In our current
reality, which is the 21st century, our world is bombarded with
technology. Most of us would consider
ourselves wired in. For better or for
worse, we have married ourselves to technology, web 2.0 and all of the
responsibilities and consequences that come along with this particular
marriage. It is because of this digital
world, that we have to be aware of both our digital footprint, and in return,
our digital citizenship, because of that footprint. There are both positives and negatives to the
responsibility of our individual digital citizenship. As educators, we have a responsibility to
teach our students about good digital citizenship. Why would it not be our job, when we are
expected to be one of the many influences who shape them into a good citizen in
general?
As awareness and
possible dangers of individual digital footprints grow, so does the awareness
of shaping that footprint into the practice of being a good digital
citizen. However, as David Nagel points
out in his article, 'Banning Is Not the Answer' to Mobile and Social Tools in
Schools, policy makers may need to draft policies to reform citizenship in the
digital age, but it will not progress our students, if they were to ban the
digital world all together. It is our
reality now, and we as educators, have a responsibility to help our youth find
the balance between being a digital citizen, and being an actual citizen, and
make sure that line stays clear.
It is scary to
be a digital citizen in this day and age, because it is such a new frontier,
but that does not mean we should live in fear.
There are so many useful tools out there that can help our schools teach
our students material in an interesting, more efficient way. It would be a terrible investment choice to
stop that now, because of fear of sexual predators, or identity theft. Those things are very real, but because of
the fact that everything is now accessed anytime, anywhere, by the push of a
button, the media may be picking that ball up and running with it, as Benjamin Radford points out. The media thrives on
fear, because it makes or breaks an interesting story, and at some point, this
may prove to work against the 21st century education system. It is our job to make sure students know how
to stay one step ahead of that, and stay safe online, while using it to their
advantage.
As
we explore the advantages of practicing good digital citizenship, we may
realize that the fundamental skills we teach along the way, may make our
students the best that they can be, without even really realizing it, until we
are finding ourselves reading a blog, or comment that a student in third grade
wrote, like Jac de Haan found himself reading.
The discovery that we have not only taught the material, but that the
fundamentals that we teach along the way, are being used in both expression and
communication in a meaningful way may be our confidence builder that we are supplying the
world with competent, digital citizens.
"It is scary to be a digital citizen in this day and age, because it is such a new frontier, but that does not mean we should live in fear. There are so many useful tools out there that can help our schools teach our students material in an interesting, more efficient way. " I like this a lot. We can't live in fear but educate our students to know what to do if they are ever approached by a stranger online. It is important to teach them the correct ways rather than rely on banning and hoping they figure it out at home.
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