As time presses onward, so does humanity. More specifically, the technical advances throughout history have truly shaped where we are today. I would consider the wheel to be one the greatest innovations that humanity has developed. The wheel is what truly allowed humanity to push forward to explore new territories and to provide aid in establishing new homes and promote wider expansion. Later in history, the printing press was created and served as an early tool to record and transmit data. The phone later brought real-time long-distance communication. The creation of the computer allowed humanity to truly take the next leap. Not too long after, the internet was born and made global communication easily possible. The internet creates endless opportunities and possibilities for individuals to go where they have never gone before. However, the internet also opens a host of opportunities for individuals to be compromised. Thanks to the internet, humanity now has a global community and we all must become digital citizens in this community. What does digital citizenship mean for us and how does it differ from normal citizenship? This is the thriving question that we must dig into a bit to answer.
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, citizenship is simply defined as a membership in a community. If you were to consider yourself a citizen of a community, then you would be expected to know and understand the values of the community. You would have to ensure that you contribute to that community. Would this definition simply not tie in with the idea of digital citizenship? Marti Weston (2013) seems to believe that citizenship and digital citizenship are one and the same. However, I believe that the online world is a whole new community separate from normal society as it depends on our norms and behavior regarding technology use specifically (Ribble, 2015). The internet opens so many doors for us to traverse as a community. Thus, digital citizenship is about connections and collaborations (Common Sense, 2018). Just like any other community, we must understand how to appropriately live and contribute to this online community.
Digital Citizenship is about being someone who acts responsibly, respectfully, and safely online (Code.org, 2018). People seem to believe that a separate set of rules apply when they are online. They believe that they can live out an alternate version of themselves. Although this may be true, we must fully comprehend what it means to be a digital citizen. This doesn’t simply mean understanding what is right and wrong. There is far more to it than that. We have to begin by learning the foundational morals and expectations of living in an online society.
As an educator, it is my job to ensure that I am modeling citizenship to my students, but also that I am modeling digital citizenship to them as well. If I am failing to teach them the necessary attributes of digital citizenship, then I am failing at my digital citizenship duty. Based off this understanding and the understanding of the definitions of digital citizenship we have just looked at, my personal definition of digital citizenship is the following:
A set of moral values focused on the understanding that all digital citizens should utilize appropriate behavior, respect, and safety during all interactions in the digital world, to promote positive growth across humanity.
References
Citizenship. (2018). Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citizenship
Code.org. (n.d.). Digital Citizenship. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://code.org/curriculum/course3/20/Teacher#Vocab
Common Sense. (2018). Digital Citizenship. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know. (3rd ed.) [Kindle Version]. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology.
Weston, M. (2013, October 16). Is It Digital Citizenship or Just Plain Citizenship? Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://mediatechparenting.net/2013/10/16/is-it-digital-citizenship-or-just-plain-citizenship
Key Takeaways from peer discussions:
As educators, it should be our job to provide the foundations of digital citizenship.
We should require our students to start communicating via email and utilizing cloud based technologies for their work.
Students need to learn how to be positive digital contributors to our digital society rather than just consumers.