Assignment #2 - Digital Citizenship

Read 
1. https://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edudemic.com%2F2013%2F08%2Ffirst-five-days-of-digital-citizenship-at-your-school%2F?tab=comment

2. http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html



Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVSAFhTjAdc


Post: Why is it important to educate young adolescents about digital citizenship? Connect these ideas to what you know about young adolescents. How might you engage your class in activities to promote digital citizenship?



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First of all, what is digital citizenship?  In short, it is using technology appropriately, and it mostly involves respectful online behavior. 

Why do adolescents need to know about it?  Well, I believe digital citizenship instruction should begin in elementary school, now that technology is used from childhood.  However, young adolescents in particular need to be committed to appropriate technology use.  Because their brains and bodies are undergoing a period of major development, they are in a very vulnerable state. Often they give great importance to the opinions of their peers, their body changes make them especially self-conscious, and as digital natives they spend a large amount of time with social media.  Adolescence is a time of independence and experimentation, and the virtual world can be like a playground for them with very few real consequences.  Creating an ideal online persona could seem to satisfy the desires they are unable to fulfill in real life.   Also, they may be unaware of the dangers their online behavior could stir up.

The negative impacts of cyber bullying and trolling can be devastating to individuals, families, and school communities.  Since laws and policies can’t quite keep up with these crimes at this point, prevention is the best defense. 

It is important to engage our classes in activities to promote digital citizenship.   Holly Clark in Edudemic gives five important ways to educate teens and engage them in the discussion of digital citizenship.  In addition, using the Nine Elements as guidelines, teachers could focus on each topic and explore the importance and relevance of each issue.  Teens would probably already have had experiences with these issues.  A teacher could have the students come up with Technology Standards to be upheld during their educational technology use.  After a discussion in which students come up with reasonable consequences, each “digital citizen” could sign an agreement of digital citizenship committing to uphold the standards and to contribute to a great classroom technology experience.