FTT - Digital Citzenship and Beyond

Digital Citizenship And Beyond

 @LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Happy Digital Citizenship Week!

I have been learning, wondering, and talking about digital citizenship for many years. The conversation has shifted greatly over time. Initially, it was solely about keeping kids safe online. We needed to make sure students understood the dangers lurking on the internet and we thought if we told them enough scary, troubling, and shocking stories, they would be careful. One major error with this teaching method is that we spent a lot of time making lists of things that students should not do, but we never really told them what they should do. In this age of awareness of the connection between mental health and technology use, both good and bad, we absolutely must teach and also model what digital citizenship means in 2023.

 One thing that has not changed in this conversation over the years is the idea that digital citizenship should not be taught in isolation. Stand-alone lessons in digital citizenship make it really hard for students to transfer these skills. Also, digital citizenship is going to mean something different in a graphic arts class than in a world language class. In this post, I will unpack the many parts of digital citizenship as well as provide resources and some easy tips that you can start using right away.

What is Digital Citizenship?

Just like being a good citizen in society, digital citizenship is a collection of skills we need in order to fully participate in our communities and make smart choices online. As technology is moving quickly and students are introduced to technology at younger ages, the skills needed become more and more important. To make it easier for us to make sure we are teaching the right things, the ISTE standards are the compass for digital teaching and learning. ISTE lists digital citizenship as one of the standards for both students as well as educators. For students, the digital citizen standard has 4 subparts. You can unpack the digital citizenship ISTE standard, including viewing videos, here. 

• Digital Footprint: Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation, and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
• Online Behavior: Students engage in positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior when using technology, including in social interactions online or when using networked devices
• Intellectual Property: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
• Digital Privacy: Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security, and are aware of data-collection technology used to track their navigation online.

The Do's Instead Of The Don'ts

In today's digital world, it is critical to give students a list of things they can and should be doing in order to be good digital citizens. The digital citizenship competencies were created by the DigCit Coalition, led by ISTE, along with many other coalition partners, in order to change the way we approach teaching digital citizenship away from don'ts to do's. I love this framing as it feels much more comfortable when I am speaking with students. These competencies make a lot of sense both online as well as in our in-person spaces. 

Digital Citizenship Competencies:

• Balanced: Students participate in a healthy variety of online activities and know how to prioritize their time between virtual and physical activities.
• Informed: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media, and have developed critical skills for curating information from digital sources.
• Inclusive: Students are open to hearing and recognizing multiple viewpoints, and engaging with others online with respect and empathy.
• Engaged: Students use technology and digital channels to solve problems and be a force for good in their families and communities.
• Alert: Students are aware of their digital actions and know how to be safe and create safe spaces for others online.

Easy Resources:

• Common Sense Education has created 4 lessons for high school students and they are very good. Also, they are ready to go. All supporting materials and resources are included. Take a look here.

They also created a calendar for this week, but you can do these whenever it best fits into your scope and sequence calendar. Each day has a guiding question, an activity, something you can share with families, and a Spirit Week suggestion. Click on the image below to open it.

• PBS Learning Media AND KQED: This is a really nice roundup of resources that is both searchable and filterable. You can take a look by age and also by resource type. All videos also include closed captioning as well as a transcript. Topics are super relevant and helpful. They also include educator guides, source lists, vocabulary glossaries, and classroom activities  Click here to view.  I found this one on YouTube Algorithms: How To Avoid The Rabbit Hole, to be super informative. 

• Be Internet Awesome (created by Google): This is a collection of lessons, activities, and information that has the appearance of a very cute video game activity for younger kids. Given that you never know what our high school students will gravitate towards, I think it's worth checking out. The game is called Interland, but there are lots of other really useful tools in here. You can download the curriculum in both English and Spanish. There is also a collection of digital wellbeing lessons that were just added this past June. Again, I know these are created for younger students but I think they are easily transferable to our teens. (I actually learned a few things myself!) Take a look here.

Key Takeaway And A Challenge:

The key takeaway is this- we cannot wait for someone else to take on the responsibility of teaching our students how to be good digital citizens. It is the responsibility of every single one of us to foster these skills for our students in our own way. Our students need to be hearing this from us all year long in every content area. Just as you work on creating community in your classrooms and check in on their wellbeing, you also need to work on creating community online and check in on digital wellbeing.  

What will you start doing in order to promote digital citizenship skills in your learning spaces?

Challenge! Prize Alert! 

The first THREE people who complete FOUR items on this DigCit bingo card will get a prize. You can download it and print it or you can check them off digitally. It's up to you. Here's the link. Have fun!