Digital Citizenship

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP A Professional Learning Presentation by Kati Searcy

What is digital citizenship? In a nutshell…. It is the proper and correct actions that should be taken by those using digital technology…

Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship according to Ribble and Bailey Digital Access Digital Commerce Digital Communication Digital Literacy Digital Etiquette Digital Law Digital Rights and Responsibilities Digital Health and Wellness Digital Security

Digital Access Full electronic participation in society

Scenario The students in a fifth grade science class have been given the task of watching a 20-minute Discovery Education streaming movie for homework. They have one week in which they are to watch the on-line movie and take the on-line quiz.

Inappropriate The students have been told that they will receive a “zero” if they do not watch the movie and take the quiz at home, even though some students do not have Internet access, and some students who do have Internet access, have a dial-up connection.

Appropriate The teacher gives the assignment that all students are to view the movie and take the quiz. For students who do not have the appropriate Internet connections at home, he offers the opportunity for them to 1) come to his classroom 30 minutes before school starts, or 2) come to his classroom after school, or 3) take home a CD with the movie and a printed quiz so they may complete the assignment.

What could make a difference When giving on-line assignments for students to complete outside of school, it is important to remember that they may not have access to the Internet. For some this may be an on-going situation and for others it may be a temporary non-access issue. Since the Internet is a valuable resource, teachers need to provide alternative ways for the students to access the information in order to complete assignments.

Digital Commerce The buying and selling of goods online

Scenario Melissa, who recently celebrated her 15 th birthday, received an $1000 check from her rich grandmother. She deposited the check in her bank account for which she has a debit card. Melissa’s home internet connection is temporarily down, so she rides with her older sister to the local public library to use the computer there. While on the eBay site, she sees that they have just what she wants – a brand new Wii for only $10.00!

Inappropriate Excitedly, Melissa takes our her debit card and bids on the item. She has watched her father do this before and knows just what to do. She wants to make sure she is the highest bidder so she quickly enters her debit card information and selects $300 as her maximum bid. She doesn’t log off as she leaves the library computer.

Appropriate Melissa realizes that a new Wii could not possibly sell for $10.00. She looks at other Wii’s that are listed on eBay and sees that the winning bids have averaged around $275. She really wants the Wii but is uncomfortable putting her debit card information online to purchase something for which she is unsure of the final price. She logs off the library computer and goes home.

What could make a difference Melissa would do well to go to a store that sells retail Nintendo products such as the Wii. She will know the exact price of the new product she is purchasing plus she will have a receipt in order to return it if it does not work properly. Her parents and teachers would do well to advise her to be careful where she uses her debit card as that card is the “key” to her checking account funds.

Digital Communication The electronic exchange of information

Scenario Parents of students in Ms. Parker’s sixth grade class were terrified earlier in the school year when they learned there was an armed intruder at the middle school. Since that incident, almost all of the students in the sixth grade, at the direction of their parents, now bring cell phones to school in order to be able to contact parents in case of any future emergency.

Inappropriate The students are delighted to finally have their own cell phones. They set their “interesting” ring tones on loud rather than setting the phone to vibrate or turning it off. Whenever possible, they take the phones out and use them to text messages to their classmates in and out of Mrs. Parker’s class. They also take unflattering photos of Mrs. Parker behind her back and send them to classmates as well.

Appropriate Mrs. Parker discusses with the students the cell phone issue. While she understands their parents’ wishes that they have a phone, she reminds them that they are only to be used for emergency purposes and that they will be confiscated if they are out of backpacks or if the ring tone is audible. She also tells them that her principal has requested that all teachers follow the same rules with their own cell phones.

What could make a difference All of these students actually have a mini-computer in their possession. Imagine how things would change if Mrs. Parker started using the cell phones as classroom technology tools. Students could text their grammar sentences to her. Students could use the video options to record each other rehearsing speeches and then review the videos to critique themselves. Students could use the calculator functions during the math period. Students could make photo documentation of science experiments.

Digital Literacy The capability to use digital technology and knowing when and how to use it.

Scenario The students in Ms. Rubin’s class have been assigned to do a report on an endangered species. Ellen does a Google search for endangered species and comes across an article on the “ Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus .” She has never heard of this animal and is excited to learn about it. Based on this one website , she chooses her research topic.

Inappropriate Ellen takes notes about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus from this one website. She does not look for any other sources to confirm the information that she has found. She is so excited about this endangered animal, that she starts her own campaign to educate others about this animal and to raise funds to save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

Appropriate Ms. Rubin would do well to instruct her students as to the fact that everything on the Internet is not true. Students should learn to consult various sources to determine the validity of information they obtain on the Internet. Students could use a checklist with things to look for to prove the authenticity of a site’s information.

What could make a difference Before beginning a research unit, the teacher should actually lead a lesson where students are sent to bogus web sites and asked to report back on their findings. This would then lead to the discussion as to how one knows whether or not a digital source is reliable. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus , Save the Mountain Walrus , GenoChoice , and The Sellafield Zoo can help students develop their critical thinking abilities to discriminate between real and bogus on-line information.

Digital Etiquette The standards of conduct expected by other digital technology users

Scenario A disgruntled parent whose child did not qualify for the gifted program sends an e-mail to the gifted teacher with questions as to the ineligibility decision. After several e-mails back and forth between the teacher and the parent, the parent expresses her anger about the fact that, despite her protestations, her very bright child is not eligible by sending a final e-mail to the teacher. This final e-mail has many words in all caps and ends with “WTF.”

