Cybersmart
Cybersmart is a national cybersafety and cybersecurity education program managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), as part of theAustralian Government's commitment to cybersafety. The program is specifically designed to meet the needs of its target audiences of children, young people, parents, teachers and library staff.
Digital Citizenship
"Digital citizenship" is an umbrella term that covers a whole host of important issues. Broadly, it's the guidelines for responsible, appropriate behavior when one is using technology. But specifically, it can cover anything from "netiquette" to cyberbullying; technology access and the digital divide; online safety and privacy; copyright, plagiarism, and digital law, and more. In fact, some programs that teach digital citizenship have outlined no less than nine elements that intersect to inform a well-equipped digital citizen. It's an overwhelming array of skills to be taught and topics to explore.
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Even Our Youngest Students Need Digital Citizenship Skills
Posted by Kathy Cassidy on Jun 26, 2014 in The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices |
Introduction
As the Internet becomes an increasingly important part of all of our lives, children are spending more time online as well. And they are doing this largely without any guidance about what is responsible or appropriate online.
While my six- and seven-year old students don’t yet even understand the words “digital” or “citizenship,” they also need direction and support as they explore online spaces. In fact, they need this instruction even more than their older counterparts.
My students will live in a digital world. Computers and Internet-enabled devices have always been a part of their life experience. They are growing up with the expectation that they, too, will have uninterrupted access to digital devices. It only makes sense to prepare them for this.
They are already online. By the time children arrive in my first grade classroom, they have usually had unrestricted access to the Internet, at least at some point. By Grade 1, many have watched umpteen YouTube videos and can easily navigate to their favorite sites using whatever technology they have at home. As their teacher, I want to give them some direction in these uncharted waters.
Parents want help “drawing the line.” Since this proliferation of access and devices happened after my students’ parents grew up, they have no parental model of their own to follow. As they try to decide how much time to allow their children online, what sites to allow access to and what their privacy settings on Facebook should be, I find parents eager to know what limits I think are appropriate. They also appreciate that their children are getting some guidance at school about being responsible online.
What should instruction look like?
If teaching digital citizenship to primary students is important, what should it look like? Clearly talks about privacy settings and the dangers of posting too many selfies with alcoholic beverages in hand are not called for at this point in their lives.
These are three main ideas that I try to instill in my young students.
Be Safe – Since students in my classroom all have their own blog and also post fairly regularly on Twitter, safety does need to be a primary concern. In a nutshell, my policy is this:
There have been times when parents have inadvertently used their last name in a blog comment. We always read and celebrate these comments, but I do not post them because they could help to identify the child.
I have also had instances in which a child wanted to refer to something in a blog post that would clearly identify which one of the children pictured on my classroom blog he was – such as referring to something he’s doing, his ethnicity or another obvious physical characteristic. In all of these cases, I have talked to the child, and later to the class with that child’s permission, about why we don’t want to identify the child by their picture.
Be Respectful – With six- and seven-year olds, the talk in our classroom is often about being kind. We have always talked about this in relation to things that are happening on the playground and in the classroom, but in the last decade that kindness has also extended to what we post online.
Children easily understand how to leave a comment that they would like to receive themselves – how to focus on the good rather than the bad and how to be sure that their “best work” is what goes online. Numerous teachable moments about this topic come up every year and I try to take advantage of these moments.
In past years I have had students who, after an argument, write a blog post denouncing the other child. Because I see everything before it is posted, I have been able to talk to the children involved and later the entire class about whether they still feel the same way about their friend (they have usually forgotten the offense) and about the permanence of posting something online. These moments have been learning opportunities for the entire class.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my students was angry and as an outlet, began posting tweets full of nonsense letters and the word “poop” on our classroom Twitter account. Someone who follows our account immediately alerted me to this.
What a wonderful discussion starter this tweet was! And a lesson to all of the children that when we post online, someone really is watching.
Be a Learner – In all of our discussions and posting online, I try to instill in the children the notion that the Internet is a place to learn. Many of them already know that there is other “stuff” online, but we focus on places where we can learn, such as other classrooms whose blog posts we read or the people and classrooms we follow on Twitter.
Instances come up every year where a student clicks on an advertisement and is taken to somewhere he did not expect, or someone decides to do a search for a new word she has learned (why is it that children who cannot remember how to spell their sight words seem to know how to spell “poop” and “boob”?).
In all of these instances, we talk again about why we shouldn’t click on any unknown links and about how we can use the Internet as a place to learn as long as we know how to navigate it properly.
Reading over Skype
A firm foundation opens up the world. With these basic beliefs firmly in place, my students have been free to explore, share and to learn online, developing digital citizenship skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. [Schools that cannot use Skype may find Google+ hangouts an option]
In the past year we have played Guess My Number with a class in Italy via Twitter, commented on the blogs of other classes and received comments in return, made a video to answer questions from a class in Dublin and participated in many other curriculum-related events online.
