Addressing Digital Citizenship
Ribble (2015) breaks down digital citizenship into nine comprehensive elements. At my Title I K-5 elementary school in a middle class suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I find that the most important of these elements are digital access, digital communication, and digital etiquette. In my building, digital access varies across grade levels and classrooms. Some classrooms have Chromebooks, others have iPads, some have Chromebooks and iPads, and others have no technology. The students have a similar situation at home, as some have devices and internet access, but others do not. As a district, we are planning to be one-to-one with devices within the next three years, so digital access will be increasing.
Digital communication and digital etiquette are also pressing concerns in my building for students, teachers, and parents. Students are given Google accounts, which have email, and apps on the Google suite allow for commenting. There are times where students do not communicate effectively with their digital tools or use them inappropriately rather than to enhance their learning, as shown in the image below. For teachers, the questions arise of which communication tool to use for certain things. For example, if a teacher is asking other teachers to borrow glue, is email appropriate, or should email be saved for more professional matters? Bringing parents into the equation adds another layer. Between email, classroom websites, and apps made specifically for parent communication, there are challenges with which tool to use when and how much communication is acceptable.
In order to address these challenges, we must recognize ourselves as digital citizens and be practical and understanding about the use of digital tools. We need to have rules and expectations, follow laws, and manage responsibilities. Digital citizenship has nine elements and many facets, and understanding the pieces and their importance is critical in becoming a digital citizen.
References
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed.).
Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
