You may be asking your self what is digital citizenship? Digital citizenship according to the NETS.S is students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students will (1) advocate and practice safe, legal and responsible use of info and technology. (2) exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity. (3) demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. (4) exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. These standards are important in a school setting because students can learn a relatively new "language" about computers. Having and demonstrating all of these points will help students learn how to properly use technology for the future. A "common" language must be made according to Mike Ribble so that everyone can understand how to use technology and what misusing technology means. Also, Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey have released a book called Digital Citizenship in Schools, which covers nine themes that are a key to the concept of digital citizenship. These nine elements are: digital access, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and wellness, and digital security. These nine elements go along with the standards that NETS has updated as well. Along with these nine elements Ribble and Bailey have included themes and activities for the classroom and districts for schools. These elements also set a stage for global interest and responsibility that is promoted by digital citizenship. But the NETS standards and these nine elements might not be enough to educate out children. So Ribble and Bailey have come up with a four-stage technology learning cycle for teaching digital citizenship. This cycle helps users begin to focus their actions when using technology. The four stages are as followed: Stage 1: awareness-meaning engaging students to become technologically literate. Stage 2: guided practice-students need to be able to use technology in an atmosphere where exploration and risk taking is promoted. Stage 3: modeling and demonstration- students need to see their teachers are following the proper technology-based citizen behaviors being taught to them. Stage 4: feedback and analysis- school should be a place where students and teachers can discuss their use of technologies to see how they can use them more properly. This cycle is always going on whether it is in the classroom, home, or out in the community. Parents and the community members need to be involved with this process as well so that students can have all of the help and support they need outside of the classroom. The "common" language is growing and we all are becoming aware of this everyday. Mike Ribble is making a mission out of teaching these standards and stages to everyone so that no one feels that they are missing out on the technology.
I love this idea so much! I can definitely use the nine elements and four stages in my classroom. Having my students maybe doing a project that demonstrates one of the nine elements can be a way for them to get their "feet wet" in the technology world. The four stage cycle is also a great tool to teach students and then they can go out and teach their parents and community for a better understanding of the use of technology. In the near future I would like to buy and read the book that Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey made. I think that this book can be really useful in the classroom. Overall this is a great idea and these methods are really trying to get teachers and parents to look at what students are doing with the technology, and what they are doing with it as well.
It's not coolness factor that counts, by Don Hall
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In this article, Don Hall talks about the emphasis on what is "cool," in
particular with technology. He says that there is too much focus on what's
cool, w...
14 years ago
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this article review. I liked the way the author broke down the NETS standards into little bite size chunks we can relate to our students. The four elements they discussed sounded to me really like 3 parts of a good lesson plan: guided practice, modeling and demonstration, and feedback and analysis. I like the idea that he has worked on of coming up with a "common language" in digital citizenship that we can share with our students. I too would be interested in taking a look at the book Ribble and Bailey wrote to see what I could glean and pass on to my students.
Thank you!
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI thought your article was very insightful. I really liked how the author talked about the four strategis to use in your classroom with technology. I feel that those four strategies could be applied to every form of teaching. Not only could you use it to educate your students about technology, but you could also use that formula of how you want your class to look like.