Training Kids to Become Responsible Digital Citizens is Important

Attention all teachers, parents, responsible adults and kids. Each of us has an obligation to teach kids that the internet isn't a digital, free-for-all Lord of the Flies realm. 

This past school year, I began to emphasize digital citizenship within our classrom. 

What is digital citizenship? 

Gail Desler, a technology integration specialist in the Elk Grove Unified School District says on her 21st Century Citizenship wiki page that "exemplary 'Digital Citizens,'...must learn how to participate positively in a variety of digital/cyber/online communities. It is only by developing a clear sense of both our rights and our responsibilities that we can become fully engaged, contributing 'Citizens' of all the communities in which we find ourselves."

 Thanks to Gail's efforts, I was empowered to facilitate my students' exploration on four themes digital citizens ought to be familiar with: 

1. Stepping up: Saying "I do" to respecting all people and "I don't" to cyberbullying and risky online behaviors.
2. Building Identities-Saying "I do" to maintaining a responsible digital footprint and "I don't" to inappropriate online behavior.
3. Respecting Boundraries-Saying "I do" to respecting others' intellectual property and "I don't" to pirating and plagiarism.
4. Online Privacy-Saying "I do" to taking precautions to protect my computer and personal information and "I don't" to jeopardizing privacy. 

We regularly see stories in the news of tragic events involving violence perpetrated by an individual who was the target of bullying as a child. In an infographic on the Elk Grove School District's #UnfollowBullying website, a national survey found 81% of kids said bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person. As adults, we have to show our children and students how to address this growing problem.

You should check out the #UnfollowBullying website and the tools for teachers, students, and parents in Elk Grove to build awareness about cyberbullying and ways to stop it. My students and I use it regularly in our class.

Our "digital footprint" was a fun concept to introduce to my students. When we post a picture or message on Facebook or click on a site and allow "cookies" to be placed on our computer, we are journeying out into the digital world and making a statement about who we are and what we do whilst on the web. Unbeknownst to many kids (and probably some adults), we are leaving a digital trail of breadcrumbs every time we surf the web. One thing we have to teach kids (and some adults) is how to evaluate the veracity of a website. Is it legitimate? Is it biased? Is it trying to lure us to click on something and reveal personal information? Are we posting anything innappropriate on the site that might come back to haunt us or is putting ourselves at risk of identity theft?

I was surprised when I Googled my own name to see how many times and places I appeared on the web. I try to teach my students that the more we put ourselves "out there" the more we appear on potential schools' or employers' radar. Our digital reputation is something we build AND have to safeguard on a regular basis.  

One of my favorite themes is the concept of teaching kids how to respect the intellectal property of others. For years, my students had gone to "Google images" to download pictures for class projects. Not once did I ever consider the copyright of those images. Because of Gail's mentoring, I now have an arsenal of websites my students can use to search for images and archival film for class projects.

Creative Commons is "the" go-to-website we use now to look for images. A non-profit organization, they offer a variety of Creative Commons Licenses to creators of various types of works. When you visit their site, you can click on a portal to search for "CC-licensed works" on YouTube, Google Images, Wikimedia, Jamendo, Flickr, and other websites. I teach my students about each license and the permission it grants. When we are making films in class and need an image, we like to search for "attribution" licensed images which require the user to simply credit the "author" of the image. Licenses vary in their restrictions: some do not allow a work to be modified (no-deriviations); others require works to be used for non-commercial purposes only; some require the user of the work to "share" their work with others. 

In addition to Creative Commons, we now have learned how to use The National Archives and the Internet Archive 

In the grey area of copyright law exists the concept of "fair use." The video attached to this blog post explores that concept. My students and I discuss fair use and consider it now every time we find an image or piece of film which is not carrying a Creative Commons or public domain license.

Discussions of online privacy in a 6th grade classroom largely center on avoiding giving out too much information online. Teaching kids to avoid internet tricks is key. If you're a parent with a child and have experienced unexplained malware or viruses on your computer, it might be the result of an errant click of the mouse on a website that was less than reputable. I like to relate to students how I was once tricked by a pop-up ad. When I went to click the red "X" to close the window, I realized too late the "X" was cleverly disguised within the pop-up window! I had clicked on a pop-up which then installed malware on my computer. One of the videos we watch is created by YouTube to help kids avoid cyber tricks. You can view it HERE.

Technology is a great tool to use in the classroom. I've got 10 computers in my room students can use for online research. Given that amount of access, it's critical I teach my students how to be responsible digital citizens. Thanks to educators like Gail Desler, I'm a LOT more effective at my job than in years past. And with Gail's help and the tools on her Digital ID wiki and the Elk Grove School District's #UnfollowBullying website, parents can get in on the action and help out, too! 

Note: On our classroom blog, we have a page dedicated to digital citizenship resources. It's designed to be interactive and is geared toward students, parents, and other teachers looking for digital citizenship resources. You can click HERE to view it.