Challenge Accepted!
It ‘twas a cold Christmas Eve, twenty some years ago, and I could not sleep, so I got on to my parents’ dial up computer, to play Literati on Yahoo. This game was very much like Scrabble and was super fun to play. I ended up playing numerous games with a lady from Australia. At least I think she was. Who knows. We chatted and played for a couple hours. I remember she asked where I was from and I said Regina, Saskatchewan, in Canada. She asked me many questions that I freely and openly responded to. I was sharing with “her” like we were old friends. Probably not my best decision.
Fast forward several years later, during a prep at school. I remember reading an online article about First Nation’s Treaty rights and going into the comment section and being appalled by what I read. I drafted a well written response, copy/pasted it from my Word Doc and posted it to one of many uneducated fools. Their response only enraged me more. Before I could formulate a stinging retort, a colleague came into my classroom and asked what I was doing. I told them and they laughed. This is when I learned what a troll was.
And finally, well into the pandemic, I excitedly bought a PS5, so I could play Call of Duty with a bunch of my buddies. I followed all the steps to set it up and finally got to the user agreement step. I hurriedly scrolled to the end, and hit “accept”, without even reading a word of the agreement. I’m pretty sure I’ve done this with Facebook, Instagram, and a number of other online sites and social media apps. Definitely not the epitome of digital responsibility.
Now why am I sharing these digital faux pas with you? To show you the importance of Ribble’s 9 Digital Citizen Elements. Had I been knowledgeable of these twenty years ago, heck even three years ago, I would have made some better decisions while online and navigating the digital world. If a so-called teacher, who has four years of university and now, twenty-eight years of teaching experience can make poor decisions like this, what decisions are my students making? I shudder to know the answer.
And that is the biggest challenge I think, the not-knowing. Teachers might ask, how am I to share this important knowledge when I know nothing about it? It would be difficult to teach these to students if one is clueless about them.
In addition to this challenge, staff might ask when will I find the time to review all the resources, gather what is needed, bookmark pages, preview videos, photocopy documents, post assignments to Google Classroom, etc.? How do you expect me to fit this into my programming when I already have to meet outcomes in all my subject areas, complete assessments, communicate with home, correct work, coach sports, run an after-school club, etc.?
And finally (but not the only consideration, as I’m sure there are many more), another challenge that will be surely questioned is where do I start? There are 9 Elements each connected to three guiding principles: Safe, Savvy, and Social. Being a mathlete I know that 9 x 3 is 27, so you want me to teach a minimum of 27 lessons on digital responsibility? Kick rocks.
Great questions teachers!
As administration, it is my job to make teacher’s lives easier and to help them out however I can. It is my digital duty to ensure all staff are aware of Ribble’s 9 Digital Citizen Elements and provide them with the time and opportunity to learn about it, so they in turn can pass this knowledge on to our students. Oh great. More PD.
It looks like that doesn’t it.
As I ponder these challenges even more, it dawns on me that this isn’t just a school issue and that our homes would benefit from knowing Ribble’s 9 Digital Citizen Elements too. Having our parents and guardians sharing this knowledge with their children at home gives more chances to learn and creates a community of learners. We are always looking for opportunities to bring our families into the school, so having a Digital Duty Dinner (still workshopping the title) would be a great idea!
So that’s what I need to do. Create some handouts. Bookmark some webpages and videos. Plan a PD (professional development) session. Plan a PD (parental development) session. Cook some chili and fry some bannock.
In the immortal words of Barney Stinson…
Jason, I appreciate your willingness to lead this work in your school. I’m wondering to what degree some of your teachers are already incorporating many of these concepts. I’d be curious.
Yes, I am curious as well. Perhaps it is time to use Survey Monkey or create a Google Form or send out a Mentimeter link and find out what teachers are doing and using and see if they feel like visitors or residents. Thanks for the push in the right direction!
Jason, I am also an Administrator and feel that I need to share this with my staff. I did hear in the hallways the other day a teacher teaching her Grade 2-3 class about Digital Safety. We have talked to the local RCMP and they are coming into the school to do a presentation with the Grade 6-7 class on Digital safety and responsibility as well. I think that all of my teachers are doing some stuff but I think that it is something that we could do a better job of and it is often overlooked because it is something that had been seen as an add on but we need to stop thinking that way and get with the times and realize that the world is changing and we need to adapt to it and help our students to learn in an ever changing world.