Learning Intention A – in this module, we are learning to consider digital citizenship from a personal and social perspective

As primary school educators, we might ask the question ‘What is Digital Citizenship anyway? and ‘Why is it even important?’ in this module we will take a look at what makes Digital Citizenship important to people today and real life Social Networking environments where young people are actively needing to draw upon and apply Digital Citizenship etiquette in order to keep them safe.

Check out the video from Common Sense Education defining Digital Citizenship

 

As educators, we are now in a digital world where children from as young as early childhood are interacting and socialising online in socially networked environments. Students are entering school as digital natives who can touch, swipe, video call, watch and respond online. It is a way for an individual to feel personally connected to others whether it is with friends and family or for personal and academic reasons. Increasingly, children are using social media and other digital technologies to facilitate the development of their social networks (Allen et al. 2014; Office of the eSafety Commissioner 2018)

As teachers in a primary setting, it is important to consider why children are engaging with online interactions and weigh up the pros and cons for using this platform for learning within the classroom.

Personal Digital Citizenship –

As described by the Digital Technologies Hub, Digital citizenship is about confident and positive engagement with digital technologies. By educating students about digital citizenship, they will have the opportunity to develop an understanding about the following concepts:

• digital and information literacy
• internet safety
• privacy and security
• cyberbullying, relationships, etiquette and communication
• creative credit and copyright
• digital footprint.

Surrendering to the fact that young people today will engage in online social networking, it is important as educators that we provide them with the tools to manage their personal e-reputation.  We often hear of incidents of negative online behaviours and deemed these as inappropriate, however educators now have a responsibility to help individuals to manage their online reputation and establish an appropriate digital footprint to reflect who they what to be perceived as online.

Nielsen, L. (2012, October 29) Describes e-reputation considerations, and provides educators with a strong starting point for discussions with students around managing their e-reputation and digital footprint.

Click the image to take you to the infographic

Key Learning Questions – 

• Can you think of a personal positive and negative interaction that you have had in a Social Network platform?
• What Digital Citizenship advice would you give to your students to prevent negative reactions or interactions when social networking?

Social Digital Citizenship –

As the World Wide Web develops and connectivity to the internet becomes more readily available to individual users, people now have ready access to 1:1 devices such as laptops, tablets and phones. We can be contacted and engage with individuals, groups and networks at anytime of the day thus making us feel involved and socially connected.

Navigating the online social world can be fun and engaging but also a platform where, if mismanaged can result in loneliness, negative interactions and isolation. The more we interact with these information spaces, the more the environment changes, and the very act of finding information reshapes not only the context that gives that information meaning but also the meaning itself” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 42).

Young people now interact socially on networking sites at all times of the day opening them up to potential cyberbullying situations, the question is, how much impact does this actually have on an individual and what can educators do about it? The Australian eSafety Commissioner completed research into the impact that cyberbullying has on young Australians under the age of 18 as seen below.

Key Learning Questions – 

• What percentage of your students are engaging regularly in social media or networking platforms?
• How often has negative online behaviours filtered into ‘real life’ social behaviour management issues at your school?
• How do you think social media use can be managed appropriately at a school based level?