Digital Citizenship

My commitment to supporting students with News and Media Literacy demonstrates a Level 2: Insight mastery of the E1 NSQ standard. I understand the importance of Digital Citizenship, but I don't think I could implement lessons or curriculum on my own. Fortunately there are resources like Common Sense Education.

Most of my knowledge of the News & Media Literacy aspect of Digital Citizenship comes from my own research on filter bubbles and the effects of social media. I try to model what I have learned for my kids, but it's a challenge. It's difficult for adults to recognize legitimate news sources. How can we expect young people to do the same without help?

Educating students about News and Media literacy will be especially challenging because today's students have grown up with the internet and social media as part of their everyday lives. Asking them to take a step back and view these tools objectively and critically may be resisted.

I think we should introduce Digital Literacy as soon as kids start using the internet. I also feel we should prioritize research on the mental health effects of social media on young people, and use what we learn to help students make better choices, and be savvy consumers of digital media.