Teaching Digital Citizenship in a Digital Society

Nowadays, so much of our lives depend on technology, social media, and the internet. I strongly believe that Digital Citizenship is a crucial skill for everyone to know. In my future classroom, I want to move away from scare tactics, although I do believe they can be effective I think they also result in students being unaware of why exactly the internet has the potential to be dangerous. If we transition to a hybrid way of teaching, students will learn to understand the risks, learn how to protect themselves and understand we can benefit from the internet if used correctly.

The Character Education for the Digital Age article had some very good points about ‘two lives’ – one life at school unplugged from the internet and one life at home where they have an online presence and access to technology. However, thinking about this at a different level I disagree in some ways. On the one hand, I believe that technology at school can be a super beneficial tool that can enhance learning and offer an environment that teaches students how to use the internet properly in useful ways. Yet, I do think that social media should not be used in the school environment or during the school day. It has been proven that social media can negatively affect our mental health and wellbeing which can be a distraction during the learning hours of a school day. Having said this, I believe that we have to create an environment that teaches students how to use technology productively instead of ignoring the dangers and scaring them with the risks.

 

Moving forward and considering all that information and ways I could teach Digital Citizenship, I came to reflect on the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship. All Nine Elements are crucial for students to know and understand when discussing Cyber Safety, and Digital Citizenship. I would use these to explain the risks and benefits of the internet and having a presence online. The 3 S’s (Safety, Savvy, and Social) really resonated with me because I think by teaching these 3 S’s students will understand that if you are safe, and take precautions to protect yourself, your identity, and your funds online then you have the ability to be savvy and learn how to use technology and the internet to enhance your knowledge, wisdom and ability to use the internet in a productive way. Then lastly the social aspect has huge benefits, it allows you to build and maintain relationships that you may not be able to in person all the time. It allows you to connect with others and be connected to your community and other communities. However, if not used properly it comes with great risks as we saw in the Amanda Todd video. Saying all this, if you teach all these aspects students will understand how to use the internet which makes it a safer place and a beneficial tool.