Welcome
As more teachers choose to implement technology in their classrooms, a distinct need for digital citizenship awareness and practices is growing. Due to the increased access to a vast amount of information on the internet and the ability to connect with others instantly through the use of a variety of social media tools and online resources, educators recognize the improved prospects for online research, collaboration and presentations. However, it has been found that youth are often ill-prepared for effectively and appropriately making use of such online resources.
Issues such as the use of student permission forms, attribution of content, copyright issues and maintaining student safety while using online tools were explored in our OLTD coursework. However, today’s students face an even larger number of issues, both in and out of the classroom, including illegal downloading, cyberbullying and use of technology at inappropriate times and in inappropriate ways. Studies have shown that students regularly befriend people unknown to them, share information and pictures that could potentially compromise their safety and/or reputation and hide behind the illusion of anonymity when commenting or posting on other people’s content. Recent media coverage of high-profile cases have brought the issue of cyberbullying to the public’s attention and media campaigns meant to curb the practice of illegal file sharing and downloading of digital content prove that such criminal activity is also on the rise. Participation in such behaviours not only puts students at risk in the short term, but can also affect their future college or career applications due to the digital footprint that they are creating for themselves.
Authors such as Berson & Berson (2003), Hengstler (2011), Jones & Finkelhor (2011) and Ribble (2011) concur on the importance of digital citizenship skills and have shed light on the dire need for lessons to be incorporated into the classroom. A number of online resources such as Common Sense Media, CyberSmart and Netsafe have responded to the call and focus their efforts on educating youth and children in online practices that promote safety and responsibility. Further, the British Columbia Ministry of Education has recently released a draft Digital Literacy Framework that outlines skills and understandings that they feel students must acquire in order to effectively work and learn using technology in the classroom, a vast part of which includes digital citizenship outcomes.
It is imperative that the education system adapt to meet the needs of a new online generation and provide students with a strong foundation in the principles of being a responsible digital citizen. Lessons identifying the types and amount of information that students can safely share online and guiding users on how to navigate the internet in controlled and meaningful ways must be developed and adopted in order to encourage a consistent standard of safe online behaviours, thus allowing students to get the most out of their digital learning experiences while protecting them from the potential threat of those that would purposefully take advantage of them.
As a technology using classroom teacher in British Columbia, I take this issue very seriously. I have a vested interest in keeping my students safe online and providing them with an education in digital citizenship ideals. I have developed a number of individual lessons to cover various aspects of digital citizenship, yet see the need for a comprehensive collection of tools and resources related to all aspects of digital citizenship. A common place for teachers to develop and share lessons, ideas and activities to encourage digital citizenship in a way that is tied directly to the Digital Literacy Framework is needed in order to ensure a consistent standard of education for students across British Columbia who use technology to enhance their learning in the classroom.
My hope is that this website, as well as the various resources and lesson plans that promote digital citizenship values and practices included within it, will be the starting point.
Issues such as the use of student permission forms, attribution of content, copyright issues and maintaining student safety while using online tools were explored in our OLTD coursework. However, today’s students face an even larger number of issues, both in and out of the classroom, including illegal downloading, cyberbullying and use of technology at inappropriate times and in inappropriate ways. Studies have shown that students regularly befriend people unknown to them, share information and pictures that could potentially compromise their safety and/or reputation and hide behind the illusion of anonymity when commenting or posting on other people’s content. Recent media coverage of high-profile cases have brought the issue of cyberbullying to the public’s attention and media campaigns meant to curb the practice of illegal file sharing and downloading of digital content prove that such criminal activity is also on the rise. Participation in such behaviours not only puts students at risk in the short term, but can also affect their future college or career applications due to the digital footprint that they are creating for themselves.
Authors such as Berson & Berson (2003), Hengstler (2011), Jones & Finkelhor (2011) and Ribble (2011) concur on the importance of digital citizenship skills and have shed light on the dire need for lessons to be incorporated into the classroom. A number of online resources such as Common Sense Media, CyberSmart and Netsafe have responded to the call and focus their efforts on educating youth and children in online practices that promote safety and responsibility. Further, the British Columbia Ministry of Education has recently released a draft Digital Literacy Framework that outlines skills and understandings that they feel students must acquire in order to effectively work and learn using technology in the classroom, a vast part of which includes digital citizenship outcomes.
It is imperative that the education system adapt to meet the needs of a new online generation and provide students with a strong foundation in the principles of being a responsible digital citizen. Lessons identifying the types and amount of information that students can safely share online and guiding users on how to navigate the internet in controlled and meaningful ways must be developed and adopted in order to encourage a consistent standard of safe online behaviours, thus allowing students to get the most out of their digital learning experiences while protecting them from the potential threat of those that would purposefully take advantage of them.
As a technology using classroom teacher in British Columbia, I take this issue very seriously. I have a vested interest in keeping my students safe online and providing them with an education in digital citizenship ideals. I have developed a number of individual lessons to cover various aspects of digital citizenship, yet see the need for a comprehensive collection of tools and resources related to all aspects of digital citizenship. A common place for teachers to develop and share lessons, ideas and activities to encourage digital citizenship in a way that is tied directly to the Digital Literacy Framework is needed in order to ensure a consistent standard of education for students across British Columbia who use technology to enhance their learning in the classroom.
My hope is that this website, as well as the various resources and lesson plans that promote digital citizenship values and practices included within it, will be the starting point.
Picture from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VIU_logo_1.png
Digital Citizenship in the Intermediate Classroom and all the lesson plans contained within it authored by Kristin Sward are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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