What is digital citizenship? This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this topic. I mean, I hope that doesn't sound silly, but it's true. Is digital citizenship just teaching people how to be good citizens, online? I mean, why do we even need to teach this? It seems like a skill that should be obvious and carry over from what people are taught in their everyday life. But the more you think about it, the more you realize the necessity of teaching students about digital citizenship as an important life skill. One of the first things that comes to mind is the way that people behave online versus how they would behave in person. There is a level of anonymity online that allows people to say things and express themselves in ways that they feel they can get away with. I think therefore, teaching students how to use digital technology appropriately is important and necessary, but this is only one small aspect of digital citizenship.
The picture below is one that I found on the internet that does a great job of breaking down digital citizenship into different categories and outlining what that looks like. I appreciate the categories as simplifying different components within digital citizenship as it's not as simple as strictly teaching people to be kind online citizens, it is also about being a well-rounded individual such as taking breaks and having digital downtime.
My experience growing up with computer use was quite limited. During my early elementary years, the limit of our digital education related to learning how to type or use PowerPoint. Throughout my later elementary years and early high school years, the main way of communication online was MSN Messenger. We also used tools such as Napster and Limewire. I first created my Facebook account at the end of grade 12 -- 2008!! I don't recall ever learning about digital technology or cyber security explicitly in school. If anything there was an understanding and recognition of not wanting to get computer viruses through what you downloaded, but teaching about technology and digital presence was not something that I recall ever really experiencing.
Although unrelated, I do remember taking high school classes and learning about drugs, alcohol, and sex education through the scare tactic approach. To some extent, this approach works, but overall I think it's incredibly problematic. It is important for students to learn why they shouldn't do things not simply because of the consequences, but what it means to behave appropriately and why it is important. Sometimes regardless of how you teach these things, students will still push boundaries and make mistakes, but honestly, that's part of growing up. It is important for students to understand how their actions have consequences, but this can't be the motivating factor for appropriate behaviour - online or in real life! Ultimately, our goal as teachers is to ensure that students can be safe and protect themselves online and I believe it is important to teach them in a healthy, safe way that promotes dialogue. It would be incredibly valuable for all students to be able to talk about the issues they actually face online, how they deal with them, whether these methods work and what are areas that they want more support in. Therefore, I think the approach that teachers should use is one that promotes honesty, dialogue, and gives students a voice. What we may see as areas that they need support or teaching in could be totally different than what they identify as what they need. Surveying students and trying to understand how they use technology, what struggles they have, and then developing an educational plan around that is likely much more valuable than scaring them into behaving right.