Digital citizenship | e-Odyssey. Cue: groan. This definitely used to be my knee-jerk response to this ‘hot-button’ issue. In the past few days I have been re-visiting this concept, aided by some really thoughtful blogs which I’ll share further down. Digital citizenship has been dominated, and almost become entirely synonymous with, cybersafety. Teachers have thought that essentially we could scare kids into behaving themselves on the Internet. Hmmm. That’s worked well. Now, cybersafety is a really important issue and I’m not belittling it at all. So, just like everything else that I seem to blog about, a shift is needed. This is an idea beautifully explored here by ‘Miss D’. What often frustrates me with the reading and researching that I do in my quest for future learning is that people are very good about defining and describing, and passionately conveying to me why I should care (and it works – I do!)
A ha! How To Tackle Digital Citizenship at Your School. This article was originally published on Edudemic on August 19th. Digital citizenship is not a one time discussion. It is an ongoing process that needs to be taught to all grade levels and to all stakeholders. The problem is that things are changing so rapidly that it is difficult for everyone to keep up to date with the trends. Everyone has to be educated and develop an understanding of the role digital citizenship plays in our everyday lives.
There is so much that goes into being a digital citizen; from taking photos of others to knowing when it is appropriate to share something online. Our students are like cowboys living in the wild wild west. Create An Acceptable Use Policy WITH Your Students – Give Them a Voice Every September we pass out the obligatory Acceptable Use Policies with little thought to what they include. For this discussion, think about digital citizenship in general, at school, at home and in transit.
Discuss “Online Privacy” Digital Communication Digital Etiquette. Miss D the Teacher: Ask not what the internet can do for you, but what you can do for the internet! Did you know, to become a New Zealand citizen if you have not been born here, you are required to swear an oath or complete an affirmation of allegiance? I (your name) solemnly and sincerely affirm that ... ... ... I will faithfully observe the laws of New Zealand and fulfil my duties as a New Zealand citizen - www.dia.govt.nz In England, there is a GCSE called Citizenship Studies which "helps students to develop as active citizens of our democracy.
" What is citizenship? Being a bit of an E-Learning nerd, I spend a significant amount of time thinking about Digital Citizenship. Firstly, that although we keep saying digital citizenship, it is really an indication of our age far more than grey hair and wrinkles could ever be. As always, admitting the problem is always the first step. Although we often focus on the cyber safety and sensibility side of things. Being a good digital citizen extends beyond not breaking the law, just as being a good citizen extends beyond not breaking the law. Citizenship in a Digital Age | Steve Mouldey.
I know that bad news sells but the lack of positive digital citizenship stories has been irritating me for a while. What started as a small irritation has ended up in this blogpost. The mainstream media seems determined to pigeonhole digital citizenship as being purely about online safety. It also follows this up with talk of teenaged “digital natives” and implying that they exist in a seedy online world which we older folk could possibly never understand. It is important to educate all people (not just children) about how to stay safe online including cybersafety, security of your devices and what to do about online bullying. It is not, however such a doom and gloom situation as it seems the mainstream media makes it out to be. In fact I find it interesting how quickly students soak up this information and really appreciate having more knowledge on what to do in certain situations.
Online safety is not the only aspect of digital citizenship. WikiEducator Digital Citizenship sections.