This
week I finished reading Mike Ribble's, Digital
Citizenship in Schools. This book is
very informative and a great resource for educators; Not only does it provide full
explanations and information about each of the nine elements of digital
citizenship, but it also suggests detailed learning activities for teachers and
engaging lessons for students.
No
one can argue the importance of digital citizenship. People in general need to know what is and is
not appropriate when it comes to using technology and the internet. This is why as educators we need to teach
students the use of digital technology and the responsibilities that come with
it. It is important that these
responsibilities and appropriate behaviors are enforced both in and outside of
school. Ribble emphasizes the importance
of providing parents with information about digital citizenship so that parents
are able to model appropriate technology use for their children and enforce
these skills and rules at home.
Ribble
makes an excellent point about AUPs, or appropriate use policies. He points out that these simply give students
a set of rules stating what they can and cannot do. They do not, however, explain what is
appropriate and why. Like most schools,
the school I teach at utilizes an AUP, and I never really gave it much thought
until reading this text. No one likes
being told what to do, yet we are more receptive of the rules when we
understand the reasoning behind them. This
is why it is important for teachers to explain to students why something is or is not appropriate. Besides, schools should be more concerned
with utilizing technology, not blocking it.
This is especially true for students who do not have technology or
internet access at home. Schools need to
recognize that technology is important to all students and must provide students
with opportunities to use the technology school.
It is evident that digital citizenship needs to be a top priority in
schools. To assist with this endeavor, Ribble
offers numerous activities and lessons for teachers and students. I liked how Ribble included the activities
for teachers, because many teachers, especially the veteran teachers are the
"digital immigrants" and can benefit from doing these types of
activities. These activities could
easily be turned into after school professional development sessions and could
even be led by administrators and teachers within the school. I would welcome the opportunities to learn
how to create webpages and podcasts and how to utilize them in my classroom. Ribble offers many different activities and
detailed lesson plans for students as well.
I particularly liked the activity where students role-play different scenarios
of appropriate and inappropriate use of technology. Students love acting out roles and putting on
shows, so I think this is a great idea.
I
tried coming up with my own ideas for embedding digital citizenship in the
curriculum. One thing teachers can do is
create a social contract for technology use and digital etiquette. Social contracts are most commonly used for
behaviors and classroom rules, but I think it would be great to create one that
relates to technology use that teachers can do with their classes. Rather than give students a set of rules
about appropriate behaviors regarding technology, teachers have the opportunities
to discuss the policies, and then with the students' help and input, they can
create the "rules" and "consequences" together. This might have more buy in than a simple
AUP, since students may feel a sense of ownership in having helped create the rules.
Another
idea I had was to have high schools offer a Digital Citizenship class. It could be a required course that every
student must take in order to graduate.
It would teach students about the nine different elements of digital
citizenship as well as other valuable skills they will need for the future and
work force. This course could help
students meet the technology standards where students learn and understand
appropriate and ethical behaviors relating to technology use and exhibit
leadership for digital citizenship by creating some type of project that
demonstrates this. Another thing I considered
was having districts implement a K-12 Digital Citizenship program where students
are introduced to these types of skills earlier on.
Finally,
I thought of several ways I could teach digital citizenship with my English classes. One idea I had was to have students keep
technology journals in which they have to have to write journal entries about
their own personal technology usage and how they observe others using technology. Students would need to explain the appropriate/inappropriate
uses and then reflect on what they observe.
For example, if they write how they saw a person texting in the movie
theater during a movie, they can discuss how this person was or was not acting
appropriately and how this affected the people trying to enjoy the movie. I could also teach my students the skill of
how to write a "good" and appropriate email. It sounds simple enough, but with message
misinterpretation being so common, this is a skill students would certainly benefit
from.
2 comments:
Comment on Digital Citizenship post by Nicole
What a thought provoking post! On your point about the creation of an Appropriate Use Policy, I agree wholeheartedly that students must know why rules are important before they will follow them. Activities are a great way to demonstrate model digital behavior. About your idea for a required class in Digital Citizenship, I know that my school district would never go for it. Instead, we are expected to incorporate the modeling of good digital behavior in every class. The Technology Journal is another good exercise that can get our students into the habit of appropriate digital citizenship.
Keeping an on-line technology journal is a great idea! I wish my students could have daily computer access, but our school does not allow for byod. The Stem 21 group probably has the most access because of the portable laptops, but it would be great if each students had them. I think so much more material would be covered!
Post a Comment