At the beginning of this course, I joined Discord, and I was blogging. I openly discussed
my age, growing up (or perhaps my life story), thoughts, reflections, and challenges. Throughout this semester, I continuously improved and developed my writing by adding new ways to express myself, such as adding creative blog titles, videos, article links, embedded content, and properly cited photos and material. The thought of blogging forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and put me in the spotlight. Nevertheless, it also provided me with the chance to receive insightful feedback and share with classmates, which strengthened my social ties. One thing that got me through my struggles and improved my learning was reading my classmates’ blogs and being able to write comments on their posts.
Media and technology play an increasingly important role in the lives of children and bring both opportunities and risks. Technology can inform and educate, aid in identity development, inspire creativity, and connect kids with their communities and the broader world. Today, a significant amount of young people’s social interactions, identity development, and learning happen online, unlike in previous generations.
However, young people sometimes also struggle with the downsides that are part of a culture of widespread technology, from negative impacts on health and welfare to technology addiction, privacy concerns, exposure to harmful content, hate speech, and fake news, and all these impacts them.
All kids can thrive in a tech-filled world if we prioritize teaching kids the skills and dispositions to use tech in meaningful, responsible, and prosocial ways.
Helping kids cope with what they experience online is just one of the reasons that teaching digital literacy in schools is so critical. How can we expect educators to embrace technology and feel confident leveraging all its opportunities if we don’t build their skills?
Children are growing up with the power of digital media and technology to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways we only dreamed of. With this power, young people have great opportunities, but they also face challenges and dilemmas. Schools and families are dealing with the ramifications of issues like online safety, cyberbullying, privacy, hate speech, misinformation, tech addiction, and digital distraction.
If we are committed to providing equitable access to technology, and digital resources, then we should be as committed to empowering our kids to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in the digital world — to become more mindful of everyday habits that are otherwise automatic and “mindless.”
EDTC 300 course was the answer for me. It gave me all the media tools needed for me to learn and to teach my future students how to be responsible citizens online.
As educators, our mission should be to assist students in discovering how to succeed in the modern world and to develop the skills necessary for future success. I need to teach my students to be digitally literate and to know how to use digital technology safely and responsibly. Recent research points to a growing need to equip children with the skills necessary to use digital technologies safely and appropriately and recognize when they might be in danger online. This will further lead me to teach digital citizenship because DC is an important part of digital literacy, as it helps kids understand their roles and responsibilities in the online world. This includes understanding topics such as Digital etiquette, Digital Communication and Collaboration, Digital Health and Welfare, and more according to Mark Ribbles’ 9 themes of DC.
As educators, it is our responsibility to help children understand the long-term ethical consequences of the decisions they make using digital media because the present day, it’s the digital footprint instead of the resume. After learning about digital literacy and digital citizenship, our students should live in a world where they think before they post something problematic