Digital Citizenship in the Classroom

When I think about digital citizenship, I also think of the term digital literacy. When students are learning to read, they learn about the correct way to hold a book, how text is organized, what an author is, how to read left to right, and so on. Learning to read is more than just learning the words on the page. Much like learning a traditional form of literacy, digital citizenship requires a methodical and critical approach to how we teach about and interact with technology in the classroom setting.

Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship

There are nine elements of digital citizenship including:

1. Digital Access
2. Digital Commerce
3. Digital Communication and Collaboration
4. Digital Etiquette
5. Digital Fluency
6. Digital Health and Welfare
7. Digital Law
8. Digital Rights and Responsibility
9. Digital Security and Privacy

After reading through these elements, I believe that these concepts can be taught and explored at all grade levels through an appropriate lens for each age group. As teachers, we can umbrella these elements into the S3 framework to make topics more palatable for students. In the classroom, there should be a focus on teaching kids how to be safe online, how to use technology for educational/professional purposes (savvy), and to create healthy/safe online relationships (social). Through the S3 framework, students are able to enjoy technology in both their personal and school lives in a safe way. Teaching students through the S3 framework requires integrating technology into the classroom to learn how to use technology effectively and apply these understandings to other curricular areas to engage students in learning.

Digital Citizenship Continuum

The S3 framework follows a similar framework to the Digital Citizen Continuum created by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. In this continuum, the word respect is used to represent social, educate is used to represent savvy, and protect is used to represent safety. Regardless of how you categorize the big ideas under digital citizenship, the important learning opportunities for students are the same. I find the digital citizen continuum extremely useful with how to engage students in digital citizenship, because it breaks up the understandings into grade levels. As teachers it is crucial that we are aware of our students’ experiences with technology and their prior knowledge surrounding technology so that we can support them effectively in their growth.

“One Life” Perspective

As students continue to increase their use of technology outside of the classroom space more and more, it is crucial that we are learning digital citizenship in the classroom environment. These teachings will not only help students succeed in the classroom, but it will also help them to stay safe and healthy in their personal lives. Through the “one life” perspective, students have one life, and therefore, we need to ensure that students are prepared for what happens both inside and outside of the classroom space, and cultivate a sense of personal, community, and global responsibility surrounding technology.