Journal 6 YC NETS-T IV & V A New Concept of Citizenship for the Digital Age

I read and reflected on this article from the ITSE (International Society for Technology in Education) website and also used Citation Machine to cite the journal in APA format.


A New Concept of Citizenship for the Digital Age
Greenhow, C. (2010). A New concept of citizenship for the digital age. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20100304#pg26

To prepare our youth for the global workplace, one of the issues we need to address is digital citizenship. To teach this to our students we must first define it. As technology grows, so does the definition of digital citizenship and what it takes to be considered a digital citizen.

In 2007 NETS-S defines digital citizenship as "the ability to practice and advocate online behavior that demonstrates legal, ethical, safe, and responsible uses of information and communication technologies." This definition is a good start but does not completely cover the subject of digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship is more than using the technology correctly or legally. It is the ability to be part of the digital community. To do this you must actively participate in expressing your views, develop new uses, join networks, be politically active, and do all of this in a respectfully. Just as we teach our students how to interact with one another face to face, we must also teach them how to act when using technology resources as well as what it means to be a contributing member of our digital society.

It is up to us as educators to teach our students the right way to participate in today's technology. We must also continue to research this subject to identify emerging positive and negative trends using technology. We also need to be up to date with the latest networking tools and information so we can study new uses and use our research to teach others about being an upstanding digital citizen.

How does teaching Digital Citizenship help your students?
By teaching students about digital citizenship and how to be good digital citizens, they learn how to contribute to the digital world. It is important to inform our students on what is acceptable and proper use of technology. In return, we will have students who understand the implications of their own digital footprint and they will be better prepared to compete in today's society when they join the workforce.

What type of digital citizenship issue should we be aware of in the classroom?
Cyberbullying is one issue that has been researched and has received national media coverage for the effect it can have on students. Cyberbullying is the use of email, text messages, IM, and other technologies to bully someone. This type of harassment happens every day and we need to be cautiously aware of its detrimental effects. It is important that we educate ourselves on these types of issues so that we are ready to respond if it ever should arise in our classrooms.