Giving Compass' Take:

• Students can become better digital citizens by doing three things: improving social media etiquette, utilizing crowdsourcing, and understanding more about accessibility and the internet. 

• As more tech will emerge for younger students, why it is important to teach appropriate use of technology in the classroom? 

• Read about why it's never too early to start teaching digital citizenship skills. 

In 2018, it’s safe to say your students don’t remember nor can they even imagine most of these former realities. Today’s students didn’t just grow up in the digital world, they were born into it. That makes for a very real generation gap. We adults are up-to-speed on the worldwide web, sure, but we also remember the world without it, and we are tuned into the risks of engaging with the internet in a less-than-mindful manner. Some of these ideas will be new to your students, which presents an opportunity to develop their digital citizenship skills.

In my definition, everyone with internet access is a digital citizen in the digital world, whether they realize it or like it. The internet is the greatest tool ever invented for connecting each of us to a truly global community, and for making the global local. The benefits for educational attainment and equity are immense, but educators also have some difficult lessons to teach students about responsible digital citizenship. How can we all be productive, upstanding members of the digital world?

  1.  Improving Social Media Etiquette — Blog posts, tweets, photos. Your thoughts, dreams, fears. What you love, what you hate, or what you drank or ate. Once you put it online, it is there forever.
  2.  Make Crowdsourcing Work for You — Crowdsourcing is a powerful phenomenon in the digital world. It’s the process by which an individual can take his or her fantastic idea and tap into the power of the online community to get it out into the world.
  3. Understanding Life Without Internet —  Explain to students the two main factors causing the digital dive in this country: cost and location.

We need to teach students the key lessons to be careful on the internet, but above all, it’s important to remember what a powerful connector it is.

Read the full article about students becoming digital citizens by David Siminoff at Getting Smart