about digital citizenship and what that means during my time in and out of class!
To start off, I was probably in the same position as many of you reading this in regard to how I felt about digital citizenship before- that it’s a set of rules about things kids shouldn’t do on the Internet to keep them safe. That is a part of it, of course, but digital citizenship, and being a good digital citizen a lot more than that!
Mike Ribble on his website puts it nicely: “Digital citizenship is the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use. ” so yeah, in other words- digital citizenship is about being conscientious about what you do online, and creating an online environment that is safe and a great tool for everyone. Here’s a video with an overview of all the aspects of Digital Citizenship, if you have 15 minutes to spare to give it a watch!
Of course, if you’d rather just read it; allow me to give a short explanation. There are two pillars to being a digital citizen: Respect, which means you respect others and their online property be it websites to images, and to Protect, which is about keeping yourself and information safe from others. Along with that there are Nine Elements: Digital access, Digital Commerce, Communication and Collaboration, Etiquette, Fluency, Health, Law, Rights/Responsibility, and Security. If you follow these pillars and elements, you will be successful in keeping yourself safe and free online; and be a proactive good citizen on the net! The ISTE goes over these standards of digital citizenship too in a slightly less wordy way.
Overall, I think (after educating myself on the aspects of digital citizenship) that it’s a wonderful and effective way of teaching students to be engaging online in a healthy and productive way. It teaches them that who they are online is who they are IRL, and what they do online can have real world consequences if they aren’t careful- but also that the Internet is an amazing tool when handled safely that can be both fun and educational!
I would definitely have my students take the Digital citizenship pledge, even if it is a little cheesy- plus this video is entertaining and informative about how much you can do online. It’s a more “do” approach than “don’t” for digital citizenship. They even have a lesson plan tied to it!
Before I sign off this post I would also like to touch a little bit on online safety for kids- because it’s a big part of digital citizenship. Teachers need to be aware of what they can and cannot legally have their students do online- as well as what things are safe and ethical for kids to be doing online in the classroom. Some apps/websites can steal personal information from student accounts, so it’s necessary for teachers to do their research on what they can use, and try to avoid students making unnecessary account if they can help it. It also helps to use websites in line with COPPA and CIPA, to ensure that they are safe and appropriate for students.
Thank you for reading!