Students (and everyone else) spend a vast amount of time online. We leave a digital trail of breadcrumbs and establish our digital selves by sharing, commenting, and communicating like never before. Digital citizenship has been the topic of #edchat on Twitter and in the news. But what happens when a classroom of students are tasked with understanding what digital citizenship means to them?
Andrew Marcinek
Andrew Marcinek, long-time Edudemic author and teacher, had his class explore what digital citizenship means to them. The students created a fantastic Google site here that defines, examines, and explores digital citizenship. The site has a snappy logo too (top of this post) which is truly amazing. Below are a few excerpts from the site that I thought are particularly useful. The site also features terrific student blogs where they weigh in on relevant issues. Be sure to visit the site and let Andy know (@andycinek) about any feedback!
What is Digital Citizenship?
Digital Citizenship is a principle that helps users understand how to utilize technology in an appropriate way.
In today’s society, knowing and understanding Digital Citizenship is now more important than ever. That’s why the students of Web 2.0 at Burlington High have made this site: to help you understand digital citizenship.
Students Interview Patrick Larkin
Edudemic note: Another one of my favorite tweeters is @bhsprincipal aka Patrick Larkin. As principal of Burlington MA High School, he helped create a 1:1 environment where each student had an iPad 2. Be sure to follow him for great resources!
Principal Patrick Larkin
Patrick Larkin is the principal of Burlington High School, a school that put an iPad 2 in the hands of every student. We asked him a few questions.
1. How do you ensure that kids are using the devices appropriately?
I am not sure if you have specific questions, please follow up if you do. But in classrooms, teachers monitor the activities of students as they always have. In regards to students adding or accessing inappropriate content, we have software that reports this information to us.
2. Do you think you should be looking at what they’re posting during school if it’s inappropriate?
Yes, I think we need to be aware of this.
3. What punishments could you use to make sure they’re not posting anything bad?
If students violate our acceptable use policy, we have ramifications that range from loss of Internet access to suspension. It really depend on the issue.
4. What if the student is verbally assaulting teachers over Twitter or Facebook?
Again depending on the nature of the comments, there would be school repercussions. However, the bigger issue is education and letting students know that these comments will become part of their digital footprint and could hamper them down the road. If we have an issue with someone, we need to know strategies to handle these issues constructively.
5. How did you come about bringing digital use into BHS?
By building a Personal Learning Network, I was able to connect with educators from all over the country and I became aware of a lot of schools throughout the country who were using digital tools to enhance learning environments. I was excited to bring these same opportunities to our staff and students.
6. Were you nervous about kids taking advantage of this?
Not really. I know that some people will make poor decisions, but I think that the majority will make good choices. I think it is important to deal with those who make poor choices and not deny the majority access because we are worried about poor decisions by a few.
7. Should the faculty at BHS check a student’s digital footprint before they apply to colleges?
I think we all need to continue to discuss digital citizenship with students.
8. Do colleges really look into each person’s digital citizenship before accepting them?
Yes, I posted something this week on my blog with articles that had examples of this.
It would be really great if there could be a built in system that monitors online behavior which could also have manual entries by staff members. Students could get warnings and know there are consequences that could include loss of online privileges and access. Something along the lines of apps like ClassTracker (for android phones) and Teacher Log (for iphone)
How about an assignment where you ask each student to analyze their own digital footprint as if they were a future employer? You could use some questions to frame the effort like what can you tell about this person or would you hire this person? You could also have them analyze the digital footprints or classmates. Also have them do the same for a favorite celebrity or athlete. You could also give them scenarios that put them in the role of the principal. Something like you are the BHS principal and you discover that student X is doing (fill in some inappropriate online behavior). What do you do? Keep up the good work and look for this post in the social media section of Dr. Doug’s Net Nuggets 11/29/2011.