Digital Citizenship- What is it and how can we educate our students about it?
A big part of being an educator is teaching students how to be a part of the world around them; how to interact, follow rules, be safe, learn, and so much more. However, in this day and age teachers not only have to teach students how to be part of the physical world but the virtual world as well. That being said, it is important to help our students understand how to be good digital citizens and keep them safe, because like it or not technology is part of the norm in everyone’s life and continues to go to be an even bigger part every single day. As the majority of our students already have all the social media one can think of it is so vital to be teaching students how to be good digital citizens, as once they step outside of the classroom they are no longer under a watchful eye working to keep them safe; they will need to be able to do this themselves!
Nine Digital Citizenship Elements as explained by Mike Ribble include:
- Digital Access – Recognizing equitable distribution of technology and online services as some communities may not have availability.
- Digital Commerce – Focuses on safeguards in place while buying and selling online.
- Digital Communication & Collaboration – Electronic exchange of information (to some students technology helps them find a voice in the world)
- Digital Etiquette – The process of thinking about others while using the internet.
- Digital Fluency – Understanding technology and its use. Differentiating good information from poor information online.
- Digital Health & Welfare – Physical and Psychological Wellbeing of being in the digital world.
- Digital Law – Policies and rules related to the online world.
- Digital Rights & Responsibility – Requirements and Freedoms extended to the online world.
- Digital Security & Privacy – Electronic precautions we take to guarantee our safety.
According to Mike Ribble’s article Nine Elements, digital citizenship can be broken down into nine parts (as seen above). It is our identities online and how we choose to represent ourselves in a responsible manner. In today’s society, we need to remember that technology has become essential for lifelong learning.
When analyzing the Saskatchewan Curriculum and its connection to digital citizenship, I began by looking at the younger grades (K-3) as would be my ideal placement after I have completed my degree. There is a lot of discussion amongst the subject areas in regards to respecting one’s self and others, or understanding and respecting the community around us; for example kindergartens health outcome USCK.1, or grade 2 social studies outcome IN2.1. These ideas are can be applied and taught in regard to both the physical and digital world, however, most connections in younger grades are geared towards the physical world rather than the digital.
One of the subject areas that provides the most opportunities for connection to digital citizenship is health education. For starters the grade six health education outcomes USC6.1, USC6.2, USC6.5 and USC6.6 h all connect to ways of developing a positive sense of self and others in various environments. That alone can be connected to digital communication and collaboration, digital etiquette, digital fluency, and rights and responsibilities. Digital communication and collaboration can connect to how students appropriately discuss with one another using technology. Digital fluency can be created by giving students opportunities to learn more in the classroom and further their knowledge around topics they so choose, which also leads to their ability to be able to use and question the information that they are receiving and giving on social media. Digital etiquette relates to the appropriateness of how they interact with others in the online environment. Lastly, rights and responsibilities tie into using technology as a tool, and how there are understanding and expectations of what the technology should and shouldn’t be used for. The health curriculum itself also has connections to digital health and welfare, as it is there to protect the integrity and well-being of users on all types of websites and programs.
Digital citizenship also has connections to other subject areas such as ELA. As students begin to produce research for assignments, digital law comes into play because students will need to share the sources that are supporting their written work. Specific outcomes that have connections to this could be CC6.1 and CC6.4. in the grade six curriculum. It is important to teach students how to properly cite their sources in order to not be plagiarizing someone else work, as this becomes an even bigger issue as students become older (failing grades, expulsions). Digital communication and collaboration or etiquette could also be connected to the ELA curriculum as students need to know how to appropriately communicate with others in different online environments. For example, is it appropriate to send an email to a teacher, or to write on a blog using slang that you text your friends with or is it more appropriate to be formal?
Within my future classroom, I want to be able to teach my students about digital citizenship starting at a young age. This way they are able to be safe and effectively use technology to benefit their learning. Whether that be teaching students things as simple as creating strong passwords, being able to pick out information that is useful and not fake news, how to watch for scams that are sent to them, and not giving into clickbait. There are so many online learning resources that are beneficial and enjoyable to all students! However, if we do not establish how to properly technology them and how to “be” in the digital world, we are not preparing them for the future or to be safe.
Ribble, M. (2017). Nine Elements. Digital Citizenship. Using Technology Appropriately. https://www.digitalcitizenship.net/nine-elements.html. Retrieved: 2022 June 5.
Saskatchewan.ca. (ND). Saskatchewan Curriculum. https://www.edonline.sk.ca/webapps/moe-curriculum-BB5f208b6da4613/. Retrieved: 2022 June 5.