Digital citizenship

    We are living in an age where the Internet has become a part of our daily lives. We use the Internet for many things: research, distant learning, connecting with family/friends, shopping, looking up recipes, and banking, to name a few. While the Internet has definitely made life more efficient, keeping up with its evolution can be difficult and at times overwhelming for everyone, including kids. Encourage critical thinking skills.   Teach students to think about what they do and how they interact with others online. What will they gain (or lose) from posting certain photos or content online? How will their words affect others? What can people assume or interpret from their words? Keep an open dialogue between the class and ensure students feel comfortable speaking about their online activity.  Connect with your community.  Schools networks, organizations such as  Kids Help Phone , community centres, and your local police and health depar...

In this blog I will tell 5 reasons for digital citizenship for children: Reason 1: Students have constant access to personal devices and apps To understand this, it’s important to note that teachers use different technologies and apps than children do and even have a different understanding of how they operate. Most teachers currently in the workforce did not grow up with mobile phones or access to devices such as tablets, yet  67% of 12-13 year olds in Australia have their own personal mobile phone 1 . In addition, children in this age group frequently have access to other devices such as computers, laptops, tablets, and even gaming consoles that can access the internet. Usage is also very high and  teenagers spend upwards of three hours at a time online multiple times per day 2 . Many adults simply don’t have the best understanding of interactions involving these technologies and therefore can struggle to supervise or educate students on how to use them. This mean...

In this blog I am going to tell 9 ways to be a good Digital citizen: Treat others the way you want to be treated.  This sounds pretty basic, but it’s probably the one piece of digital etiquette advice that is broken the most. Keep your comments positive; be truthful, and polite. If you want to go the extra mile, acknowledge when someone has been helpful; thank them, and pay it forward! Be safe.  Being safe online is a whole topic in itself, much different from being a good digital citizen—and with much different ramifications. It’s crucial not divulge any personal information, passwords, addresses, etc. with someone you don’t know. For more detailed information on Internet safety tips, read our blog post about  keeping kids safe online . Know the rules.  Whether you’re using classroom forums, Twitter, Facebook, or other sites, know the site’s rules and guidelines—and follow them. Each community creates their own rules that they ...

A  digital citizen  refers to a person utilizing  information technology  (IT) in order to engage in society, politics, and government. K. Mossberger define digital citizens as "those who use the Internet regularly and effectively". People characterizing themselves as digital citizens often use IT extensively, creating  blogs , using  social networks , and participating in  online journalism .Although digital citizenship potentially begins when any child, teen, and/or adult signs up for an email address, posts pictures online, uses  e-commerce  to buy merchandise online, and/or participates in  any  electronic function that is  B2C  or  B2B , the process of becoming a digital citizen goes beyond simple Internet activity. In the framework of T.H. Marshall's perspective on citizenship's three traditions (liberalism, republicanism, and ascriptive hierarchy), digital citizenry can occur alongside the prom...