Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship should be taught to students starting as young as kindergarten. Digital citizenship helps students be safe while using the internet. It helps them to protect themselves and others. It teaches them how to properly communicate with people all over the world. Most students do not learn about digital citizenship at home, so it is important to teach it at school.
In the article What Your Students Really Need to Know About Digital Citizenship, Vicki Davis discussed "9 Key Ps" of digital citizenship: passwords, private information, personal information, photographs, property, permission, protection, professionalism, and personal brand. All of these are good starting points on what to teach students and how all of these "Ps" can effect them if not taken seriously. Not only are these points good for students to know, it is also a good reminder for adults. An article like this would be good to share with families at home. After discussing all of the Ps in class, the teacher could send home the article and have students explain to their parents in their own words what each word means and how it helps them be safe while using the internet.
Davis says students need to practice being a digital citizen in a variety of environments. A teacher will not always be in the same room to watch students or answer questions they might have. Learning could be taking place at home or in a different classroom and students need to know how to translate being a digital citizen to other aspects of their learning and every day life. Davis says "you can talk about how students need to type in proper case and not use IM shorthand, but when their collaborative partner from Germany says they're struggling to understand what's being typed in your classroom, your students really understand this point." I think this also relates to the teacher stepping out of the way and taking on more of a facilitator role in the classroom.
Depending on what grade a student is in, the teacher will have to adjust how and what they are teaching for digital citizenship. A kindergartner is not going to understand what a username and password is like a second grader would. I don't think every aspect of digital citizenship needs to be taught in kindergarten, but you can start the foundation there.
In the article How to Teach Digital Citizenship, Jacqui Murray gives examples of how she teaches students of different grades to be digital citizens. In kindergarten she briefly discusses cyber safety and discusses with students not to use their names online or talk to strangers. She has a list of several books that could be used as a read aloud and are age appropriate for kindergarten. Each grade level is broken down in this article and Murray gives some links to curriculum she uses and what topics she covers in each grade level.
Something I have noticed in my teaching is students seem to pay attention better when they are watching something on a screen. I have done a lesson in one class where I talked and did everything like normal. Then in the next class I showed videos or screencasts of me doing the same thing, and students paid more attention and had less behavior issues and were able to score higher on the few questions I asked them at the end of the lesson. I'm not sayin this would happen every time, but it is something I am noticing. The website Common Sense Education has some videos that I think my students would like and would pay attention to about internet safety. This is one that I liked discussing how you go places safely on the internet. Going Places Safely
This is another video/game that I found that is a twist on the story of the Three Little Pigs. It goes through a story and shows how the pigs made some poor choices while on the internet and has students answer questions about what they should have done. Privacy Playground - The First Adventure of the Three CyberPigs
Another article I found called Teaching Digital Citizenship All Year in the Classroom by Erintegration talks about how it is important to teach digital citizenship all the time. In music there are topics or lessons that I teach throughout the year because we need those topics to build on and learn others. This is the same with technology, students keep building on their knowledge and need to be reminded of the basics throughout the year.
Problems that can occur on the internet can happen at any time and they are real world problems that students need to learn how to solve. Some schools block certain websites or only allow a few websites to work at school. Erin says in doing this "we limit students' problem solving and know-how outside of school where they might be using technology with a lot less restrictions." I had never really thought of internet restrictions at school being a bad thing, but I think she has a good point here. Students will be using technology outside of school, and they need to learn and know how to safely use all of it all the time.
I also liked Erin's point on offering concrete digital citizenship and internet safety strategies. Instead of telling students "don't click that" or "don't search that," the teacher should explain why not and give the student a strategy of what they should do. When searching for pictures Erin says rather than tell students "don't search that or don't use that image search" she has them write what they are searching on a post-it that she reviews. If a term or phrase does not seem right, she tries it herself or advises the student how and why to change it. "Rather than just present what is 'bad' or what NOT to do, always give students a strategy. In elementary, that might be learning how to click X to close an ad, how to close a window, or what avatar name to use in place of their own." Simply telling students not to do something will not help them learn how to improve and be able to access the internet safely on their own.
This is a great video from Common Sense Education that shows how to create a super digital citizen. Super Digital Citizen In this video you see teacher Sam Pane, teaching a lesson on digital citizenship.
In summary, I think digital citizenship should be started at a young age and taught throughout the school year, not just at the beginning. There are several videos on internet safety out there to appeal to younger learners and help them understand just how important it is to be safe while using the internet. I also think it is important to give students strategies to use if they get stuck. Instead of just saying "don't do that" I think it is important to explain why they need to stay away from that and maybe even bring it back to one of the "9 Ps" that Davis presents in her article.
