Defining Digital Citizenship

Objectives

An understanding of the concept of Digital Citizenship and contributes and begins to promote the values of Digital citizenship through discussion. Create a school wide (or classroom) definition of Digital Citizenship that aligns with school citizenship values and reflects the community’s needs and interests. NetSafe Digital Citizenship Definition: contributes and actively promotes the values of digital citizenship Broader definition for schools: The skills, dispositions and actions involved in communicating citizenship consistently through digital media.

Learn

Defining digital citizenship

• Citizenship within a country. Discuss:
  • What is citizenship in New Zealand? http://education.citizenship.govt.nz/primary/teachers/. See this this unit plan on citizenship and belonging to groups and what it is to be a New Zealand citizen.
  • Can you have it stripped from you? Why?
• Citizenship within a school. Taking your school values and matching them to specific behaviours and dispositions:
  • What does it involve?
  • How do we do it well? (What is citizenship? How do you know when you see it?)
  • How do we do it poorly? (What is the opposite of citizenship? How do you know when you see it? )
  • Who decides who is and isn’t a good school citizen?
• Citizenship within a class. Use post it notes to create a define map that outlines different resources, actions, places and examples of citizenship in a broad scope.
  Does your class have other values outside of the school scope that you want to value?

What is digital citizenship?

The online environment changes the way we act and the way we perceive others. This makes citizenship a harder thing to manage.

Activity

Post-it poster for Digital Citizenship. What new ideas tools or pressures are introduced that are specific to digital citizenship? Students can think/pair/share to create. Social media Absence of authority Power to scale connections and communication Speed Misinterpretation Escalation of bad communication Permanence

Being Consistent

In this environment, how de we stay consistent with our school/class model of citizenship? We need specific actions and situations to mark out the way.

• What does it involve
• how do we do it well (What is digital citizenship, how do you know when you see it )
• how do we do it poorly ( what is the opposite of digital citizenship, how do you know when you see it )
• Who decides who is and isn’t a good digital citizen

Activity

Compare these to the school values and class values, See these videos on digital citizenship. What do you need to add/remove from your own definition?

Recall

Recall your school values and core behaviours that show those values.
Recall the digital citizenship behaviours that line up with your school/class values.

Think

How does digital media change your personal and school values and the way you demonstrate them to others?
Do you have more power, responsibility, anonymity, freedom?

Act

What is one real, relevant online situation where it’s harder to be consistent with our values of citizenship?
What are the specific behaviours you see that make it a concern?
What is the effect of these behaviours?
How can we improve those behaviours as a class?

Expand

Consider the role of leadership in making changes to how everyone behaves online.
How do you participate, allow, encourage, different behaviours online?

Contributors

Pete Hall