Tool # 11 Digital Citizenship

Discuss at least three things you would want to make sure your students understand about being good digital citizens. Explain briefly how you would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship to your students.

When thinking about digital citizenship for elementary students in the lower grade levels, three things come to mind safety, literacy, and etiquette. The first one relates to online safety, that is, teaching students to stay on websites familiar to them, to not divulge personal information on chats, and to ask an adult for assistance when necessary. I think that BrainPop does a good job in relaying that information to the younger students, as well as Cybersmart Young Kids. This past year, our librarian has done an excellent job in explaining internet safety also.

Another major aspect of digital citizenship is being technologically literate. From K-2, students are easily impressionable with the technology around them. They want to use the computer, the cell phone, the Ipod... to play, not to learn. I think that at this age is important to show them that technology is used not only to play games, but to learn as well. I would try to incorporate more video clips, websites, digital camera to model and teach them how to use it and why.

Lastly, teaching kids the etiquette of the digital world is essential. Since students at this stage are very concrete learners, I would emphasize the physical etiquette of technology. Some examples would be to not have food or drinks around the computer, to log off after using it, to be gentle and clean with the equipment, to use head phones and a soft voice in the computer lab or library, etc.

There are many other aspects of Digital Citizenship that are important to keep in mind, but for younger students, I believe that teaching them about internet safety, digital literacy, and technological etiquette would be sufficient.