In the article What Your Students Really Need to Know About Digital Citizenship, Vicki Davis discussed "9 Key Ps" of digital citizenship: passwords, private information, personal information, photographs, property, permission, protection, professionalism, and personal brand. All of these are good starting points on what to teach students and how all of these "Ps" can effect them if not taken seriously. Not only are these points good for students to know, it is also a good reminder for adults. An article like this would be good to share with families at home. After discussing all of the Ps in class, the teacher could send home the article and have students explain to their parents in their own words what each word means and how it helps them be safe while using the internet.
Davis says students need to practice being a digital citizen in a variety of environments. A teacher will not always be in the same room to watch students or answer questions they might have. Learning could be taking place at home or in a different classroom and students need to know how to translate being a digital citizen to other aspects of their learning and every day life. Davis says "you can talk about how students need to type in proper case and not use IM shorthand, but when their collaborative partner from Germany says they're struggling to understand what's being typed in your classroom, your students really understand this point." I think this also relates to the teacher stepping out of the way and taking on more of a facilitator role in the classroom.
Depending on what grade a student is in, the teacher will have to adjust how and what they are teaching for digital citizenship. A kindergartner is not going to understand what a username and password is like a second grader would. I don't think every aspect of digital citizenship needs to be taught in kindergarten, but you can start the foundation there.
In the article How to Teach Digital Citizenship, Jacqui Murray gives examples of how she teaches students of different grades to be digital citizens. In kindergarten she briefly discusses cyber safety and discusses with students not to use their names online or talk to strangers. She has a list of several books that could be used as a read aloud and are age appropriate for kindergarten. Each grade level is broken down in this article and Murray gives some links to curriculum she uses and what topics she covers in each grade level.
Something I have noticed in my teaching is students seem to pay attention better when they are watching something on a screen. I have done a lesson in one class where I talked and did everything like normal. Then in the next class I showed videos or screencasts of me doing the same thing, and students paid more attention and had less behavior issues and were able to score higher on the few questions I asked them at the end of the lesson. I'm not sayin this would happen every time, but it is something I am noticing. The website Common Sense Education has some videos that I think my students would like and would pay attention to about internet safety. This is one that I liked discussing how you go places safely on the internet. Going Places Safely
This is another video/game that I found that is a twist on the story of the Three Little Pigs. It goes through a story and shows how the pigs made some poor choices while on the internet and has students answer questions about what they should have done. Privacy Playground - The First Adventure of the Three CyberPigs
Another article I found called Teaching Digital Citizenship All Year in the Classroom by Erintegration talks about how it is important to teach digital citizenship all the time. In music there are topics or lessons that I teach throughout the year because we need those topics to build on and learn others. This is the same with technology, students keep building on their knowledge and need to be reminded of the basics throughout the year.
Problems that can occur on the internet can happen at any time and they are real world problems that students need to learn how to solve. Some schools block certain websites or only allow a few websites to work at school. Erin says in doing this "we limit students' problem solving and know-how outside of school where they might be using technology with a lot less restrictions." I had never really thought of internet restrictions at school being a bad thing, but I think she has a good point here. Students will be using technology outside of school, and they need to learn and know how to safely use all of it all the time.
I also liked Erin's point on offering concrete digital citizenship and internet safety strategies. Instead of telling students "don't click that" or "don't search that," the teacher should explain why not and give the student a strategy of what they should do. When searching for pictures Erin says rather than tell students "don't search that or don't use that image search" she has them write what they are searching on a post-it that she reviews. If a term or phrase does not seem right, she tries it herself or advises the student how and why to change it. "Rather than just present what is 'bad' or what NOT to do, always give students a strategy. In elementary, that might be learning how to click X to close an ad, how to close a window, or what avatar name to use in place of their own." Simply telling students not to do something will not help them learn how to improve and be able to access the internet safely on their own.
This is a great video from Common Sense Education that shows how to create a super digital citizen. Super Digital Citizen In this video you see teacher Sam Pane, teaching a lesson on digital citizenship.
In summary, I think digital citizenship should be started at a young age and taught throughout the school year, not just at the beginning. There are several videos on internet safety out there to appeal to younger learners and help them understand just how important it is to be safe while using the internet. I also think it is important to give students strategies to use if they get stuck. Instead of just saying "don't do that" I think it is important to explain why they need to stay away from that and maybe even bring it back to one of the "9 Ps" that Davis presents in her article.
Melissa, you packed in a lot of great information here! I love your idea in the beginning about having kids take an article home to parents and discuss each of the P's in their own words. This is a great way to make sure the students understood and it allows parents to possibly find some areas that may need further clarification.
ReplyDeleteThe other part that stuck out to me was the comment about loosening the reigns on restricted access at school to help teach kids how to navigate that. This is a tough issue. I see Erin's point, but I also think there is a fine line. It's good food for thought regardless. Thanks for all the great insight!
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, and you made some valid points. First, I like your idea of sending home the article with students. I think you could also have parents sign that they read it with their child to discuss the importance of online safety. Second, I agree that teaching all the P's in kindergarten is not necessary. This might overwhelm students and thus the lesson might loose its meaning. Lastly, you included some great resources that I enjoyed looking through!