In a recent staff meeting an administrator at my school announced that the district would be rolling out a “Bring Your Own Device Policy.” I can assume that the teachers, administrators, nor parents are adequately educated on the aspects of digital citizenship. In the meeting we were told to remind the students of safe use, but were not provided any resources or guidance. There are several of us that are at an advantage because we are currently enrolled in courses and have been presented with information pertaining to the importance of digital citizenship. In Digital Citizenship in Schools, Ribble states that “by employing a teaching model – rather than simply creating policies against technology misuse and abuse – technology leaders can create a self-sustaining digital citizenship program that will benefit all aspects of school technology use.” My district has created policies, but does not have a program. When the administrators were asked about professional development, they stated that we had to start somewhere (the policy). The staff has recently taken a survey to determine our areas of strengths and weakness concerning the implementation and use of technology for teaching and communication purposes. The survey related to the nine elements of digital citizenship. It can be considered an audit and the first step in developing a plan according to Ribble. I am not certain, but I will find out, if we have a technology leadership team that includes administration, faculty, classified staff, and parents. The district is moving in the right direction, but I think they need to make implementing a digital citizenship plan a priority. Children are using technology; we must be proactive and teach them the proper uses.
I plan to share some of the ideas presented in Digital Citizenship in Schools with the school principal. The Pike County School, Digital Citizenship Month sounded like a great idea, especially at the elementary level. An element of digital citizenship would be covered each week and the children can create innovative ways to share their learning about digital citizenship. Perhaps they could complete a collaborative project similar to the info graphics we did in our class, others could do podcasts, and some may create a website. They will have to communicate their learning with others; collaborate to create the completed task, and think critically about how the element of digital citizenship applies to them.
I will also share some of the professional development activities presented in the text. The five foundation lessons will be very helpful in the classroom. I like the first lesson in which the students determine whether they are using technology appropriately through the use of scenarios. I will have to modify some of them to be grade appropriate. In addition I will have them work together to act out the scenario and have the class discuss it together. The students would enjoy the Digital Driver’s License lesson and the PBS Kids GO website. I would also create a fake license that they would have to carry… or maybe they could create their own using technology!
I found the lesson and resources presented in this book extremely helpful. I intend to share it with my administrators as resource. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to get a few for the teachers to read.
0 comments:
Post a Comment