Tool #10 - Underneath it All - Digital Citizenship

1. Discuss at least three things you would want to make sure your students understand about being good digital citizens. 

• Treat people the way you would like to be treated!
• Know that they leave a "footprint" where-ever they go on the internet / with email!  It will live FOREVER!
• Don't be scared to ask before clicking!
• Give credit where credit is due!  Don't steal anyone's ideas / projects!

2. Share at least one of the resources mentioned above or on the Ed Tech website that you plan to use instructionally.

Brain Pop - this is such a great resource to seamlessly integrate technology into the classroom!  The kids love it and it also offers things for those who need things to be a little more difficult.  It holds accountability because the kids can take a quiz using their activates - which then can be used a grade in the grade book!  

3. Explain briefly how you would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship to your students.

I wanted to first say, that I am very impressed in the way that my school teaches and facilitates the use of the Internet throughout the school / classroom. Secondly, I want to also state that "locking down" the Internet, is not always the best way to teach ethics, reliability, and the "etiquette code" to the world wide web.

Fortunately, because my librarian does such a phenomenal job in guiding students with reliability, I feel certain that most of the "recommended" sites that we use are accurate. If in doubt, I ask! That is what I encourage my kids do too. If you guide them as they are learning, and give them pointers to teach to that moment, then the process of validity becomes seamless in their search for knowledge. Keeping that in mind, I always tell my kids as they begin to do a google search, if you happen to come across an inappropriate site, close it immediately and do not make a big deal out of it.
One issue that I think needs to be visited more, is that of a cyber-bully. When Gmail became open for social networking (Google Buzz), we had some issues where students were bullying others - and, unlike Facebook, conversations were open for all to see... And, the user cannot have "selected friends" like that on Facebook. Although this specific issue was conducted off of school premises, it was a springboard for future expectations in acceptable use policies and as a means of communication that we were going to have zero tolerance for bullying! Again, our librarian conducted some trainings with the 3rd, 4th & 5th graders and revisited our community agreements.
 Fortunately, I teach 2nd grade and have been doing so long enough to know if the sites we are using, (with many of million of thanks to our librarian and the library resources page) are appropirate for 7 and 8 year olds!

4. Explain briefly how you plan to share the idea of digital citizenship with your parents. 

I usually share this information during open house.  I also spend a lot of time with my classroom about it at the beginning of school!  Here is what it somewhat looks like:

Each year, I discuss how it is a privilege to be able to have access to so much technology.  Then, using a pair share process, we discuss what it means to have privileges.  We list privileges that they may have at home.  Then, using a T-Chart, we talk about ways we lose those privileges & the consequences that follow.  After that, we discuss what happens when you abuse the privilege.  This is the key to setting the stage of what MY expectations of my students are.

I also explain to them that everything is tracked to their name and that people constantly are watching where they go, what they are looking at, etc...  If they happen to open something up that is not appropriate, then they should close out quickly - making sure they do not bring any attention to what was on the screen (that means no giggling or telling a friend about it too).

Next, I place the fear of God (not really but I try) in them and state that if they misuse any of the devices, they will not be able to use them for the remainder of the year.  Instead, they will go back to the way in which I grew up learning (books) and complete research that way.  So, if they decide to do something inappropriate, they will use board games and cards instead of fun and cool apps!  That seemed to do the job last year!

This past year, I had one person who placed inappropriate comments on a site.  I had her speak to our librarian about it and had a parent - teacher conference with her parents.  She did lose the privilege to work in the library and with peers.  She had to sit right next to me at all times where I could visibly see what she was doing.  This was not something she liked at all!