When it comes to digital citizenship – I have a lot to learn myself.

Photo by TheDigitalArtist on Pixabay
When asked in class about our personal experience with digital citizenship or cyber safety in school… My answer was – NONE. I graduated high school in 1995. (Sasktel announced the first wave of internet access to customers in March 1995).
But I am a parent of elementary school children.
At the start of the year I sit with them and we read through the digital citizen contract the school sends home to be signed. But once they are in class – I get the sense that critical, or at least mindful, engagement on the internet really isn’t being taught.
The tools they use, like Google Classroom, are something they’re just expected to understand. I had to walk my own kid through using Google Drive after realizing she had assignments on there and had no idea how to use the application.

Photo by TheDigitalArtist on Pixabay
So what approach will I bring to my own future classroom?
I know for certain that I want to approach thoughtful engagement online through doing. I want my students to be participating, contributing, and critically thinking about how they navigate online, accuracy of digital research sources, the opportunities and drawbacks of AI, and how they can use technology to support their learning journey.
I plan to build digital citizenship and Ribble’s Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship INTO my lessons across the curriculum is key to consistent immersive learning. In our everyday lives, in work and entertainment, digital technologies are embedded in our experience of the world. So building awareness of etiquette, fluency, rights and responsibilities needs to be ingrained in our everyday classroom exchanges and learning.
What does that look like in the classroom?
It may include carefully crafting the use of AI into research assignments or creative writing, providing spaces for critical reflection and conversations about digital responsibility and misinformation (hallucinations) within the lessons. Or, incorporating digital health and safety into Health Ed units that explore identity, body image, ethics and wellbeing.
Sometimes it might be more overt, so that what they are learning can be applied more broadly at home and in the classroom. This CBC article is relevant and references lateral reading techniques, and initiatives like the Teen Fact Checking Network and the digital literacy resource CTRL-F (resources that I’ll be digging into myself to build my own capacity in teaching digital citizenship).
As a community-engaged artist, what I find exciting is considering the possibilities. How can opportunities to practice digital citizenship be merged with material and relational explorations and hands-on learning? How can we teach digital collaboration through lessons that also connect us to communities that broaden kids’ perspectives and world views? How can conversations about AI also draw attention to environmental implications of technology, encouraging sustainable and responsible use of these tools.
A Personal Anecdote
During the pandemic I was the artistic director for a community arts organization. One of our programs was specific to working in long term care facilities. An exciting pandemic adaptation I helped to lead was the integration of school kids into this program. Students were partnered with a senior at the home. Seniors worked with staff to write short stories about their lives and record memories. These stories were shared with the students, who then created miniature ‘diaromas’ representing the senior’s stories. As part of this process, seniors and students met online and students asked questions to get more details for their artworks. These conversations didn’t just teach the students about etiquette or about the history and importance of older members of the community. They also learned about how the technology aided or hindered the seniors’ access. Could those with hearing impairment manage to communicate or did it cause frustration? Did seeing kids from their community support their wellness during isolation? Layers of learning were gained through using this tool as part of the project.