Digital citizenship is the
appropriate use of technology in a classroom. There are nine general areas that
make up the digital citizenship which are; etiquette, communication, education,
access, commerce, responsibility, rights, safety and security. There are both
inappropriate and appropriate uses of all of these areas. Each one of these
areas can be modeled in an appropriate way from the teacher. If the teacher or
even parents are demonstrating the correct use of technology the students will
follow. Teachers should correct students when they notice something is not
appropriate. Teachers should also encourage their students to be safe and
secure while using any type of technology in any setting.
I do not believe digital
citizenship should be on the curriculum. I believe that if teachers want to
have the choice to do so then they have the opportunities and resources to do
so. I do believe students should know the difference of technology use between
classroom and outside use but why should technology be something that has to be
taught in school? Why should this be a requirement? I do not think that
children should be using technology to learn how to write or read. The students
should pick up a pencil and trace on a piece of paper.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteIf digital citizenship was not on the school’s curriculum, this would definitely leave more time for the teacher to focus on the core subject material. In reality, lessons in digital citizenship would most likely not be of use to a majority of the students. If you lecture to your students about the proper etiquette of online behavior, they would still go home and act however they pleased online.
However, I disagree with your view that technology in general should not be taught in school. I think the knowledge about how to use technology is becoming just as important as knowing how to read and add. You bring up a valid point when you say that students do not need technology to learn how to read and write. But don’t you think older students should know how to use technology in the class setting? I truly think that technology instruction is a necessity in public school systems. The real quandary is at what age we should expose the students to technology. I do not have an answer for this, but I assume that most schools would say the sooner the better.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point that teaching digital citizenship would take up valuable class time that could be used to teach other subject matter. Call me old fashioned, but I agree that students should be learning to read and write with books, papers, and pencils. There is something about doing things by hand that really helps a student retain the information. It is important for students to understand right from wrong when using technology, but as teachers, it is not our responsibility to monitor how they use technology outside of the classroom. I feel that guidance should be provided for the specific activity, but a whole lesson about technology seems like a waste of learning time.