EDUC 639: Digital Citizenship

In today's world our lives are more connected than ever. I remember in high school getting my first cell phone and just starting to get into social media with myspace...cut to 20 years later, students these days live in a world where their phones are their lifelines, their social interactions, their cash.. almost everything that students interact with have a digital component, usually attached to their phones.  But being online comes with responsibilities and consequences, which is where digital citizenship comes in.

Digital citizenship is all about teaching students how to use technology in a way that’s respectful, safe, and responsible. It is like teaching my 5 year-old table manners, but in a digital sense, like knowing how to interact appropriately, think critically about what they see, and stay safe online. The ISTE Educator Standard 3, "Citizen," highlights how educators should model these practices and encourage students to contribute positively to the digital spaces they occupy (ISTE, 2018). So just simple things like discussing source checking, how I would speak on my blog, how I interact with them over email. Those simple things can help to set a standard so that students can see appropriate digital behavior.

Students need to know that what they post online lasts forever. The term 'digital footprint' is a key term that all students need to start to consider. Encouraging them to pause and think before they post is key. Next, educators can teach the importance of verifying information. This is the digital age, but with the recent presidential election it is starting to feel more like the political age or the 'fake news' age, students should learn how to question sources and avoid spreading misinformation (Chugh et al., 2023).

References

Chugh, R., Turnbull, D., & Cowling, M. A. (2023). Implementing educational technology in higher education institutions: A review of technologies, stakeholder perceptions, frameworks, and metrics. Education and Information Technologies, 28, 16403–16429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-10835-1

International Society for Technology in Education. (2018). ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-educators