KimberlyandIcollaboratedusinggoogledocsandemail.

+TeamD&J:Whatcanwedoasinstitutions,companies,andschoolstohelpstudentsto
becomebetterdigitalcitizensintheuseofmobilemedia(seearticlesbelow,themobilevideo,
orchooseoneofyourown)?Providetwoexamplesofwhatcanbedonethroughteachingor
training.

Digitalcitizenshipishowapersonactswhenusingdigitalservices.OntheDigitalCitizenship
webpagetheynotedthatDigitalcitizenshipcanbeusedasateachingtool,itisawayto
preparestudents/technologyusersforasocietyfulloftechnology.Teachingourstudents
digitalcitizenshipisimportantbecausetheirwholelivesareimmersedintechnology.
ResearchbyCommonSenseMedia,anindependentnonprofitworkingwithparentsand
educatorstoimprovekidslivesinaworldofmediaandtechnology,foundthatournations
childrenspendmoretimewithmediaanddigitalactivitiesthantheydowiththeirfamiliesorin
school,whichprofoundlyimpactstheirsocial,emotional,andphysicaldevelopment(Orth&
Chen,2013).
Teachingdigitalcitizenshipallowsstudentstobereadytoparticipateinadigitalworld("What
isdigital,"2011).Teachersshouldincorporatetechnologyintotheclassroom.Using
technologyisarequiredskillstudentsmusthavetobepreparedtoenterthejobmarketsome
day.Atthesametimethereisalsoaresponsibilitytoteachstudentstousetechnology
correctlyandsafely.

Itisimportanttoincorporatedigitalcitizenshipintotheclassroomifschoolsareprovidingthe
technology.Fiftyonepercentof16yearoldssharetheirage/birthdatesaysNJEA.com.
Whileasmuchas24%of18yearoldssharepasswordsandusernames.Therearemany
morealarmingstatisticsthatshowthenaivetyofstudents.

Therearemanyplans,programsandcurriculumsavailabletoincorporatedigitalcitizenship
intotheclassroom.Therearestepsthatcanbetakentoputsomeoftheseintoactioninthe
schoolsystem.Alllevelsneedtobeincludedintheplanofaction.Districtpersonnel,
buildingadministrationandleadership,classroomteachers,students,andparents(Orth&
Chen,2013).Policiesneedtobewritten,teachersneedtobetrainedandparentsneedtobe
engaged(Orth&Chen,2013).

OnewaytoteachdigitalcitizenshipisoutlinedinthevideoWhatisDigitalCitizenship.The
videodiscussesafreeprogramfromcommonsense.orgthatleadsstudentsthroughaseries
oflessonsondifferentaspectsofdigitalcitizenship.Theprogramteachesaboutmanytopics
includingstudentsdigitalfootprintandwhatinformationissafetoputonsocialmedia.It
seemstobeahighlyengagingwaytoteachstudents,havingthemcreateitemssuchas
fakebookpages("Whatisdigital,"2011).

AnothergoodresourceforteachingstudentsonlinecitizenshipwasprovidedbythewebsiteA
PlatformforGoodwheretheysuggestscaffoldinglessonsbasedonthegradelevel.Thelist
goesasfollows:

1.Cyberbullyingeveryyear,K8
2.Digitalcitizenshipeveryyear,K8
3.Internetsafetyeveryyear,K8
4.Netiquettestartin1stgradeandrepeatyearly
5.Passwordsstartin1stgradeandrepeatyearly
6.Digitalrightsandresponsibilitiesstart1stor2ndgrade.
7.Digitalcommunicationstartwhenstudentsaccessmultiplayergames
8.Digitalprivacystartin2ndgradeandrepeatyearly
9.Digitallawstartwhenstudentslearninternetsearchesandrepeatyearly
10.Digitalsearchandresearchstartwhenstudentsbegininternetsearchesandrepeat
yearly
11.Digitalfootprintstartin3rdgradeandrepeatyearly
12.Netiquettestartin3rdgradeandrepeatyearly
13.Digitalrightsandresponsibilitiesstartin3rdgradeandrepeatyearly
14.Digitalcommercestartin5thgradeandrepeatyearly
15.Socialmediastartin6thgradeandrepeatyearly

Whatisniceaboutthislistisitbeginsteachingtheselessonsatthemostbasiclevel.Often
timestheyoungergradescangetoverlookedwiththemindsetthattheyaretooyoungtofind
themselvesintroubleortomakepoordecisions.Thefactofthematterisjustlikeanykeyto
prevention,theearlieronelearnsthegreaterchancesofsuccess.Thisstrategyalsohelps
reinforcetopicsforstudentsyearafteryearaswell.

Astheyearsandtechnologyprogressthereisagrowingneedtoteachchildrentheproper
etiquetteonline.Teachers,administrators,andparentsneedtoworktogethertoteach
childrentobesafeandmakesmartdecisionsonline.

References

Digitalcitizenship:responsibletechnologyuseintheclassroom.(n.d.).NJEA.org.Retrieved
October26,2013,from
http://www.njea.org/newsandpublications/njeareview/january2013/digitalcitizenshiprespon
sibletechnologyuseintheclassroom

Murray,J.(2013,April8).HowtoTeachYourStudentsDigitalCitizenship.APlatformfor
Good.RetrievedOctober26,2013,from
http://www.aplatformforgood.org/blog/entry/howtoteachyourstudentsdigitalcitizenship

Orth,D.,&Chen,E.(2013).Thestrategyfordigitalcitizenshipchildreninadigitalworld.
Retrievedfrom
http://www.nais.org/MagazinesNewsletters/ISMagazine/Pages/TheStrategyforDigitalCitize
nship.aspx
(Orth&Chen,2013)

Whatisdigitalcitizenship?[Web].(2011).Retrievedfrom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCkTmZ0bF5Q