Tool #11

Digital Citizenship involves a whole new realm of issues. How do I narrow it down to just 3 of the most important? That's pretty difficult. But since that is the assignment, I will do my best.

Safety - I tell my students in computer lab classes that the internet is an amazing place. A place that opens our minds to a world we may not ever physically see. But the internet can also create situations that we never intended to enter. Sharing passwords (in our case - lunch numbers) can tempt other students to log in as someone else and go to inappropriate sites. We have the capability to investigate who went there and it comes back to the lunch number. Students might be blamed for something they didn't do. We need our students to be protected - so we need to teach them not to use their last names when leaving comments or their hometown if possible. Chat rooms should not be encouraged at school (or at home for that matter). Kids can really get trapped in the world of the internet.

Credibility - like I said, the internet is an amazing place filled with information about every single subject known to man. But, that doesn't mean it's all true. We need to be wise in the sources where we get our information and do a little more research to see if what we are reading are actually the facts.

Responsibility - the internet is also a place that students can "hide" behind. It's amazing what people will say in the name of anonymity. Comments left can be cruel or inappropriate. We need to help our students understand that just because they can type mean stuff, doesn't mean it's right.

How to teach digital citizenship? I think it's just like everything else. You lay down the rules and have high expectations that these rules are followed. If the rules are broken, there are serious consequences that keep the student from breaking the rules again. Digital citizenship is no different than teaching respect and self-control in the classroom - it's just with a techonology twist. I also think that when we set up blogs that students will have access too, that the comments are set for the moderator (the teacher) to have to approve before they are published. When I did a blog with the classes, I would teach the students that I will be reading every comment and post and would have to approve it before they would go to the screen. If there was anything inappropriate, then they would have privileges taken away and there would be consequences. We did not have issues.