How can we address digital citizenship and literacy in our class together?

The needs of my secondary social studies classroom are many with respect to digital citizenship and literacy. 

My students need to develop the ability to carry out research in a safe and effective manner. Students need to know how to search for valid sources using peer-reviewed databases at their disposal via the school library and if they student’s don’t utilize the library, they need yet a greater and deeper understanding of how to validate sources. Thus, my students are taught a protocol for how to validate sources beginning at authority and verifyability. This protocol is instructed and assessed prior to the first summative assessment in all courses I teach.

Managing an online profile in which students examine, express and discuss their views on controversial topics in respectful ways is of critical importance. Not convinced? Find any political commentary on Facebook's news feed and scan through the comments section! The commentary in these forums is largely unproductive and riddled with vitriol. Therefore, students in my classes will create blogs whereby they learn to express themselves in an online forum, manage permissions to maintain safety within in an online environment, examine and evaluate current events, and share and dialogue with one another. This practice is part of student's habits of work evaluation which is assessed quarterly. 


Informally, I constantly monitor and offer feedback about how I see students using their devices and engage in conversations with students about their use of electronics and digital media. My suggestions to parents are that we should all be aiming to limit the time students use digital media for social or recreational purposes. The game and the social media app developers deliberately design their products to be addictive. That alone should be concerning. More broadly, as a teacher I am worried about students developing the 21st century learning skills they need outside of the digital world. How can we help our kids engage in difficult in-person conversations? How can we help our kids process their challenges in the classroom, on the sports field or socially? How best can we help our kids choose wisely in a world where there is seemingly endless entertainment opportunities offering the promises of "always choosing our attention, always being heard, and never being alone"?

-Ted Talk by Sherry Turkle

What IS digital citizenship and literacy and why should I care?

Digital citizenship and literacy encompasses the skills and knowledge necessary to:

• Manage one's digital (online) reputation
• Maintain personal privacy and safety
• Identify and use valid information in appropriate ways
• Navigate websites and browsers safely and skillfully
• Operate digital consoles and platforms (like PCs, smartphones, Windows)
• Complete basic tasks involving
• communication
• data management
• word processing
• photo editing

Development of these skills is critical to becoming a 21st Century learner, which are identified outcomes like skills in "presenting, sharing and communicating" leading to higher advancement in 21st century careers as well as forms of higher education. You will want your child on board this train!

Oyster River High School: Who makes up our community?

All of my students are participating in secondary social studies classes; namely 9^th grade World Cultures, 10^th/11^th grade US History and 11^th/12^th grade Sociology. Our community is one which is generally affluent, with over 99% of students moving on to pursue a post-secondary degree. Culturally, an overwhelming majority of families value education and place a lot of pressure and emphasis on students regarding their grade outcomes in high school. 

There is Wi-Fi in the high school building which all students can access using their smart phones. There was not a single student I taught this year who did not regularly bring a device to school which could connect to Wi-Fi. Additionally, students can also access Wi-Fi using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). Students download third-party VPNs so they can access all of the functions of the internet without being barred by the school’s filter. Therefore, students can access virtually all content on the internet in spite of the school’s efforts to block it. 

This reality should be troubling to teachers and parents alike. Do parents know they are liable for some of the activity of students on their devices? Do parents know their child can receive SnapChat messages even though their school attempts to block the application? What should parents and educators know and be able to do to support students in this digital age?

As parents, we may often feel like our kids know more than us about technology, but you may be surprised to find that kids often have only a surface-level understanding of most applications and functionalites. Additionally, young people have lower impulse control and in spite of IQ can more easily become victims of hacking, spam or malware, and become more easily involved in online bullying situations. Meanwhile, students need to learn how to manage their digital profiles and all of the challenges that come with this us in this digtial age. Therefore, parents, we need you on the front lines and willing to help support our kids!

Here are some resources you can use to begin to explore digital citizenship and literacy:

http://www.edudemic.com/15-resources-digital-citizenship-2014/

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/starting-point-ensuring-student-online-privacy-anne-obrien