In an era where technology and digital platforms are an integral part of our daily lives, the role of digital citizenship is increasingly critical. This is especially true in educational settings, where equipping students with digital citizenship skills is essential for their safe and responsible navigation of the digital landscape. On February 13, 2023, the Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Law was presented in the Senate. The bill aims to increase media literacy education and help students navigate misinformation, ultimately strengthening digital citizenship.
The urgency of these types of educational initiatives is underscored by a Pew research survey that reveals that 44 percent of adults ages 18 to 49 report being online almost constantly.. Schools are therefore faced with the task of ensuring that students are adept at interacting with digital tools in a way that is both ethical and informed, regardless of their initial level of digital literacy or the degree of access to them. technology outside the classroom.
“As more and more important moments of our lives happen in online spaces, it is essential that we are also preparing young people to be meaningful contributors to our digital world. Digital citizenship is about much more than just helping children stay safe online; it's about empowering them to use technology to solve real-world problems, to know how to balance their time between a variety of online and offline activities, to be curious learners, and to use digital tools to deepen their relationships. with their family and friends,” says Richard Culatta, executive director of ISTE and ASCD.
Understanding the importance of digital citizenship led to the development of five competencies by the Digital citizenship coalition led by ISTE: balanced, informed, inclusive, committed and alert. Beyond digital citizenship skillsISTE provides a variety of resources intended to help educators prepare students to use technology safely, ethically, and effectively. Digital citizenship in action is an ISTE U course eligible for graduate-level credit.
Recently, EdSurge spoke with Christina Scheffel, an educational technology specialist who supports teachers across the Indian River School District in Sussex County, Delaware, about the importance of teaching digital citizenship. All students in Ella's district, which has approximately 11,000 students and 900 staff members, are technology-support-resources” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>provided with Chromebooks that they can take home. The state of Delaware has made significant progress to Ensure students have access to technology at home.mainly through the provision of Wi-Fi access points.
EdSurge: Why is digital citizenship so important?
Bushel: Teachers, students (actually everyone, at this point) spend a lot of our time online, and because we spend so much time online, technology is no longer an extra thing; It is completely ingrained in our daily lives. Even our youngest students do some activities on the computer. Therefore, it is very important for us to help them understand how to be safe online at a young age, how to interact appropriately online, and how to apply technology etiquette.
I think it is important to start digital citizenship as soon as possible. I have a three-year-old son and he sees me use my phone regularly. Something as simple as him understanding that I will put my phone away to pay attention to him is important. That is part of digital citizenship; That's part of that balanced competition. Therefore, any way we can model appropriate behavior starting as early as possible is key.
How do you and your technology team support digital citizenship?
It's been a huge work in progress. At first, due to the pandemic, our main goal was simply to get staff and students to understand how to use technology. We brought everyone up to speed by providing professional learning about technology and how it is incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum.
We are past that and need to start learning how to use technology responsibly as staff, students, and families. We interact with technology as a key aspect of our daily activities. If we are going to ask students to use technology and prepare them for this technology-filled world, it is our responsibility as schools (and teachers) to help them use it safely, effectively, and for good purposes.
To support staff, we model digital citizenship during professional development, showing teachers what they can do with their students to promote good online behavior.
Our approach to engaging families has been a learning process. Initially, our district hosted digital citizenship nights and distributed promotional materials to engage families, but attendance was low. So we changed our strategy.
Integrating digital citizenship into existing school events was more successful. We found that parents and caregivers will receive information better if it comes from their child's school or from someone they trust: their child's teacher. They are not going to listen to a computer scientist from the district office.
The technology team designed packets with technology tips for students, including rewriting the acceptable use policy in student-friendly language, and distributed them to schools. I walked into a classroom to solve an unrelated problem and saw that a teacher had printed that packet to send home and added a signature line for parents to sign. This is how we can reach families!
What trends do you notice in your students regarding digital citizenship and well-being?
Last year, we interviewed students from several schools in the district, from elementary to high school, about their technology habits at school and at home. One trend that continued to emerge was that many students feel like they have to always be on their devices because they don't want to miss anything. That fear of missing out keeps students glued to their phones, which simply creates anxiety. That behavior is something I've seen in many adults, including myself. Our tech team is thinking about ways to address it, even if it's just making people more aware of it so we can discuss it in more depth.
What is the importance of the five digital citizenship competencies?
Balanced It's about that balance between what you do online and offline. That behavior can influence whether a student finds it difficult to close a device when she's not supposed to have it or if she's trying to peek at her phone when she's supposed to be in class.
Informed It's about gathering credible information to process what you see online. That's really important in schools, especially in content areas where you do research or cite sources. Being informed was a big part of my classroom when I was an English teacher.
Inclusive This is really the part of digital citizenship: treating others with respect and empathy.
Engaged It's about using technology for good. Many times we tend to focus on the negative, which is understandable because the negative can be very scary, especially things like cyberbullying or other types of unethical behavior online. But we can also do many good things with technology.
Alert This is about security, which previously seemed to be the main focus of many digital citizenship initiatives, right? There are many places online where everyone (students and adults) can get into trouble, and it's important to know how to stay safe.
The five competencies are essential for students to navigate the digital world and the general public is recognizing this. Delaware passed media literacy bill, which was created in part due to issues that have arisen in digital citizenship. The existence of that law and the push for greater media literacy in classrooms show that communities realize the importance of digital citizenship in our society.
