Teacher’s Guide to Digital Citizenship
http://www.edudemic.com/
By Kristen Hicks on
July 9, 2015@atxcopywriter
The horror
stories of young people not grasping the reach and influence of the content
they put online are familiar to all of us. From the loss of job opportunities
due to unprofessional pictures or comments on social media, to the more serious
threats of abduction, and even the self-harm inspired by cyber bullying, the
stakes are high.
While students
may often seem clueless to these dangers, some are starting to understand the
risks. In a recent Rasmussen study on digital
literacy, details of which you can see in the infographic below, 37%
of millennials aged 18 – 34 said they consider the internet scary, which
is more than any other demographic.
Still,
millennials know just as well as any other demographic just how important
digital literacy is and will continue to be to their working lives. As such,
studies like these serve to demonstrate how crucial teaching digital literacy —
particularly at a young age when that digital footprint is still lightly drawn
— has become. This includes teaching students about the potential dangers they
face online as well how to navigate privacy risks, and so much more.
Teaching
digital citizenship means embracing the reality that we’re all interconnected
through the Internet, and that we therefore need to understand the
responsibilities and risks that come with life online.
Why Digital Citizenship Matters
Neither
educators nor parents have the means to completely control how students use
technology. That only makes it more important for teachers to address digital
citizenship in the classroom, so students will have a better idea of what
they’re getting into once outside of it.
Lessons in
digital citizenship are about both teaching students how to protect themselves
and their own futures online, and also how to be thoughtful citizens who are
respectful of others. By now, most of us have seen ample evidence of how the
anonymity the web seems to offer a level of
vitriol and cruelty people don’t usually practice with those they see face to
face.
The Internet
has the capacity to bring the worst out in people. You don’t want your students
to be victims of that – not on the giving or receiving ends.
Important Topics of a Digital
Citizenship Curriculum
A lot of the
most important lessons for students to learn about digital citizenship can be
grouped under the categories below. The lessons for each category will look a
little different for various age groups. Common Sense Media has
some great suggestions for what lessons work best for different grades.
Online Safety
This is
probably the most important topic to cover when teaching digital citizenship
lessons. The Internet is great for making new connections and befriending
people all over the world, but it also opens up students to contact with online
predators. Students should be taught the kind of warning signs to look for when
it comes to interacting with strangers online, and the kind of information they
should never give out.
Understanding Digital Footprints
School-ages
students see the world as being contained to the people they see every day.
Even if they understand, in a general sense, that the Internet is public,
it might seem impossible that anyone outside of their immediate circle would
care to find out anything about them
As educators,
you know better. Students need to understand how their digital footprints will
follow them in life and how important it is to start caring about what those
footprints look like early. Examples of how past online behavior influences
people’s job prospects or verdicts in court can help students better grasp just
how big of a deal digital footprints are.
Financial Responsibility Online
Digital credit
card theft happens all the time. Anyone entering financial information online
can be at risk of having that information stolen. With many of the biggest
corporations in the world dealing with wide-scale hacks, consumers are limited
in what they can do to protect their financial information online. However,
there are a number of best practices students should learn in order to be better
digital citizens.
You can teach
students how to recognize and avoid some of the most common Internet scams, how
to recognize secure sites online, and what information is not safe to share
online, especially while using non secure channels like email.
Acting with Respect Online
Cyber bullying
has hurt many people and even caused many children to take their own lives.
Students need to understand that their actions, even those taken online and
behind multiple computer screens, can and do have enormous consequences.
The emotional
results of behaving disrespectfully online are arguably the most important
thing to stress here, but there can be professional and legal consequences for
bad online behavior as well. If you say hurtful things on social media that
future potential employers (or friends, for that matter) can see, it will have
long-term effects on what people think about you and may impact the
opportunities you have.
Information Literacy
The Internet is
the go-to place for most research that students do today and they need to learn
how to use in the most beneficial way. The ability to find good information
online is a skill in and of itself, as is being able to recognize which sources
aren’t reliable.
The web is
filled with information that can be useful to anyone wanting to learn about
just about anything. But they have to learn how to get around the stuff that’s
counterproductive or outright inaccurate in order to enjoy that benefit.
Legal Restrictions Online
Your students
probably already have some familiarity with concepts like illegal downloading
and plagiarism, but may underestimate the potential consequences of these
actions. You can discuss with them both the morality of taking actions online
that break laws, as well as the risks they take if they do so.
Resources for Teaching Digital
Citizenship
You don’t have
to figure out how to teach all of these topics on your own, there are a lot of
ideas and resources out there already.
We recently
collected 15 of the best digital citizenship resources for you that
include lesson plans, educational games, and videos. Common Sense Media also
works to provide a wealth of resources each
year during Digital Citizenship Week (although they’re accessible all year
long).
A lot of the
topics that fall under the umbrella of digital citizenship seem dull or
unpleasant on the surface, but that doesn’t mean teaching them has to be.
Interactive exercises, games, and discussions can help your students think
critically about the issues while staying engaged and interested.
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For a great satire on email, visit the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zwscoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
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