Digital citizenship is something I believe many teachers have got wrong, not because we aim to not inform our students but so much of our teaching load has been devoted to covering content that we have failed to teach and demonstrate these vital skills to students. We teach young people how to research and the skills associated with this but this seems to be where it stops. Does it stop here because teachers don’t really know what is involved in being a good digital citizen or is it assumed that these skills are being explored at home with their family?

I am guilty of teaching cyber bullying and being safe online and calling it a day, proud of the job I have done in equipping students to be safe online but exploring the key factors of digital citizenship has brought to my attention the massive gap we expect students to just fill in on their own.

It seems the approach of many educational facilties is to block every possible site for students in the hope of keeping them safe but have we prepared students to be  digital citizens when in school we limit their access and then send them home knowing they are using these platforms but with no real skills into how to be informed, responsible and the decision makers of their own digital wellness (Greenhow, 2010).

We as educators need to do better.  We need to be teaching students that their online behaviour needs to adhere to standards. Standards that look into legal and ethical aspects as well as looking at how we treat others and how we protect ourselves (Ribble & Park, 2019). If our aim is to make our global community a better place for all then understanding the remifications of what can happen when we don’t adhere to the standards expected of us by our educational facility and our government is a important lesson. The power that students have when they interact online is one that should not be taken lightly. They have the ability to insight change whether negative or positive, they have an impact.

It has been identified that teachers need to model and instruct their students on being digital citizens but with this expectation put upon teachers the question lies in how do teachers do this? (Greenhow, 2010). The teacher librarian is perfectly placed as the information specialist to drive this movement within their school.  Teacher librarians are experts as collaboration and  sharing their knowledge with staff and offering support to teachers. Teacher librarians need to take up the call and drive this for their school.

It is my hope that the students I teach can benefit from my new understanding and the identified errors I have made in my teaching practice.

Resources

Greenhow, C. (2010). A new concept of citizenship for the digital age. Learning & leading with technology, 37(6), 24-25.

Ribble, M., & Park, M. (2019). The digital citizenship handbook for school leaders, fostering positive interactions online.