Our students are preparing to engage in a world vastly different from the version we experienced as children. By the time our students graduate from high school, they will have created a permanent digital footprint and it is our responsibility to help each student understand what it means to practice appropriate Digital Citizenship.
Digital Citizenship is multi-faceted and includes some of the following elements:
- Digital Access – understanding that opportunities are not equally accessible to everyone
- Digital Communication – exchange of information through various platforms
- Digital Literacy – what technologies exist and how to use them effectively and responsibly
- Digital Etiquette – appropriate interactions instead of simply denying access
- Digital Laws – what is ethical and legal when engaging online
- Digital Security – self-protection of our online footprint and personal information
As we facilitate this awareness with students, many growth opportunities will present themselves. Students will leverage blogging to improve their writing skills, discover their own voices, engage in meaningful critical feedback with peers/teachers/parents and connect with individuals and communities across the globe. This is the way of learning in today’s world because the world is every student’s classroom.
While on this journey our students will make mistakes. They will post inappropriate content, comment disrespectfully or without thinking, use poor grammar and when they do, we will be there to take advantage of those teachable moments. Every time our students blog will be an opportunity to learn from mistakes and grow as a digital citizen. We encourage an ongoing dialogue with the MJDS, MKE and global community so that our students and staff continue on the path of lifelong learning.
As a reminder, simply go to our website, where all of our blogs are listed. The link can be found HERE
Aaron,
Thank you for this post. You have highlighted some important pieces here, not the least of which is the use of digital devices and environments as learning tools.
This truly isn’t about the technology, but the technology does matter. As you pointed out, the world is our classroom now and the technology is what connects us.
It is imperative that we teach our students how to question, how to connect, how to communicate, how to think (and re-think), how to listen, how to share and how to learn with these tools. Responsibly. Safely. Effectively.
The skills themselves are certainly not new. Yet, the technology adds a new literacy in which our learners need to become fluent. As with anything “new”, learners will need repeated practice and opportunities to try, fail and try again, if there’s any hope of developing true fluency in this new area of literacy.