Journal 1 - NETS IV

"Passport to Digital Citizenship" -Mike Ribble

Ribbel, Mike (December 2008-January 2009). Passport to Digital Citizenship. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/DigitalCitizenship/36414r.pdf

"Passport to Digital Citizenship" discusses how community members, parents, and educators can assist children in gaining full digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is defined as "students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior" (Ribble, 2008-2009). In other words, digital citizenship is the process of knowing how and when to appropriately use a piece of technology. Digital citizenship is a top priority in today's society because of the vast and endless technology tools that we have at our disposal. There is such a variety of technology that knowing how and when to appropriately use them might be a little difficult to understand.

The article proposes a circular learning module that consists of four steps that relates to the nine elements of digital citizenship. The nine elements of digital citizenship are: digital assess, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital laws, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and wellness, and digital security. The first step in the digital citizenship learning module is awareness. This just means that students are knowledgeable about the different technology tools, its functions, and ways of appropriately using and abusing its functions. The second step is guided practice. This step gives students the opportunity to explore and learn about the technology. It also promotes appropriate use of technology. The third step is modeling and demonstrating. In this step, educators take time to demonstrate to the students how to appropriately use the technology in different environments such as school, home, and society. The fourth step is feedback and analysis. In the last step, educators and parents give students constructive criticism on their use of technology. Educators and parents give students information on what is appropriate and inappropriate use of technology in the home, school, and society.

I found this article very interesting to read because digital citizenship is something that we should all be knowledgeable about because technology is such as huge part in our everyday lives now. I think that it is also very important to teach and model to the younger generation how to appropriately use technology when they are in different situations and environments because it is very easy to misuse technology.

Question 1: In what ways can we bridge the gap between home and school expectations of technology use?

One way to bridge the home and school expectation of technology use is to inform both educators and parents the appropriate ways of using technology. When parents and educators are knowledgeable, they would be better able to make judgements on if the student or children is abusing the technology or if they are indeed using it appropriately. If both educators and parents are on the same page about the appropriate use of technology, then the standards at home and at school will not be at odds with one another.

Question 2: How can we we as educators and parents help our students and children to obtain full digital citizenship?

The first step to helping our students and children in obtaining full digital citizenship is to become digital citizens ourselves. It would not make sense for us to preach appropriate use of technology if we do not know the functions of technology ourselves. Knowing what is out their and how to use the different technology is very important. Another way we can help is to model how to appropriately use technology. Modeling how to use technology with our children and student will give them an idea of what is appropriate and what is not. We also need to give our students and children the chance to explore the different technology so that they practice appropriate use of the technology. We also need to talk to our students and children about the use of different technologies, how to appropriately use them, and how not to abuse them.