Blog Post 1: Being a Digital Citizen
I believe I am a good digital citizen. I am careful about what I post online, share relevant and true information, review what community groups I join and am very vigilant on my privacy settings. I have always been like this – Or so I thought. Having recently discovered that I had been lulled into a false sense of security I had to question – What actually made a good Digital Citizen?
image https://www.acc.edu.au/blog/raising-responsible-digital-citizens/
According to the NSW Dept of Education policy ( student uses of digital devices and online services) A good digital citizen is “Respectful, Responsible and safe” But how do we know what this actually looks like in the online world? As teachers, I think we have been at the forefront of Digital citizenship for some time – this is not a new concept for us – so why do so many students continue to take risks about their information online? (Internet Safety: Raising Teenagers ).
It has been a long time since I have googled myself. I simply assumed that because I believed myself so vigilant about my information online and had already in place the appropriate privacy controls that I was safe
Boy was I wrong!
Gif from Parks and Recreation
How could I have been so naive? So many of my Social Media posts had come up in the Google Search ( admittedly, I did have to complete an advanced boolean search to be able to find them) how had I forgotten about the privacy settings of public groups?! Isn’t this what I specifically teach my students to avoid in my Digital Literacy classes?!
In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg stated that “People no longer have to have an expectation of privacy” ( The Guardian 2010), Yes, this was 12 years ago, but I believe that this is more relevant than ever. We as teachers can no longer avoid hiding on the digital front. We can longer expect that our lives remain private, especially if we have an online presence ( Alexander Samuel 2017) This is more important now than ever, due to the amount of misinformation being perpetrated on social media and with the advent of the Depts new equity and respect policies (2022).
Does this mean that I am going to actively sign up to every social media platform known to man – no, but it does mean that I am going to be far more critical about what I put up for the world to see; As for right now, however, deleting some unflattering photos might just be in order…
Raising Children Network. 2022. Digital citizenship: teens being responsible online. [online] Available at: <https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/entertainment-technology/digital-life/digital-citizenship> [Accessed 4 March 2022].
the Guardian. 2022. Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy> [Accessed 4 March 2022].
ACC Blog. 2022. Raising responsible digital citizens. [online] Available at: <https://www.acc.edu.au/blog/raising-responsible-digital-citizens/> [Accessed 4 March 2022].
Samuel, A., 2022. How Librarians Can Be Digital Mentors for Teens – JSTOR Daily. [online] JSTOR Daily. Available at: <https://daily.jstor.org/how-librarians-can-be-digital-mentors-for-teens/> [Accessed 4 March 2022].
Education.nsw.gov.au. 2022. Student use of digital devices and online services. [online] Available at: <https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd-2020-0471> [Accessed 4 March 2022].
