Digital Citizenship in the Classroom

We are all citizens in this world, along with the cities or communities that we live in. However, are you a good digital citizen? What does it mean to have good digital citizenship? How can you integrate good digital citizenship into your classroom? So many questions… continue reading to find out some of the answers!

In my EDTC 300 class we are discussing what having a digital footprint means, as well as what our digital citizenship might look like. If you have ever had the chance to look yourself up on the web what did you find? If you have not, what do you think you or others might find? When you think about it, these questions can seem a bit scary or intimidating. It really makes you sit back and think about all the possible things that you might have posted, commented on, joined in online with or much more in the past without thinking much about it first.

Having a digital footprint is essentially leaving your mark (or footprint) online. Once you create or put something out onto to internet, there is a strong possibility that it will be on there forever. Whether you were ten years old and irresponsible or fifty and unaware, some things stick forever. This is why I believe we need to be teaching, as well as be taught internet safety as well as ways to be a good digital citizen.

Some ways that I will encourage and teach good digital citizenship in my classroom will include:

• Emphasizing the importance of online etiquette. (Asking permission before posting others, type the way you would want to be typed to, if something does not seem right ask an adult)
• Teach students to protect their privacy. (Not sharing passwords, teaching them not to give out personal information online, if something feels unsafe bring it to an adult, ask for help when needed)
• Help students stay safe online. ( Explain that what is posted on the internet is not only for their friend to see but instead the whole world, only put something online if you truly believe it is safe, appropriate and kind)
• Promote media literacy in your classroom.
• Show them their digital footprint. ( Show the students what happens when we search our own names online, what do they want the world to see about them or others)

Dr. Mike Ribble created the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship with the purpose to show how to integrate appropriate and safe uses of technology in peoples’ everyday lives.

The Nine Elements Are

Digital Access : Recognizing equitable distribution of technology and online services as some communities may not have availability.

Digital Commerce: Focuses on safeguards in place while buying and selling online.

Digital Communication & Collaboration: Electronic exchange of information (to some students technology helps them find a voice in the world)

Digital Etiquette: The process of thinking about others while using the internet.

Digital Fluency: Understanding technology and its use. Differentiating good information from poor information online.

Digital Health & Welfare: Physical and Psychological Wellbeing of being in the digital world.

Digital Law: Policies and rules related to the online world.

Digital Rights & Responsibility – Requirements and Freedoms extended to the online world. 

Digital Security & Privacy – Electronic precautions we take to

gaurentee our safety.

The online world can be a dangerous place, so teaching and incorporating the Nine Elements into classrooms can help students to understand just how scary the internet can possibly be. Teaching students as well as children to treat the online world just as equal as the real world is important. There are still rules to follow, precautions to take, and respectable ways to treat others. The golden rule that everyone knows is treat others the way you would like to be treated, and that rule not only applies in real-world settings, but also online.