1. The school and digital citizenship

Digital citizenship is the set of rules that we must follow in order to use the Internet conscientiously, responsibly, ethically, and safely. Digital citizenship brings the ideas to the digital universe. In short, digital citizenship is about the broad understanding (and practice) of our rights and duties when talking about the virtual environment. This concept of digital citizenship is further extended according to a recent report by the Berkman Klein Center Research at Harvard University (Cortesi et al., 2020). According to the report, on the one hand, there has been a normative view of citizenship, which focuses on making sure that youngsters understand the values and norms regarding responsible, safe and appropriate use of digital technologies, emphasizing legal aspects and consequences in their teaching in schools.; on the other hand, it points to perspectives that highlight forms of civic and political engagement of young people, nurtured by a “culture of participation”. This is the cyber safety approach that was used in my own schooling.

Image by Vicki Davis, from www.edutopia.org

Image by Reciprocity, from https://reciprocity.com

2. Education into proper use of internet

The technique most of my teachers used in my schooling was the education into proper use of internet. This was because although internet-enabled learning has many advantages in the educational environment by offering information and support to students, it can also expose them to concepts that are not appropriated for their age such as information about sex.

What do you think about digital citizenship? Did you experience it in your schooling? I look forward to hearing from you. 

References

Cortesi, S., Hasse, A., Lombana, A., Kim, S. & Gasser, U. (2020). Youth and digital citizenship+ (Plus). Understanding skills for a digital world. Berkman Klein Center Research Publication Nº 2020-2. Retrieved September 17, 2022 from : https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42638976.