Week 4 Assignment - Digital Citizenship

Learning about Digital Citizenship was a brand new to me. I had never heard that phrase before. I had a lot of questions about when it should be introduced to kids, who should teach them about it, and how should one teach a child about it? All of these questions that were going around in my head were answered during the lesson.

First things first, when should it be introduced to kids, you ask, as soon as they pick up your iPhone, your iPad or tablet, you laptop or any other device that is hooked up to the internet. I was never taught how to “act” online but because my parents raised me the right way with morals, goals and respect for others, I figured it out as I went. We first got a computer when I was in middle school, when AIM was big. It was a basic website that allowed you to connect with friends by chatting. I used it mostly for looking up information for projects for school and for some personal use. Both my brother and I had to take a keyboard class in middle school and high school so we could learn how to type and where each letter was. I remember that most of them were timed tests to see how fast you could type. In these classes I don’t ever remember being told about digital citizenship, it was more that we needed to know how to type.

Secondly, who should be teaching the children about digital citizenship? Teachers and parents should be responsible for instructing students who use the internet for anything about what being a good digital citizen is. Teachers lead by example, they always put their best foot forward and make the right decisions. Along with teachers, parents should also be teaching their children about having respect for those online. Even though you can not see someone, that doesn’t give you the right to say whatever you want to them because they can’t do anything to you back. Being a good citizen online seems like it would be tough for parents and teachers to show by example but it is something that needs to be done. 

Last question that was answered was how should one teach a child about it? To be perfectly clear in my opinion, talk to them, give them examples, act out a bad conversation and help them to make it right. They need to be accountable for what they put out their too so they need to understand all of the ways. Having a parent that is connected socially on the internet would probably be easier to deal with a situation that occurs. Everything that these children do online almost always falls back on the parent and or teacher.

Digital Citizenship is broken down into 9 categories. I looked specifically at Digital Etiquette and like that it follows the “Golden Rules,” such as treat others they way you want to be treated, taking responsibility for what you have posted, and being kind and courteous. Teaching young kids about all the different aspects of digital citizenship will only help them down the road. Teachers need to make students aware of the risks that the internet has. Of the 9 categories, I think the three most important ones are, Digital Etiquette, electronic standards of conduct or procedure, Digital Communication, electronic exchange of information and Digital Law, electronic responsibility for actions and deeds. These are the most important to me because they are most relevant.

Whether you are teaching a small group lesson or doing a large online lesson, students should be able to follow all of the themes of digital citizenship. Along with students, teachers and parents should be checking in on their student/child while using any form of social media. Social media has been expanding for as long as I can remember and I don’t see it slowing down or stopping anytime soon.

When teaching digital citizenship to younger kids I would use a lot of examples, have an interactive board, such as Padlet, where they can write what they think about it at that time. Have them ask lots and lots of questions because that is how young children learn best by asking and doing. I would take a much more serious approach with older students, say in the middle school or high school, and make sure that they understand the expectations along with the consequences of their actions if they are not following digital citizenship.