Digital Citizenship
Understanding Digital Citizenship
"a holistic and positive approach to helping students learn how to be safe and secure, as well as smart and effective participants in a digital world. That means helping them understand their rights and responsibilities, recognize the benefits and risks and realize the personal and ethical implications of their actions."
Our district has adopted the nine key elements of digital citizenship that were generated by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). These are helpful in defining how to best use technology in our school, home and community. They're organized into three primary categories:
Respect
- Digital access: Advocating for equal digital rights and access is where digital citizenship starts.
- Digital etiquette: Rules and policies aren't enough - we need to teach everyone about appropriate conduct online.
- Digital law: It's critical that users understand it's a crime to steal or damage another's digital work, identity or property.
Educate
- Digital communication: With so many communication options available, users need to learn how to make appropriate decisions.
- Digital literacy: We need to teach students how to learn in a digital society.
- Digital commerce: As users make more purchases online, they must understand how to be effective consumers in a digital economy.
Protect
- Digital rights and responsibilities: We must inform people of their basic digital rights to privacy, freedom of speech, etc.
- Digital safety and security: Digital citizens need to know how to protect their information from outside forces that might cause harm.
- Digital health and wellness: From physical issues, such as repetitive stress syndrome, to psychological issues, such as internet addiction, users should understand the health risks of technology.
Digital Citizenship is embedded into the curriculum at all grade levels. With the help of Common Sense Media we've constructed formal lessons as well as, engage in regular conversations with our students that address pertinent pieces of being an educated digital citizen.
Being a twenty first century learner means collaborating and communicating. It's important for our district to address digital citizenship because it reflects the world that our students live in. ~ Katelyn Kosterman
Other Resources
K-12 Student Start Page- links to all teacher websites and resources used in Kindergarten and 12th grade. **Parents, bookmark this page on your home computer! This is an excellent starting point for all students.
Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites - Excellent suggestions for "young" surfers to investigate topics they're interested in while protecting them from the stuff they're not ready to see.
