Author Jason Ohler argues that digital citizenship should be integrated into basic education with teachers encouraging the development of the digital footprints of their students. He proposes to expand the view of digital life past just cyber-bullying and online safety. While these issues are important, Ohler suggests that teaching about them should take place concurrently with studying the impact and scope of students' technology use. Furthermore, Ohler asks for digital citizenship to be infused throughout the day at school rather that just for an hour or two at a computer lab and then back to learning without technology. He concludes with a suggestion that schools and teachers reward exceptional digital citizenship of their students which currently does not occur often enough.
Marianne Malmstrom takes the opposing view but does not entirely disagree with Ohler's arguments. She asks that schools do not teach digital citizenship but rather provide a safe environment for students to learn the best digital practices on their own. For example, Malmstrom points out the absurdity that the same schools that ban access to all social media sites then expect their students to use such sites safely and effectively. I think Malmstrom's approach is to leave more open to the students because like it or not, a large portion of them will get it at home from a young age anyways. So rather being taught directly, students "explore," alongside their educators, the digital world.
I think both authors offer valid points and make some mistakes. I am uneasy with the idea of putting every student in a digital environment before every student has easy access to that world. I know while at school, computers are becoming increasingly available and campus wide wifi keeps everyone online. However at home it is a different situation for many students. Not every student has access to a computer or an internet connection. Poorer students already at a disadvantage may be pushed further down the ladder if these policies are implemented before there is total digital access.
The article best addresses Nets Standard three, "Research and Information Fluency," because that standard involves the application of digital tools as an educational resources.
Both sides offer some strong points pertaining to whether Digital Citizenship should be taught or modeled. I think that students need direct instruction on what Digital Citizenship is and what it entails, but they also need to see what ethical behavior looks like within the digital environment which can be modeled throughout the day while students engage in work completed online. Although I think that students need both direction instruction and modeling to fully understand the concept if Digital Citizenship, the modeling approach seems the most realistic due to the time constraints in a full school day.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to guide students through digital citizenship and making good online choices. I agree with Marianne that that should be done side by side with a teacher so that they learn what is appropriate and what the implications repercussions for inappropriate online behavior is. Using Facebook and other social media at school would have to be monitored very closely as it is very easy to find inappropriate links they may end up getting a teacher or administrator in a lot of trouble. Maybe the best approach would be using some of the tools we use in 422 that are geared toward young students and are not littered with advertisements and links.
ReplyDelete