All these activities have helped them to learn not only the curriculum outcomes but valuable cross-cultural skills such as curiosity, empathy and understanding of similarities and differences between themselves and others who live far away.
They know how to be safe, to be respectful, and above all, to be online learners. That’s what digital citizenship is all about.
Introduction
As the Internet becomes an increasingly important part of all of our lives, children are spending more time online as well. And they are doing this largely without any guidance about what is responsible or appropriate online.
While my six- and seven-year old students don’t yet even understand the words “digital” or “citizenship,” they also need direction and support as they explore online spaces. In fact, they need this instruction even more than their older counterparts.
My students will live in a digital world. Computers and Internet-enabled devices have always been a part of their life experience. They are growing up with the expectation that they, too, will have uninterrupted access to digital devices. It only makes sense to prepare them for this.
They are already online. By the time children arrive in my first grade classroom, they have usually had unrestricted access to the Internet, at least at some point. By Grade 1, many have watched umpteen YouTube videos and can easily navigate to their favorite sites using whatever technology they have at home. As their teacher, I want to give them some direction in these uncharted waters.
Parents want help “drawing the line.” Since this proliferation of access and devices happened after my students’ parents grew up, they have no parental model of their own to follow. As they try to decide how much time to allow their children online, what sites to allow access to and what their privacy settings on Facebook should be, I find parents eager to know what limits I think are appropriate. They also appreciate that their children are getting some guidance at school about being responsible online.
What should instruction look like?
If teaching digital citizenship to primary students is important, what should it look like? Clearly talks about privacy settings and the dangers of posting too many selfies with alcoholic beverages in hand are not called for at this point in their lives.
These are three main ideas that I try to instill in my young students.
Be Safe – Since students in my classroom all have their own blog and also post fairly regularly on Twitter, safety does need to be a primary concern. In a nutshell, my policy is this:
- Get signed permission from the parents.
- Make sure the parents understand what we are doing.
- Involve parents in our online activities.
- Nothing gets posted online unless I see it first.
- Never match a student’s name with their picture.
- Never post a student’s last name.
There have been times when parents have inadvertently used their last name in a blog comment. We always read and celebrate these comments, but I do not post them because they could help to identify the child.
I have also had instances in which a child wanted to refer to something in a blog post that would clearly identify which one of the children pictured on my classroom blog he was – such as referring to something he’s doing, his ethnicity or another obvious physical characteristic. In all of these cases, I have talked to the child, and later to the class with that child’s permission, about why we don’t want to identify the child by their picture.
Be Respectful – With six- and seven-year olds, the talk in our classroom is often about being kind. We have always talked about this in relation to things that are happening on the playground and in the classroom, but in the last decade that kindness has also extended to what we post online.
Children easily understand how to leave a comment that they would like to receive themselves – how to focus on the good rather than the bad and how to be sure that their “best work” is what goes online. Numerous teachable moments about this topic come up every year and I try to take advantage of these moments.
In past years I have had students who, after an argument, write a blog post denouncing the other child. Because I see everything before it is posted, I have been able to talk to the children involved and later the entire class about whether they still feel the same way about their friend (they have usually forgotten the offense) and about the permanence of posting something online. These moments have been learning opportunities for the entire class.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my students was angry and as an outlet, began posting tweets full of nonsense letters and the word “poop” on our classroom Twitter account. Someone who follows our account immediately alerted me to this.
What a wonderful discussion starter this tweet was! And a lesson to all of the children that when we post online, someone really is watching.
Be a Learner – In all of our discussions and posting online, I try to instill in the children the notion that the Internet is a place to learn. Many of them already know that there is other “stuff” online, but we focus on places where we can learn, such as other classrooms whose blog posts we read or the people and classrooms we follow on Twitter.
Instances come up every year where a student clicks on an advertisement and is taken to somewhere he did not expect, or someone decides to do a search for a new word she has learned (why is it that children who cannot remember how to spell their sight words seem to know how to spell “poop” and “boob”?).
In all of these instances, we talk again about why we shouldn’t click on any unknown links and about how we can use the Internet as a place to learn as long as we know how to navigate it properly.
Reading over Skype
A firm foundation opens up the world. With these basic beliefs firmly in place, my students have been free to explore, share and to learn online, developing digital citizenship skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. [Schools that cannot use Skype may find Google+ hangouts an option]
In the past year we have played Guess My Number with a class in Italy via Twitter, commented on the blogs of other classes and received comments in return, made a video to answer questions from a class in Dublin and participated in many other curriculum-related events online.
