9 Elements, 3 Categories, 3 Principles
Ribble (2015), author of Digital Citizenship in Schools: Nine Elements All Students Should Know and the website http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/ breaks down digital citizenship into nine elements, three categories, and three principles.
9 Elements
Digital Access – complete and equitable electronic participation; refers to the fact that technology is not equal and/or accessible to all groups
Digital Commerce – buying and selling items online including, but not limited to, music, gaming, and general online shopping for merchandise
Digital Communication – an exchange of information in a digital format such as social media, texting, emailing, etc.
Digital Literacy – teaching and learning about technology itself from learning how to use Google to taking an online course
Digital Etiquette – standards of respectable technology use commonly referred to as netiquette
Digital Law – laws of the Internet such as copyright, hacking, and pirating
Digital Rights and Responsibilities – privileges and expectations in a digital technology world like following acceptable use policies and citing sources
Digital Health and Wellness – the well-being, both physical and mental/emotional for technology users; technology can lead to addiction and physical pain
Digital Security – precautions and protection online such as software updates, anti-virus, and data backups
Of the nine elements, digital access, digital communication, and digital etiquette are particularly important to me as an educator. I feel that students must be equipped with technology, practice proper online communication, and use technology appropriately with manners. The other elements are certainly important as well, but I feel that these specifically point to being a good person with strong character, whereas the other elements can fall into place more easily. As a regular human being, digital commerce and digital health and wellness are also important to me. I shop online often, scroll through social media longer than I should, and strain my eyes, get headaches, and irritate my wrists from excessive technology use.
3 Categories
Student life outside the school environment – digital commerce, digital health and wellness, digital law
School environment and student behavior – digital etiquette, digital rights and responsibilities, digital security
Student learning and academic performance – digital literacy, digital communication, digital access
The main comprehensive goal is to improve student learning and assist students in becoming 21st-century citizens.
3 Principles (…yourself and others)
Respect – etiquette (kind words), access (recognize inequality), law (information is someone’s property)
Educate – literacy (learn online), communication (tech is not always best), commerce (awareness of personal information)
Protect – rights and responsibilities (adults help children), security (guard technology and data), health and wellness (limit technology use for in-person quality time)
These principles, REPs, interrelate by creating a framework for teaching digital citizenship. The idea is that students in K-2 would learn one level of REP – digital etiquette for Respect, digital literacy for Educate, and digital rights and responsibility for Protect. Continuing through their education, students in grades 3-5 would learn digital access for Respect, digital communication for Educate, and digital safety/security for Protect. Students in grades 6-8 would then focus on digital law for Respect, digital commerce for Educate, and digital health and wellness for Protect. Students review the skills between repetitions to support mastery. In using this teaching framework, students will be taught all elements of digital citizenship in a way that is developmentally appropriate for their age, skill-based, and integrated into their curriculum.
Overall, Ribble (2015) takes an extensive and comprehensive approach to digital citizenship, defining it much deeper than surface-level.
References
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd
ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
