In a world where digital interactions are increasingly integral to personal, academic, and professional life, understanding digital citizenship helps us make informed choices, protect our privacy, and contribute positively to online communities. Teaching digital citizenship to our students is important because it equips them with the knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to navigate the digital world responsibly, ethically, and safely. By integrating digital dualism—the idea that online and offline worlds are interconnected and equally “real”—can also add depth to a digital citizenship curriculum by helping students view digital spaces as extensions of their real-world identities. I also think that by incorporating the “one life” perspective, which posits that digital and physical experiences are inseparable parts of a single, unified life, that we as educators, can transform our approaches to teaching digital citizenship. Here are some ways I think we could approach digital citizenship in the classroom, using these concepts as a guiding framework:
Challenge the Separation of Digital and Physical Identity: Digital dualism emphasizes that digital actions are not separate or less meaningful than offline actions. Encourage students to consider their digital footprint as an extension of their character and identity. This approach can foster accountability and integrity, teaching students to uphold the same ethical standards in online interactions as they would in person (The IRL Fetish).
Embed Digital Citizenship Skills in Character Development: Since digital actions have real-life impacts, as digital dualism suggests, consider using real-world scenarios where students encounter moral choices online, like responding to unkind comments or evaluating the credibility of information. These scenarios can be drawn from the Character Education in the Digital Age article, which highlights the importance of character-based decision-making in online settings.
Teach our students using the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship with Real-World Examples:
Digital Etiquette and Communication: Frame digital etiquette as necessary for both online and offline environments, so students recognize the continuity of respectful communication across all platforms.
Digital Rights and Responsibilities: Reinforce that actions such as plagiarism or sharing copyrighted material online have real-world consequences, highlighting that digital responsibility is as critical as in-person accountability.
Safety and Wellness: Discuss how oversharing or risky online behaviors can affect real-life safety, helping students understand that online choices influence their physical world security and wellness. Compare and contrast what would be uncomfortable to share to someone in person but what may be easier to share with someone online. Discuss the reasons of why this may be.
Engage in Reflective Dialogue on Digital Presence: Incorporate discussions that explore students’ perceptions of online versus offline behaviors. By sharing examples, students can identify how their digital and offline selves converge, understanding that online actions are not “outside” of who they are in the real world. This perspective can nurture consistent character and accountability across all domains of life.
In essence, teaching digital citizenship is crucial to our curriculum because it prepares students to be safe, respectful, and engaged members of a global digital society, how to appropriately connect to people and find community online while also empowering them to make the most of digital tools while minimizing risks.