What Does Digital Citizenship Mean for Schools?
As technology’s presence in everyday life continues to grow, children have to navigate the digital space in whole new ways. What does digital citizenship mean for students growing into this ever more digital world with dangers and problems that may be unseen or not understood by students? It is schools’ responsibility to help educate and inform students of how to use digital technology responsibly, safely, and securely.
What Does Digital Citizenship Mean in Today’s Technologically Driven World?
This article about teaching digital citizenship aims to share schools’ and teachers’ understandings of the importance of online responsibility and safety. We also provide effective ways to inspire and encourage digital citizenship in the classroom to help inform and protect your students.
Core competencies for digital citizenship should be sprinkled into the everyday use of technology. This is easy in a hybrid classroom, teaching proper research activities and more ideas.
Digital Literacy
Technology is important in every aspect of today’s society. Therefore, teaching digital literacy and understanding how to communicate respectfully, responsively, and appropriately is a key element of competency that all students should learn.
Even within the educational institution, digital literacy is key to undertaking research, fulfilling tasks, and citing sources. Identifying and using proper sourcing is key to becoming a good digital citizen and being responsible with the use of online tools.
This principle is particularly poignant with the accessibility of machine learning AI like ChatGPT. Proper education can put this tool into context, informing students of the use cases and limits of the technology so that they understand not to rely on it as a source of information or to use it for their assignments.
As children now grow up with technology all around them, their digital literacy may be greater than that of their teachers, although their conception of risk and safety precautions may not be. Educating teachers on the basics of technology and internet use is important to help protect students.
Senso Learn is a Learning Management System (LMS) designed for teachers and school staff. This LMS includes pre-made micro-learning courses covering key elements of digital skills, and schools can add their custom modules to cover other principles. With Senso Learn, teachers can test their knowledge, staying up to date on the latest procedures and best practices around technology.
Digital Responsibility
Communicating this idea to children can be difficult, with the increased presence of technology in children’s lives increasing year on year, changing behaviors to ensure responsible use of the internet can be a tricky concept to teach.
The divide between the real world and the digital world is becoming more and more blurred, therefore, the way that a child can behave bleeds through. How we act online now more than ever impacts the real world. Therefore, teaching this principle of digital citizenship helps to empower students in their online actions, guiding them towards safe expression online.
Digital Wellbeing and Health
Digital responsibility also accounts for responsibilities to health and wellbeing linked to the amount of time online. Time limits on technology use, including enforced breaks during classes which teachers can dictate with message and screen lock modules as part of the Class Cloud software.
With this software, teachers can send warning messages regularly during an assignment using student technology to encourage students to take a break. The best practice is to follow the 20-20-20 rule. This means that every 20 minutes, you should look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This is important to prevent eye strain and discomfort.
Digital Footprint
Awareness of digital footprints is a key tool for young digital citizens. Students must be taught to understand the long-term influences that their online actions can have. This is a key responsibility that must be instilled at an early age to foster mindfulness and sensible activity online.
Teaching these key ideas should be a unified effort across schools and even throughout school districts. Each child should have the same information available to best take care of their online presence, and have access to support if they have any concerns with their online privacy. In addition to being the best practice to protect students’ well-being, it is also a legal requirement for schools under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Digital Safety
The introduction of technology into the classroom expands the boundaries of access for students, but this means that clear boundaries are important for safety. A list of dos and don’ts is important to clarify to ensure proper digital safety.
These rules should be a regular feature of classroom learning, especially during hybrid learning with student devices. Teachers should provide verbal reminders and even create posters for the front of the class. These reminders help further instill the important principles of safety for students.
Key Lessons to Encourage Digital Safety for Students:
- Using different, safe passwords for each account
- Not giving out sensitive information
- Identifying and avoiding phishing attempts
Teachers can help enforce these rules with classroom software that provides real-time monitoring services. Class Cloud’s teacher dashboard provides a thumbnail or list mode where teachers can view their class’s devices. Real-time monitoring means that any issues can be raised and addressed quickly before they develop into larger issues.
Support Digital Citizenship in your Schools with Senso Software
Are you looking for a software solution for your school? Get your Free Demo of Senso software today or contact our team for more information at 866-664-1520.