Ribble's Digital Citizenship

I also read Ribble's Digital Citizenship in Schools this week. The concept of digital citizenship is not one I have previously spent a great deal of time thinking about, but that is certainly changing after reading this book. I liked the way Ribble laid out the nine elements of digital citizenship and found digital communication and etiquette do be key parts. The idea of digital communication really hit home for me and got me thinking about my schools current methods for communicating rules, regulations, and responsible use of technology. Currently my school has a use agreement policy which must be signed by students and parents and this document lays out he rules and regulations. I would bet that most students and probably parents do not even read the document, they just sign. This topic got me thinking about how we as educators really communicate to our students our expectations when it comes to using technology. In the past when I have students conduct research I warn them not to be off topic but only focused on the sites which will help for the lesson. I also provide some started sites to students to get them going but that is about it. I would say that I am failing students when it comes to effectively communicating to them appropriate use of technology. In the past I often get frustrated when I bring a class to the computer lab because of all the trouble they have finding research which will truly help them. Many times they find things that look great but are way above their reading level or sites with minimal substance. At the end of the day I feel that these problems are due to my lack of digital communication. One criticism of this book that I have is I feel it only touches the surface of these nine factors. The book left me looking for more info/suggestions an many of the topics. I feel that this book brings about awareness but does not necessarily provide the answers I am looking for. I suppose though that the answers may not be so readily available since technology is changing our world so quickly.

An idea that I have for a lesson which will teach students digital citizenship, especially communication and etiquette, is to have my class create their own user agreement policy. Often times classrooms create rules together, so I figure why not create tech rules together and allow the students to have input and investment in the policy. This would involve collaboration between the students and also research as the students would need to gain awareness of etiquette issues and understand proper expectations for usage. This lesson correlates with NETS Teacher Standard #4 "Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility". I think this would be a valuable lesson for students and provide students with a stake in their own learning, becoming a partner in digital citizenship.