Inappropriate After the teacher finds out what the initials “WTF” stand for, she responds immediately with an angry e-mail. Her e-mail also has many words in all caps and ends with “don’t send me any more e-mails or I will have you charged with harassment.”

Appropriate When the second round of e-mails started, the teacher called the parent. The teacher calmly listened to the parent and tried to respond to her questions without emotion. When the parent continued, after the phone call, to send angry e-mails, the teacher notified the principal and asked her to speak with the parent about this situation.

What could make a difference The discussion about digital etiquette needs to occur at faculty meetings or in staff development trainings. Teachers cannot control what a parent sends in an e-mail, but they can control how they should respond. A few things to keep in mind are: 1) never respond in haste, 2) never put anything in writing that you wouldn’t say face to face, and 3) remember that anything that is put in an e-mail can be retrieved at a later date.

Digital Law The standards of conduct expected by other digital technology users

Scenario Mr. Gilbert, a 5 th grade teacher, is compiling a collection of student photos and converting them to a movie using Animoto on-line software. Although the Animoto site offers non-copyrighted music, the teacher wants the background music for the movie to be something the students will recognize. The students will not recognize any of the songs this site offers.

Inappropriate Mr. Gilbert’s son has a Chris Brown C.D. He decides to borrow it and download the song, “With You”, as the background music for the movie. He knows this song is very popular with the students, and knows they will enjoy the movie so much more if they can sing along with the background music. He finishes creating his movie and then uploads the movie he has made to his teacher website.

Appropriate Animoto is a free website for compiling photos into a movie format. Mr. Gilbert is lucky that he knows about this site. There is a disclaimer on the website that advises the users to choose either the copyright-free music on their site or any other music for which they have secured written permission to use. Mr. Gilbert heeds that advice and uses music on the Animoto site.

What could make a difference Perhaps there are students who play an instrument and have composed original music or can play music that is in the public domain as the background music for the movie. It is important that teachers understand that copyright rules apply to them, even if they are doing things for educational purposes. There is a misconception among many educators that they can do anything with digital media as long as it is for educational purposes.

Digital Rights and Responsibilities The privileges and freedoms extended to all digital technology users and the behavioral expectations that come with them

Scenario Mrs. Walker is a fourth grade teacher who is introducing a new unit on the American Revolution to her students. She creates a beautiful PowerPoint presentation in which she has photos of famous people and places from that time period. She obtained these photos by doing a Google image search.

Inappropriate Mrs. Walker’s PowerPoint presentation, while “beautiful”, gives no credit to the source of her photos. She does have a slide that says “photos obtained from Google”, but she has not cited the individual sources of each photo because she doesn’t realize there is an individual source. She assumes that Google posts all of these images.

Appropriate Mrs. Walker’s “beautiful” PowerPoint presentation is made possible by the images she has gained from many different web sources. She acknowledges the source at the bottom of each photo that she inserts into the PowerPoint. She also makes it a point to explain this to her students.

What could make a difference Students will do the things their teachers model. If a teacher expects that her students will cite sources, it is imperative that she do the same thing with any and all media (print, digital, audio) that she uses in her classroom. Teachers need to be educated about search engines and how to locate images that are intended for educational use.

Digital Health and Wellness The privileges and freedoms extended to all digital technology users and the behavioral expectations that come with them

Scenario The four computers in Mrs. Anderson’s room are placed on four different tables in an “ Inspired Classroom ” arrangement. She teaches students in the first grade. She doesn’t have desks, but rather tables and adult-sized chairs in her classroom.

Inappropriate The young students are anxious to work on the computers. If they sit in the chairs, they have to strain their neck to look up to the computer screen. Some of the students have taken to actually sitting or kneeling on top of the table when they work on the computer. They do this so they can both see the screen and work on the keyboard and use the mouse more comfortably.

Appropriate The tables in the classroom have been lowered so that the students can look at the computer screen without neck strain. Remote keyboards enable the students to put the keyboards in their lap while they are typing.

What could make a difference It is difficult at times to get “child-size” furniture. Not only are computers themselves designed for adult hands, but tables and chairs that can accommodate computer equipment are often adult-sized as well. Wouldn’t it be great if someone developed some computer furniture designed for a young student so that there were no negative posture issues associated with computer use.

Digital Security The precautions that all technology users must take to guarantee their personal safety and the security of their network.

Scenario Ms. Perlman gets an e-mail message from someone she does not know. She opens the e-mail message which has an attachment with it. The attachment is entitled “dancing pigs.” She has had a stressful day and feels that she could use a good laugh. The attachment “dancing pigs” might be funny.

Inappropriate Ms. Perlman opens the e-mail. When she does, her computer starts doing crazy things and within a period of five minutes, the computer has crashed. Ms. Perlman immediately runs to the school technology coordinator to tell her that something is wrong with her computer.

Appropriate Ms. Perlman opens the e-mail and realizes that she does not know the sender. She remembers that she has been advised to not open e-mail attachments from a stranger. Even though the attachment title sounds interesting, she deletes the message without opening the attachment. She continues checking e-mail.

What could make a difference Teachers need to be reminded often of digital security issues, including something as simple as opening attachments from unknown sources. Educators must be reminded that, although there are many virus detection devices and firewalls on school computers, they must still use common sense and good judgment.

Bibliography Ribble, M., & Bailey, G. (2007) Digital Citizenship in School. Washington, D.C. : International Society for Technology in Education.

Prepared by Kati Searcy, October 2008 for ITED 8100, Valdosta State University

Digital Citizenship

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Digital Citizenship