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There are three components of digital citizenship that directly affect student’s learning and performance academically. They are access, literacy, and communication (Ribble, 2015). Digital communication is “the electronic exchange of information” (Ribble, 2015, p. 58). Students are new to sending emails in a professional setting. They are comfortable with informal messaging to their friends and playing live video games. The standards and norms for the recreational side of communication are vastly different than in the professional setting. Students do not know how to send emails that are polite and sound appropriate without being explicitly taught. How do we support students in actually using what they have learned? We must teach students empathy through team-building activities, role-playing and peer support groups. So often students are hiding behind a screen and forget how there is a living, breathing human with feelings on the other side.
Digital access is known as the “full electronic participation in society” (Ribble, 2015, p. 47). Net neutrality is threatening digital access. As digital citizens, it is important for students to become aware of laws and happenings that are threatening digital access.
Digital literacy is “the process of teaching and learning about technology and use of technology” (Ribble, 2015, p.63). We need to intentionally work toward creating literate digital citizens in the classroom. Ohler also encourages his audience to think about digital health and relates it to sex education 40 years ago. One group of people believed
“[it] should be taught in homes to ensure that parents [are] in charge of their children’s moral perspective. The [other side] advocated for it to be taught by [teachers] to ensure that students would receive the information they needed to make informed decisions (2015)”.
We all know how the story ended and now sex education is being explictly taught in schools. It is likely that digital health and digital citizenship will follow a similar path. Students deserve to receive an education that has the basic ideas of digital citizenship integrated in it.
References:
"Analog camera behind computer laptop - Credit to https://homegets.com/" by homegets.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"book stack" by ginnerobot is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Brewer, G., & Kerslake, J. (2015). Cyberbullying, self-esteem, empathy and loneliness. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 255-260. Brewer_Cyberbullying_Self-esteem_Empathy_Loneliness.pdf
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Essex, N. L. (2016). School law and the public school: A practical guide for educational leaders. (6th ed.) (pp.111-114). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Essex_Cyberbullying.pdf
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Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J.W. (2015). Developing a positive school climate: Top ten tips to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying Research Center. Hinduja_Patchin_School-Climate-Top-Ten-Tips-To-Prevent-Cyberbullying.pdf
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"monopoly-e-commerce" by danielbroche is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Ohler, J. (2015, September 22). Digital Citizenship: An Opportunity for Everyone. Corwin Connect. https://corwin-connect.com/2015/09/digital-citizenship-an-opportunity-for-everyone/.
Ohler, J. (2012). Digital citizenship means character education for the digital age. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 77(8), 14-17. (PDF: Ohler_Digital_citizenship_means_character_education_2012.pdf)
Polgar, D. R., & Curran, M. B. F. X. (2017, December 5). "We shouldn't assume people know what digital citizenship is.". TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/we-shouldnt-assume-people-know-what-digital-citizenship-is/.
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education
Shapiro, E. (2014, January 22). The Case for Teaching Digital Citizenship. The Jewish Press JewishPresscom. https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/the-case-for-teaching-digital-citizenship/2014/01/23/.