I do not remember there being a lot of discussion around digital citizenship throughout my education. In fact, I do not recall hearing that term until I was in university. I grew up in a small town so I got to be a part of technology beginning to be implemented into our schools. I started my primary education with a computer lab which was later dismantled to be turned into another classroom. This marked the switch to laptops. Even though we had laptops we often did not use them in class. Looking back, it seems like my teachers were unsure how to incorporate this technology beyond having us type a pre-written paper, create a PowerPoint, play Mathletics, or practice our typing skills using All the Right Type. When we did have the opportunity to use the computers, we needed to log in using a username and password. This would have been an excellent opportunity to discuss cyber security by talking about the components that make up a strong password as well as the importance of not sharing our passwords with others. Instead, we were required to all use the same password which would be written on the board for us to copy. While this makes the log in process easier and slightly faster, it was a missed opportunity for us to learn valuable cyber safety skills.
The only education that I can recall relating to digital citizenship was learning about cyberbullying. Scare tactics were definitely the technique of choice when it came to subjects like these. We would watch videos about a person who was being bullied by their peers online. The videos would typically have a harsh, but not unrealistic, ending that was supposed to scare us out of cyberbullying because of the harmful effects. These videos and scare tactics were not the best way to approach teaching these concepts. During a discussion I had in a breakout room on the use of scare tactics we discussed how it is well known that not all students learn the same and it is unrealistic for us to believe that all students will respond to this technique. Another group member suggested that using scare tactics may push some students to want to participate in the activity they are warning against even more. Rather than scaring students out of possibly harmful behaviours we need to educate them on how to do the opposite. Some people do not make the best choices because they do not know any other way to handle things. When we teach students how to properly use technology, we are giving them access to a plethora of opportunities to connect, learn, share, and so much more. Once they have this knowledge, they may not feel that they need to make negative choices because they understand the alternatives. In addition, any education surrounding bullying should discuss what can cause someone to feel that they need or want to bully someone. This can help students to understand some of the feelings that they may be having and can provide them with pathways to deal with these feelings whether that be stress-management techniques, therapy, or anything in between.
Thinking ahead to my own classroom I plan to specifically teach how to be a good digital citizen rather than teaching them what could happen if you are not a good digital citizen. Since I first learned about digital citizenship when I started my degree, I thought it would be a great idea to use something similar to the toothpaste conversation. They are explaining that words can hurt and that what you say cannot be taken back. I would use a similar concept to explain that once you post something it is on the internet forever. This is a difficult topic for people to understand because we do have the power to delete things that we have posted. While this is true, it does not mean that others have not shared, screenshotted, or reposted it.
Two years ago, I started working for a program called EYES (Educating Youth in Engineering and Science). As one can infer a lot of my job is teaching children to use different types of technologies. We always try to consider the ways that we can include lessons about digital literacy, citizenship, and security into our topics. When using websites, we like to explain the ways in which you can point out a safe versus a possibly dangerous website, the elements that make up a strong password, ways to spot misinformation, and the importance of not sharing your passwords with others. We also talk about the importance of never sharing personal information. Additionally, we discuss the importance of being kind and respectful online because at the end of the day we are all humans behind these screens. These are all concepts that I plan to share with my future students.
In an article by Jason Ohler, he states that “[t]o teach our children this new citizenship, we need to fold their digital tools into the general flow of school. We need to not only help students learn to use these tools in smart, productive ways, but also help them place these tools in the larger context of building community, behaving responsibly, and imagining a healthy and productive future, both locally and globally.” These are the words that I want to think back to as I am planning for my future classroom. I would say that the majority of my education was focused on us having our digital lives being separate from our offline lives. There was no mention of how we could positively intwine these two lives to become one. This is an issue because as more and more technology becomes accessible our digital lives become more and more intwined with our offline life. An article by Nathan Jurgenson states “[w]hat is most crucial to our time spent logged on is what happened when logged off; it is the fuel that runs the engine of social media.” We need to understand how to healthily manage a balanced life so that we are not trying to divide ourselves into two separate lives. I want my future students to understand that the life that we live online is only possible because of the life that we lead when we are offline. It is crucial that we have an offline life to experience the online.