Digital Citizenship

Discussion Topic
We, as educators who are teaching online, have a responsibility to
inform our students about the risks and consequences that they
might face when interacting in online environments and using social
media. Although fortunately we have several resources that can
help to create an online secure classroom, it is important to address
digital citizenship with our students. Post your thoughts about this
topic; you can provide an overall opinion about digital citizenship, or
can focus in one of its elements, for example: online bullying, the
digital trace we leave every time we post something on the internet,
netiquette, how to protect our privacy, online safety, etc. In addition,
discuss how will you address digital citizenship in your online
lesson.

Response
As an educator in a K-12 setting and as a parent, I think it is vital that
children are taught about digital footprints. Since kids tend to live in
the moment, they have a hard time foreseeing long-term
consequences for their actions. Kids often make the mistake of
posting photos and tweets that are inappropriate. When the
inappropriateness of their postings are brought to their attention, kids
frequently think they can simply delete the material and make it go
away forever. Unfortunately, many kids and adults do not realize the
permanence their actions on the Internet, which is why it is vital that
students are explicitly taught that they leave a digital footprint every
time they post something on the Internet. It’s important that kids
realize that digital footprints are easy to make but impossible to
erase.

Specifically, students need to understand that both colleges and

employers are now judging prospective students and employees
based on their social media profiles. Not teaching students about the
significance of establishing a positive and appropriate online persona
is a missed opportunity of the education system to provide students
with authentic and relevant learning opportunities that have the
potential to affect them throughout their entire lives.
My partner and I will address digital citizenship in our online lesson by
including a netiquette section in our syllabus and course overview
video that clearly outlines rules and expectations regarding course
participation. Also, one of the modules in our lesson focuses on
teaching students about fair use and copyright laws. It is our hope
that the module will help our course participants be knowledgeable
and ethical users of other people’s creative work.

CLICK HERE to see an infographic created by ISTE that can be used

to teach students about the nine elements of digital citizenship.