I was reflecting on the assigned articles this week and think about how I might apply the ideas from them to my future classroom to make better online and real-world citizens. One concept that really spoke to me was the idea of leading one life, not two. I remember growing up in the 90s and 00s and there was a sense of our digital lives and our “real” lives being to distinct things. The digital world back then had a real sense of anonymity to it, which I think gave people license to be their worst selves online because it felt like a space that didn’t rules or real-world impact. I feel like the situation got so bad online that there is now a desperate need to address the issue both in the classroom and at home, “because of the extreme freedom, anonymity, and pervasiveness that characterize cyberspace, concerns about values and character education have now shifted into overdrive”. (Ohler, 2011)
A reaction to this could be to just limit access to online spaces but like the article says, “We can’t do this if we banish technology from their school lives”. (Ohler, 2011) I think the instead we need to use our time with students to stress a one life approach. We can work to dismantle this idea that the way we act, things we do and say online are not part of our real character, and not something we do in secret that doesn’t really apply to who we are. Teachers can teach citizenship extends into our online spaces because these are still spaces where we should be treating each other with respect and dignity, like we would be doing face to face in public.
I think this idea is reflected in number 7 (Digital Law) and 8 (Digital Rights and Responsibilities) of the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship. It is useful to remind our students that online space is not a lawless realm, and that its use still comes with laws and rights that all its users are governed by. It helps to reinforce the idea that there isn’t a separation between our online actions and our real-world ones.
