Digital Citizenship
By teaching media literacy and digital citizenship to our students, rather than avoiding, blocking, or filtering, I am strongly advocating an active role for schools. Mike Ribble’s suggests that teachers must teach students about the rules of the digital world as well, and how to handle technology correctly and responsibly, in the same way they teach students about society.
As I began to reflect, I focused on the three major questions my classmate Leigh raised in last week’s content catalyst.
- What are the reasons for teaching digital citizenship?
- What are the best times to teach it?
- How do we teach it?
What is the point of teaching digital citizenship? My classmates mentioned, that students lack critical thinking and safety skills, as stated by “Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools.” To become good digital citizens, students need to move from being consumers to becoming communicators and collaborators (John K. Waters in the article Turning students into good digital citizens).
Digital citizenship: when should it be taught? I do not think we can teach digital citizenship at an early age to my own children and my students. Technology begins to be used by children at an early age, and parents assume that because they are good at “swiping,” their children are tech savvy, making adults overlook the fact that children are at risk.
Do parents need to teach their children about technology? My students and children deserve a chance to learn how to be responsible digital citizens and how to maintain a positive digital footprint. By teaching Mike Ribble’s nine elements of digital citizenship in the context of real-life scenarios and experiences, students will be better equipped to communicate and collaborate respectfully and meaningfully. Using the 3C and 1Q method, classrooms can share ideas and comments on each other’s work via Skype. That seems like a great idea to me. In an age where information overload is rife, it is crucial our children learn lateral reading so that they can develop critical thinking skills. Finding the article Digital Citizenship: Reflecting on the Role of Technology in the World Around Us online, I was immediately attracted to it for the unique opportunity offered to students to take something said online, or a topic they cared about, and discuss it in a podcast. Matt and Trevor’s article about Finland’s efforts to combat fake news in primary schools illustrates how valuable it is to teach people how to think critically and to evaluate information.
“Students need to be educated on how to be good citizens of their country and what their rights and responsibilities are as members of society. The same issues need to be addressed with regard to the emerging digital society, so that students can learn how to be responsible and productive members of that society” ― Mike Ribble, Digital citizenship in schools
In order to teach digital citizenship, teachers have access to a wide range of resources and information. Does it seem possible that we do not know where to look for these materials? Is it possible that you are unable to find these materials? Do you know what to look for? Apparently, there are some schools that are very serious about teaching digital citizenship. A fellow classmate of mine wrote an article in which she explained how understanding and efficiently using digital tools and resources all come down to prioritizing. She has an excellent idea, just like we do with math and literacy, to make digital citizenship a focus area. Additionally, the optional professional development sessions might need to be made mandatory. Educators can gain a greater understanding of digital citizenship and media literacy by collaborating with tech-savvy co-workers and peer tutors at professional development sessions. They can also use this information to help students develop a more complete picture of who they are as graduates.
Thank you
Lovepreet kaur
Thank you for sharing! I appreciated the questions that you raised. I agree that students need to be moving beyond being consumers to being effective creators and communicators. An interesting point to consider is the assumption that adults (parents) have these skills. I am beginning to think that the ways in which people in society communicate on media reflects the deep need that is present for a wider range of learning opportunities for all community members. How can schools be a part of educating not only children but adults caregivers and community members? Perhaps this would be a good avenue to explore on a partnership level with community libraries?
Similar to what Patricia said, I think that a lot of teaching needs to happen around digital citizenship and what it means to be a good digital citizen-based off on how people conduct themselves online. Maybe we have seen an increase in bad behaviour online with the stresses of COVID, the freedom rally, and even more extreme situations like Russia and Ukraine. But part of me thinks that this has been happening long before these current events have happened and we are just noticing it more now. It’s sad, really. But more than ever I think we need to look at the importance of digital citizenship and integrate it into our schools asap at the very least, and then look at some community outreach as well. I know that this would be good teaching even at the corporate levels. The more education around this topic, the better in my opinion. Especially seeing as what happens online, literally stays online somewhere forever.