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Week 3: Should Schools Be Required To Teach Digital Citizenship?

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Whether we like it or not, we have moved into the digital age and districts around the nation are heavily integrating technology into their curriculums. There are even schools in this country who are at a one to one ratio with laptops or iPads. This change in how we communicate information to students then begs the question, how do we teach our students to be responsible with technology? Furthermore, should we be required to teach our students about their digital footprint? I don’t know. Lets discuss…

I am only a pre-service educator and I am already overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge and information we are required to instill into our students during the short time they are in our classroom. So, at first glance, it seems unreasonable to create additional standards we must meet. Also, especially for us secondary teachers, the students have plenty of time at home before they enter middle school and high school. Shouldn’t it be their parents’ responsibility to teach them proper online etiquette?

As with anything though, we must work together as a unit for the betterment of our students. The community has to do their part, by involving law enforcement to educate students about the dangers of social networking. The parents must play an integral role by discussing with their children about how to make choices that will keep them safe and protected online. And the teachers must supplement that with how the information they submit to the cyber world will reflect on their character and values as a person. One of these parts cannot operate without the others. In order to be successful in teaching the children of America to be responsible online, they must all work concurrently to create the best education for our students.

Today in class we heard from two Kansas educators, elementary school principal Jaclyn Pfizenmaier and curriculum and online learning consultant Glenn Wieber. Jaclyn’s school is nearly 1:1 with iPads and they are both technology trainers to educators around the state. They both discussed how schools are now implementing technology standards into their curriculum, just like the state mandates common core standards. While it does seem like just additional requirements, it does make sense. We wouldn’t give a child a book and not teach them how to read, would we? So why should we give them an iPad without showing them how to use it?

This same theory can be used in viewing the importance of teaching students about their digital citizenship. In a blog post by Mary Beth Hertz titled “Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom”, she states that “students as young as six are joining social networks and conversing with other kids”. When they are this young, we are usually teaching them proper etiquette in a face-to-face conversation with someone. Now, I’m not saying I condone the fact that children this young are creating social network accounts, but why should a conversation over the Internet be any different?

Unfortunately, cyberbullying is becoming a more frequent occurrence in our county. For instance, in 2010 a Rutgers freshman committed suicide just days after a couple of his peers posted a video online of his sexual encounter with another man. Nancy Solomon looked further into this case in her article “Schools Urged To Teach Youth Digital Citizenship” on npr.com. The high school’s website from where the victim’s two peers graduated from, does not mention any technology standards under their “21st Century Competencies”. Although the state does mandate that educators teach students about cyberbullying, the school would not comment on whether or not they meet this requirement. Either way, these two young adults will be punished for what they did and their actions online will forever be with them. Could this incident have been prevented if these two students had been educated about cyberbullying? There’s no telling; only a hope that being proactive about topics such as these will prevent similar actions with future students.

 

Staggering statistics have come out recently about educators’ skill set with technology in a report by Scott Steinberg in his article “Why Digital Citizenship Must Be Taught In Schools”. Although, “over 80 percent of school administrators say they do an adequate job of preparing students to meet the challenges of a digital world, a frightening 36 percent of teachers claim they’ve received zero hours of training [of technology] in the previous year when surveyed.” If the teachers aren’t equipped with the knowledge necessary to handle technology correctly, how do we expect students to do the same?

When addressing these issues we must face the facts. Children as young as kindergarten are using the Internet and social networking sites. Students need to understand that what they post on the web is a reflection of who they are, what they believe and how they act. They need to be aware that their digital citizenship is not something that leaves them once they graduate, but instead stays with them the rest of their career. Since this technology they are using has made it’s way into the classroom, it now automatically becomes partly our responsibility (along with the help of the community and their parents) to teach them proper etiquette online. Instead of viewing this as an added requirement, we should be looking at it as an opportunity to prepare our students even more for the everchanging world we live in.

This post is not meant to be a definitive decision, but a mere catalyst to a conversation that needs to be facilitated among educators and administrators alike. Words are meant to ignite action. So, please, join the discussion…


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