All these activities have helped them to learn not only the curriculum outcomes but valuable cross-cultural skills such as curiosity, empathy and understanding of similarities and differences between themselves and others who live far away.
They know how to be safe, to be respectful, and above all, to be online learners. That’s what digital citizenship is all about.
Video resources
Here are some video resources to teach digital citizenship and internet safetyNote: always review videos prior to showing children to ensure they are age appropriate to your child or class
17 Cartoon Videos Explaining the Internet and Internet Safety to Kids
Video Playlist: Teaching Digital Citizenship
Whatever the angle you'd like to focus on, you should be able to find some strong materials to supplement your work. Here's a list of resources, organizations, and reading materials to help you get started.
17 Cartoon Videos Explaining the Internet and Internet Safety to Kids
Video Playlist: Teaching Digital Citizenship
- What is Digital Citizenship? (05:19)This succinct video from BeCyberwise describes why digital citizenship is so important. Includes a clip of Howard Gardner speaking about his GoodPlay project and a peek at Common Sense Media's comprehensive Digital Citizenship curriculum.
- Be a Digital Citizen (02:13)Need a quick and simple clip to introduce the concept of digital citizenship to parents or students? This video gives some statistics about internet and social media usage and then describes the many ways in which we are all affected on a daily basis by our technology use.
- Go Figure 2 -- Online Safety Version (04:15)Produced by the international Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), this animated video zips through a flurry of statistics about young people and online safety. It paints a powerful picture of how important it is to get these conversations started.
- Out Of Your Hands (01:06)Watch in dismay as an inappropriate photograph travels in just one minute from one poor naive teen girl to an online stalker, ending with the admonition "Think before you post." This video was produced by public service announcement (PSA) veterans the Ad Council.
- Digital Citizenship Curriculum Training Introduction (06:24)This intro video for teachers from Common Sense Media gives a good idea of the goals and the features of the free K-12 program they've developed. The three topics they focus on are safety and security, digital citizenship, and research and information literacy. Also worth watching: this video on their cyberbullying curriculum.
- TEDxUIUC - Sherry Turkle - Alone Together (16:24)Thought-provoking TED Talk by MIT professor Sherry Turkle, who has spent much of the last 30 years researching how people relate with technology. It's a long clip at sixteen minutes, but would make a fabulous discussion starter for a lesson on how we function in this culture of connectivity.
- Digital Dossier (04:24)This fascinating narrative follows the digital journey of the fictional "Andy" from pre-birth to adulthood by tracking his "digital footprint." It can be illuminating to stop and think about how much personal information we're putting out on the Web. Produced by the Digital Natives Project.
- YouTube Digital Citizenship Curriculum (01:35)Another option for free digital literacy curriculum is this one developed by Google and YouTube, who have strong motivations for training young people to be savvy tech users. If YouTube is blocked in your school, please do check out YouTube for Schools, a portal that allows your school to access white-listed educational YouTube content safely and securely.
- Invasion of the Data Snatchers: How To Protect Your Online Privacy (04:02)This animated video from Reputation.com manages to be at once cute and menacing. Though geared towards adults, it's a great wake-up call about online privacy issues, and although they're ultimately pushing a paid product, they have some good free resources and privacy protection tools.
- Our Kids' Connected Culture - Overview for Parents and Teachers (05:56)Another great video from Common Sense Media. The MySpace references make it feel little dated, but the issues the teen girl is talking about are just as typical today. It's nice to hear directly from young people about their experiences, and there is a section of tips at the end that are really useful.
- Digital Citizen (01:00)Here's a great idea for a classroom project that teaches about copyright and usage issues while also exploring the themes of digital literacy: have kids create a slideshow video with Creative Commons images about the big questions of digital citizenship.
- Netiquette - Playing Nice on the Internet (03:20)Look past the slightly cheesy opening -- this video is a tidy roundup of the basics of good netiquette, something all of us could use a refresher on. Did you know the rules of netiquette pre-date the Web as we know it?
Whatever the angle you'd like to focus on, you should be able to find some strong materials to supplement your work. Here's a list of resources, organizations, and reading materials to help you get started.
- Edutopia's Digital Citizenship Resource Roundup
- #digcit hashtag on Twitter
- The Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship
- Digital Literacy and Citizenship Classroom Curriculum (Grades K-12) fromCommon Sense Media
- Curriculum: Understanding YouTube & Digital Citizenship (Grades 7-12) fromGoogle in Education
- Cable in the Classroom's Digital Citizenship Resource Page
- Cyberwise Website
- Netsmartz Teacher Page from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
- Born Digital Video Series from Youth and Media's Digital Natives Project
- Digital Community, Digital Citizenship by Jason Ohler (he also offers a Digital Citizenship resources page)
