Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 3)

Believe it or not we are all digital citizens in todays world of advancing technology. According to Ribble digital citizenship can be defined as the “continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.” Understanding this definition is a critical aspect that allows us to explore the role digital citizen ship and technology will play in the different areas of our life, like the education system for example. Technology has become increasingly prominent in the last few years so as future educators it’s important to understand what to teach students about being a digital citizen and when to teach it to them.

Based on Ribble’s 9 elements of digital citizenship I have picked out 2 elements and tried to connect them to certain areas of the curriculum. When initially looking through the curriculum it was evident that digital citizenship could possibly relate to many areas of learning because one of the broad areas of learning within the K-12 curriculum is “Sense of self, community and place”. However after reading though different sections of curriculum I felt that learning about digital citizenship best fit into the health aspects of the curriculum because in health students are asked to examine interaction, sense of self and how to treat others which I feel all directly relate to digital citizenship.

Digital Etiquette

I think it is important to start teaching about these nine principles a soon as possible. Students are exposed to technology at a young age the the sooner they can understand technology and its effects on their digital citizenship the better. Digital etiquette is the best element to start with when introducing students to digital citizenship. Digital etiquette can be described as the standards for individuals in these various online spaces. Digital etiquette’s could be introduced to students through the Grade 1 health curriculum. The Grade 1 health curriculum talks a lot about behaviour, interaction and relationships which are all directly related to digital etiquette and the behaviour we want to promote in cyberspaces. I would say that this learning could continue into Grade 2 and even Grade 3 but it’s a really good idea if possible to introduce it in Grade 1. While teaching about digital citizenship I would recommend if possible creating a professional online space for students to interact. This will ensure the students can put the content they learned into use right away. Eventually this aspect of digital citizenship would lead into learning about various digital rights and responsibilities.

Digital Rights & Responsibilities

The last element that I think is also really important is digital rights and responsibilities. This element is focused on discussing the different rights, privileges and responsibilities students have within the cyber world. Although it seems like this element is easy to understand and should be taught much younger I feel Grade 9 is the correct area to discuss the different rights and responsibilities in the digital world. This element digital literacy also means that students need to understand other individuals rights which is a bit trickier of a concept. While teaching about digital rights and responsibilities I feel it is important to allow students to communicate on various platforms where they can practice their rights while viewing and understanding others. A great way to do this would be getting students involved in some kind of online debate. This would allow students to practice their rights by express their optinions but also encourage them to practice their online responsibilities to respect others individuals rights and opinions. Having students participate in the online debate would fit perfectly into the Grade 9 English curriculum. One of the indicators in the curriculum is focused on having student “View, listen to, read, and respond to a variety of visual, oral, print and multimedia (including digital) texts that address the grade-level themes and issues related to identity, social responsibility, and efficacy including those that reflect diverse personal identities, world-views, and backgrounds”. Having students view and respond to others in a digital debate would cover this curriculum indicator and also allow students to develop an understanding for digital responsibility and respect. Furthermore the teacher could also easily incorporate digital laws by showing students the proper way to make citations and encourage them to do research and cite their sources within the debate.

As a future K-5 educator I plan to incorporate digital citizenship as much as possible. I will incorporate the use of technology within my classroom on a daily basis to allow students to explore and practice the different elements of digital citizenship. Students are always going to interact in the digital world. It’s important to realize that although you may not think that it’s ideal it’s important as a teacher to teach the students what they need to know for life. So teach them about digital literacy they will thank you for it!

This winter I had the opportunity to take ECE 325 Experimental learning with Christine Massinig. Christine course focused a lot on experimental learning. Although the course was directly related to education technologies through the course Christine encouraged us to explore different aspect of digital learning and teaching. Christine introduced me to a new virtual resource called a virtual classroom. I think virtual classrooms are gonna play a huge role in the future of education so I am writing this blog post to provided resources and guide you through my experience creating a virtual classsroom.

There are two main types of virtual classroom you can create. The first type is a static virtual classroom. This type is mainly used to share ideas for different classroom spaces and can act as a learning invitation. The second type is an interactive or live virtual classroom. This types allows the learners to explore the room and click on different objects that take them to different learning resources. Most of my experience is with the static virtual classrooms.

The process for creating a virtual classroom is rather simple. The first step is to create a google slide. Once you have created the slide you can begin to find images of the types of “loose parts” you want in this classroom. its easiest to start from the back and work forward. by this I mean start with the flooring, walls and windows. Then add shelving and other big items like tables and chairs. Finally finish it off by adding the tiny details like the things that go on the shelving or tables. at this point if you where to make a interactive classroom you would add links to the objects. I know this process may see like a lot but I promise once you get started it gets easier.

Thought my course with Christine I was provided a lot of resources that make building a virtual classroom much easier. One of the most important resources in creating a virtual classroom is a resource that removes backgrounds of images. Removebg is the one I used and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Another resource I found very helpful was a virtual classroom building break down. This resource provides a lot of instructional content and it also has lots of “loose part” you can add to any of your classrooms. Another great resource to use when creating a virtual classroom is Bitmojji . Using a bitmojii adds a nice personal touch to the virtual classroom. My advice on virtual classrooms is defiantly try it out. The more you do with it the easier it will become .

Here are some example I have created of static virtual classrooms