As an Educator within the Vocational Education sector, I am acutely aware of the technology requirements of industry, in my vocational specialization. I have a high level of technical skill, that extend to the creation or VR content, or the simple creation of a template. However, the technical skill that I possess, has admittedly not extended to the application of technology specifically for digital citizenship. This unit has provided me the opportunity to further extend my understanding and knowledge of Digital Citizenship to encompass a multi-dimensional awareness (Martin, et al., 2019, p. 239).
Initially, my view of digital citizenship was quite broad and ambiguous, as highlighted in my introduction for the unit on the discussion board
‘As a digital Technology major, I feel that the area of digital citizenship underpins all aspects of what we do in terms of the integration of technology in education and the wider development of digital literacy.’ (Papas, 2021)
The vast interpretations and models that underpin Digital Citizenship as a concept, allowed me to explore and establish those that are best suited to my Vocational Education learning environment. I was able establish that the development of incumbent skills, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours are critical to all aspects of the students learning, including the development of requisite skills required for life outside of the classroom (Ribble, 2015). The three principles and nine elements of digital citizenship, from Ribble (2015), have already been impactful in terms of my integration and approach to technology in my Digital Learning Environment.
Social Media
As an educator, I take pride in my ability to effectively mentor the students into careers and lifelong learning. The use of social media in my vocational space is critical, and as such, I addressed the importance of social media and the careful consideration that must be made in my DLE in my blog post here. I additionally acknowledged in discussion forum Topic 1.1 and Topic 3.3 that I have established social media profiles that encompass both my personal and professional life, fostering a mentor and lead-by-example approach to social media (Papas, 2021). I will continue to utilise social media in my context, however with a greater understanding of the principles of digital citizenship in mind.
Reflection on my own DLE
The design of learning environments is critically important to my own epistemology, having professional and robust knowledge of physical spaces and an acute understanding of the design of e-learning spaces. The learning within this unit has allowed the development of a greater understanding of the tools, skills, standards, attitudes and habits for learning whilst using and accessing digital resources, as highlighted here in Interact2. Whilst I am fortunate to be very well resourced in my classroom in terms of physical technology, the approach to the development and building of this is not supported by any plan. Rather an ad-hoc and reactive approach is undertaken and as such does not provide a constructive approach to building integrated digital learning environment across physical and digital environments. This approach contravenes the theories posited in Module 3.1: the digital learning environment – which focuses on the anatomy of personalised learning, and methods in which learners can build, design and own their learning environments to support their lifelong learning (Wheeler, 2015 p.124).
Applying my learning
Utilising this knowledge I obtained, I extended my own digital literacy capabilities, by running a pilot with adult learners and their teachers, undertaking a project that allowed for the exploration of a Next Generation Digital Learning Environment (NGDLE), whilst incorporating the elements and principles of Digital Citizenship. This project utilized the Digital citizenship guide I created for Assessment 1, as a basis for their learning and engagement. Building capability around access, collaboration, personalization, digital security, right and responsibilities, and building digital literacy through the establishment of an e-portfolio that will support them through their learning and into further education and the workplace.
Further learning
Inspired by Modules 5 and 6, and envisaging the role of a digital citizenship leader alongside Linday and Davis’ (2013) Enlightened Digital Citizenship model (I examined this here), I felt it was necessary to further extend myself and my knowledge of the issues surrounding Digital Law, Privacy, security and safety. When exploring these concepts, Big Data and learning analytics arose as a common theme in leading in the digital learning environment. As an educator working within the Vocational sector, using learning analytics to inform my delivery, it was critical for me to extend my understanding surrounding these concepts. Understanding how to mitigate risk in this space will be critically important to my role as an educator and digital leader in the future (Chaurasia & Rosin, 2017; Holloway, 2020).
My growth in the digital citizenship space has been substantial. I look forward to further developing these skills, building a PLN and continuing to utilize social media as a positive platform for industry collaboration and learning.
References
Chaurasia, S., & Rosin, A. (2017). From Big Data to Big Impact: analytics for teaching and learning in higher education. Industrial and Commercial Training, 49(7), 321-326.https://doi-org/10.1108/ICT-10-2016-0069
Holloway, K. (2020). Big Data and learning analytics in higher education: Legal and ethical considerations. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 32(4), 276-285. https://doi-org./10.1080/1941126X.2020.1821992
Martin, F., Gezer, T., & Wang, C. (2019). Educators’ Perceptions of Student Digital Citizenship Practices. Computers in the Schools, 36(4), 238-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2019.1674621
Papas, B. (2021, February 17). Introductions.
Papas, B. (2021, March 2). Topic 1.2 Digital Citizenship for Educators.
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital Citizenship in Schools : Nine Elements All Students Should Know (Vol. Third Edition). Oregon: ISTE.
Wheeler, S. (2015). Learning with e’s: Educational theory and practice in the digital age. Crown House Publishing.