This frequent phenomenon happened again today, as I looked up the article I was to blog about-the same article I had just used to complete my Integrated Unit assignment. Looks like I'm headed in the right direction...
THE NINE ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Digital Citizenship is a large topic to begin covering with your students, no matter their age, no matter your comfort level with it. Check out this video for some scary statistics on teen/ child internet use:
From my research, teaching Digital Citizenship seems to be a unit upon itself, not necessarily just an introductory lesson prior to utilizing some device in the classroom. If fact, it could take weeks to cover all that there is to discuss in this important category. To really teach digital citizenship, and teach it well, there are nine elements that should be included in your curriculum:
Through my research, I have also come across many resources that help teachers who, perhaps, aren't "highly qualified" to teach this concept to their students...(Quick reminder: nearly 24% of teachers say they are uncomfortable teaching digital citizenship):
- There are free kits that teachers may request from netsmartz.org which provide tools and handouts for students. They even have various levels of kits according to the age of your students.
- If you are an edmodo user, Common Sense Media has created a partnership with the LMS to promote and teach digital citizenship to it's participants. To access the materials, log onto edmodo and search "digital citizenship" to follow them. Then you can download their featured content for use in your classroom.
- I also found this great lesson plan from Digitalcitizenship.net that offers ideas, activities, and handouts for students.
Digital Citizenship may seem to be a big lesson to take on, but considering the staggering amounts of children and teens on the internet, it should be a vital part of our curriculum. We must teach each of the nine elements to our students and CONTINUE to practice these good habits at all times. They say that, "practice makes perfect", so revisiting these concepts with your students may one day allow all of us to use our latest technology with ease and peace of mind.
I think digital literacy is an important topic to cover, but the push-back from educators will be..."where." In a data driven society that looks at student and teacher performance, "where" does digital literacy fit in.
ReplyDeleteAs a high school teacher, it is easy for me to integrate much of this into research assignments. But as I look at the digital citizenship elements, I see that really only four of the nine would be routinely covered in a classroom (etiquette, literacy, access, and maybe security). I think this is a delicate for teachers, debating whether to teach practical knowledge or test driven knowledge.
I see your point about the issue of time and where does this fit in. However it is my hope that digital literacy and citizenship will become such an important and stressed topic that it will become like second nature to our teachers and students. Think about it, do you specifically do activities now that deliberately teach students good morals and ethics? I think eventually these digital aspects will be woven into our daily routine from a very early age and we won't find ourselves looking for the specific time, but will find it integrates with other areas to teach what is necessary.
DeleteMany teachers teach ethics and morals and do integrate these topics into their classroom. And although I agree with most all your points, our maps and test based jobs are making it increasingly difficult to alter and adapt, even if it is only slightly.
DeleteAndrea, great discussion of the article. I really resonated with your comment, "From my research, teaching Digital Citizenship seems to be a unit upon itself, not necessarily just an introductory lesson prior to utilizing some device in the classroom." I was thinking the same thing, and it made me want to plan for a digital citizenship and safety unit early in the school year. I will have to explore Edmodo to see about benefitting from the Edmodo-Common Sense Media partnership. One side note: teachers would have to translate the nine elements of digital citizenship the authors offer in the article to developmental appropriateness since the article is obviously for adults, and that might require a good bit of work. There are printables on the topic available from Common Sense Media.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely a need now more than ever to address the topic of digital citizenship and literacy. Unfortunately, we are in the somewhat "early" stages of this and it is important we build the foundation and continue to stress the importance. I like to compare it to a drivers license. There was a time where we held driver's education in schools combined with laws to keep the student driver (and other drivers on the road) safe. I am not saying that we should prevent children from using technology and the Internet until they are a certain age, but I somewhat feel like we are at a point where we are letting kids who can't see above the steering wheel drive a semi down 75 at rush hour. Sure they might be able to stay in their lane, but there will be times when they don't, knowingly or unknowingly. We've got to find a way to teach kids what is right and wrong with digital citizenship. It is extremely important the foundation is set to prepare for the future.
ReplyDeleteI like the metaphor you used comparing a driver's license to a digital citizenship "license". I agree, we need to actively set the foundation for our children so they are prepared for the ever changing digital world.
DeleteI agree with Christian and Hageman egarding "where?". I think the biggest issue is teachers (including myself) are not yet adequately covering digital citizenship, therefore it is difficult to seamlessly make digital citizenship a part of your classroom culture (without the sharing of direct and purposeful digital citizenship instruction with our students). With this is mind, we are now left with the “when?”. With so many standards to “cover”, we are left with little time to cover the full topic of digital citizenship. How much time is enough? How much is too little?
ReplyDeleteI agree this topic is very difficult to cover in the classroom. It needs to be almost a complete curriculum!
DeleteI agree! I think that teachers are currently over stretched with what they have on the table and while they try to do the best that they can with the time they have, they do not have time to really go into depth regarding this issue. I stand by my statement that we really need to have an in depth class on this.
DeleteI really liked the graphic that landed out the "9 elements of digital citizenship." One aspect that stuck out to me, that most educators overlook is the law. I do not feel like I know the laws that surround technology and digital citizenship very well, so my students definitely do not. I believe this is an important aspect that needs to be researched and investigated more.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated this comment about not knowing the laws regarding technology, and I don't even have an idea of the scope of pertinent legal information that would be helpful to know to be able to teach children to be safe and legally smart. This sounds like it would be a great topic for a teacher in-service training.
DeleteI think that teaching our students about digital citizenship is very important as we prepare our students for the different career paths they will be taking during their lives. I think you had a very valid point, which was that teaching true digital citizenship takes time. This is time that most of us do not have in the classroom setting. While we do the best we can as we are working on things to introduce digital citizenship concepts to our students, I can honestly say that is very challenging to cover all of those topics in a regular class. However, we can take on some of those topics in class and do the best that we can with the time that we have. I also liked the fact that you found and referenced some different resources that teachers can use. We need to get this out to the staff so that they can incorporate it into their classrooms.
ReplyDeleteYou are right on when you say "practice makes perfect". It is extremely important that us, as adults and teachers, practice good digital citizenship and lead by example. I really appreciate you sharing the two resources that we can use to help us teach digital citizenship; netsmartz.org and digitalcitizenship.net.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait until Deer Park integrates Digital Citizenship into their 7-12 curriculum. It will be a welcome addition to their curriculum and I hope it really helps everyone out there in Silverton, and the Italienette Restaurante- which is awesome!
DeleteI'll let you know how that goes. I'll survey all 10 of their seniors to determine what they feel like their needs are in regards to digital citizenship. By the way, where is this Italian Restaurant you speak of. I'm always a sucker for some good Italian.
DeleteGreat job Andrea. We truly need to be guardians of the digital citizenship in our classrooms. Too many teachers fail to promote these behaviors, and we have to really pull together to embrace this concept. We are the true Gore Guards of Interweb Citizenry.
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