Digital Citizenship

         Although this next generation is bombarded with technological advancements and adept at using upcoming forms of technology, many students are innocently unaware of the consequences of poor digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is defined as one's ability to participate in an online society. Additionally, like any society, the digital world is also one that must operate under a certain standard of behavior. The corruption of society has permeated through to the technological world, such that students must be aware and alert of suspicious and harmful online behavior.

         The online article, Making it Personal: A New Approach to Digital Citizenship, discusses the importance of helping students protect themselves from malevolent internet users. Because classroom curriculum and instruction time must be engaging and relatable,  Alecia Berman-Dry suggests that teachers allow students to participate in debates regarding issues like cyber-bullying, privacy settings, account use, etc. Berman-Dry reports that her course on digital citizenship, with its inclusion of classroom debates,   allowed students to discuss issues that they were directly connected to and form their own opinions about appropriate digital citizenship. Upon participating in the debate, students were asked to research a topic and obtain evidence that supported their view of that topic. For instance, one group answered the question: Is a child's parent responsible for their child's internet activity, or are students independently responsible for their own internet use?

        While I agree that students should actively participate in debates where they are challenged to research and support their ideas about responsible digital citizenship, I also think that students should be exposed to harmful digital citizenship, so that they fully understand the consequences of it. For instance, in understanding the importance of privacy settings in an online account, teachers should create a profile that is viewable by the public and show how information can be gathered by ill-willed individuals to harm the user. For example, showing that a picture of a student can be downloaded and saved on a random person's computer and that personal information like addresses, phone numbers, and passwords can be obtained from unprotected accounts, can help students to realize the dangers of internet use that could personally affect them. Therefore, to combat these issues, lessons should include step-by-step instructions on how to appropriately and safely create accounts and manage them.

          Berman-Dry's article also discusses that digital citizenship curriculum should address cyberbullying and the importance of filtering what is "said" on social media sites. I agree with her philosophy in that it addresses one of the foremost goals of teaching, which is to create a civil and just generation. In order to promote social activism and civility, student's need to be aware that what they "say" online has implicit effects on others. For instance, student's should understand that what is "said" online can often be read falsely and misinterpreted to take on a meaning that was unintended.  Student's should understand that tone cannot be accurately conveyed over the web, and consequently word choice is of great importance.

          In terms of integrating digital citizenship into classroom curriculum, lesson plans that address privacy settings and appropriate online behavior meet the NETS-S standards that student's be able to "advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology as well as exhibit leadership for digital citizenship"(as cited in Berman-Dry, 2014).

Here is a link to the original article: http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learningandleading

Youtube link on Digital Citizenship: What is Digital Citizenship?

Berman-Dry, A. (2013, August). Making It Personal: A New Approach to Teaching Digital Citizenship. Learning & Leading Through Technology, 24-25. Retrieved 2014