Help us celebrate Digital Citizenship Week by starting the conversation about the importance of this topic. All adults can be powerful role models as they explain to kids the why and how they conduct themselves online.
How do you teach Digital Citizenship to students? What tools can you use to ensure they are prepared for a world full of technology?
Before we get too far into our discussion, let’s settle on a definition of Digital Citizenship. Digital Citizenship can be defined as the appropriate and responsible behavior with regard to technology use. Most break this down into 9 Elements:
- Digital Access: full electronic participation in society
- Digital Commerce: electronic buying and selling of goods
- Digital Communication: electronic exchange of information
- Digital Literacy: process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology
- Digital Etiquette: electronic standards of conduct or procedure
- Digital Law: electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
- Digital Rights & Responsibilities: those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
- Digital Health & Wellness: physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world
- Digital Security (self-protection): electronic precautions to guarantee safety
Now that’s a long list! Where do you even start? Luckily Common Sense Media has created an easy to use program that many schools are already using. The program has age appropriate lessons for Digital Citizenship in their Scope and Sequence page. It contains curriculum appropriate for Kindergarten to 12th grade. Another page on assessment has online quizzes that students can take to test their learning. Here is a screen shot of a K-2 quiz:
Finally, Common Sense Media has their own app, Digital Compass, that helps students learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship through animated, choose-your-own-adventure interactive experiences, designed for grades 6-9. Check out this promo video to learn more:
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Alejandro Escamilla), licensed under CC0 1.0