Tool # 10 - Digital Cizitenship

Tool # 10 discussed all aspects of digital citizenship and the responsibility teachers and students must take to make informed decisions concerning internet sources and how we should use the internet in a responsible way.  I liked the discussion Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher Blog) had about digital citizenship.  She said that in order to have "healthy schools" we must model and teach our kids so that they have a solid foundation when it comes to digital citizenship and that it's important we don't leave our students to "figure it out on their own".

1.  Three areas that I would want my students to know about digital citizenship would be safety, etiquette and learning sources.  Safety is of the utmost importance when students are "surfing" the net.  Students need to understand what sites are appropriate for them and those sites that are not.  As adults and teachers, we must model appropriate safety citizenship by only accessing sites in the classroom and on our own personal computers  those internet sites appropriate for research and personal use.  As far as etiquette on the classroom computers, I would want my students to learn the importance of respect and responsibility when using social networking like Facebook and Twitter.  When students are doing research for class assignments, it is important that they access sites that are backed up by proof and use multiple sources of information when forming an opinion about a certain topic.

2.  To help teach my students about digital citizenship I referred to the Ed Tech web site for ideas as well as the blogs and other sites mentioned in tool 10.  I would probably use Easy Tech to help teach kids about what is safe and appropriate when completing internet projects.

3.  Before introducing a research project using the internet to my students, I would spend a few days teaching and modeling digital citizenship.  I would use class discussions, web sites and Easy Tech to help kids understand the importance of safety, etiquette and appropriate sources for information.

4.  It is extremely important that parents understand the importance of internet safety and what their children know about the computer and the sites they access.  Parents should be made aware of the extent technology is being taught in the classroom and take some of  their personal time to acquaint themselves with web sites their children are accessing.  As a teacher, I would communicate with parents the projects we are doing using technology and the internet.  I would encourage them to communicate with their kids the importance of safety and etiquette.  I would also stress that parents be aware at all times what their kids are doing on the computer and keep the computers in an area that is accessible to the entire family and where it can be monitored at all times.  This could be communicated to parents in a beginning of school letter, Open House or as each technology lesson is assigned.