#Digital Citizenship

“We need not only to educate our children on the issues that are occurring with technology but provide resources for our teachers and parents as well.”-Mike Ribble.

The article “Passport to Digital Citizenship” in a broad sense is about the importance of continuity and consistency between home and school usage of technology. Mr. Ribble expresses that it is one thing to know how to utilize a new technology, but knowing how to use it appropriately and in a responsible manner is another concept entirely. NETS-S defines Digital Citizenship as the following; Students understand human cultural and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. In general terms I see digital citizenship as a continuation of being a good citizen period.

We have all seen the sexting scandals, cat fishing, identity theft cases, online bullying stories wherein it is pointed as the reason as to why some youth have committed suicide and most recently a case wherein a terrorist organization called ISIS has targeted social media pages of military members children. An important part of digital citizenship is not just being polite and kind, but as well being smart about what one lets out into cyberspace from a security standpoint. Over sharing is also a concern in the digital age. # I ate breakfast # I hate school # I hate my job...Children need to be made aware that their digital footprint is one that can be seen by future employers and school admissions boards. There can be a connection made between how the youth utilize technology and whom they are as a person. In my opinion part of teaching digital citizenship in schools should be seen as an extension of character education. While this article did not make the connection between character and usage of technology; it did break Digital Citizenship into nine elements.

The nine elements are as follows:

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             Digital Access: Do all have access to participate in the digital world if they choose to do so? This harkens back to the discussion of inclusive schools and the topics of the have’s vs have not’s in terms of districts whom have more access to tech than other districts.

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      Digital Commerce: Are the students aware of how to safely exchange money for goods and services online. For example; do they know the difference between http&https? One is a secured site one is not.

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             Digital Communication: Are the students armed with the communication skills that will transcribe into the digital arena in an effective and appropriate way?

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             Digital Literacy: Do the students know when and how to use certain technologies and do they share these lessons with their peers?

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       Digital Etiquette: Do they act in a proper manner and communicate in a respectful manner. Do they think before they rant on a digital source? To they take other people into account?

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              Digital Law-With technology comes another form of responsibility. Are the students aware of laws associated with technological content etc? What comes to mind; plagiarism and  IP protections.

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              Digital Rights and Responsibilities-This explanation was a bit on the social action side for me. It asks if students are ready to protect the rights of others to defend their own digital rights. This statement is a bit vague and needs to be expanded and honed into a specific context. I would say the real point would be do students realize the freedom extended to all digital tech users and are they aware there are behavioral standards that coincide with these freedoms?

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             Digital Health and Wellness- Are users aware of the psychological and health risks that comes with using technology. For example; high school students and “Instagram likes.” With technology and social media apps many teens are falling into the fallacy that social media is the real world and that “likes” equate to their value as a person.

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             Digital Security-Are they aware of the importance of protecting their personal information? For example the importance of changing passwords regularly and to pick strong passwords. As well, never give out personal info online to strangers.

He as well talks about how learning is a cycle and not really a destination. Technology evolves and expands and thus so must we. I agree with his premise that home and school must be on the same page when it comes to digital citizenship. He suggests utilizing a four stage framework to teach and learn digital citizenship. Those stages are; Awareness, Guided Practice, Modeling and Demonstration and Feedback/Analysis.

When reading this four stage model the question that I am left with is how does he suggest the school and classroom ensure continuity with the usage at home? He talks about how it’s important to have an open learning environment so that students can explore technology wherein mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn. I concur with that point.  Again, I would like to hear his plan on how he would suggest a school reach each parent to make sure the access at home to technology is not an unbridled access, but one that is monitored and guided by the parents in accordance with school suggestive guidelines? As a parent I can tell you having an open technology forum does not see huge success. The parents who are involved are the ones you see at everything from assemblies to field trips. It’s the parents you never see at school that you need to reach out to. I would have like to have seen him suggest ways to form effective partnerships between teachers and parents in terms of technology.

When reading this article I was attracted to the importance of digital etiquette,digital law, digital responsibilities and digital health and wellness. Overall this article made some very good factual points.  I would like to promote a part time reverse classroom concept wherein the parents can actually see what the children are learning and doing online. As well a classroom blog that weekly sends out email reminders on what is being covered in class as well as technology  responsibility reminders that will have “read” notifications to solidify all households receive the information adequately. 

 Digital Citizenship goes beyond the actual “know how” when it comes to using technology. It’s the knowing of how to use it effectively and responsibly. How will you guide your students in the digital realm? How will you ensure that your students are acting responsibly without infringing on their privacy rights? I am an advocate for teaching Digital Citizenship in schools. I am also an advocate of teaching character education and I see a direct connection between the two. With a world that is seeing and increase in social disorders I feel that #10 rule of digital citizenship should be: Manage your time online wisely and do not let it over take your classroom or your life. Balance the new technology with face to face interaction.Technology is great as long as it is not solely depended on or overused wherein it surpasses human interaction in the classroom.

References: Ribble, M. (2008). Passport to Digital Citizenship. In digitalcitizenship.net. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from www.digitalcitizenship.net/uploads/LL2008DCArt.pdf