Digital Citizenship in Schools

Schools have significantly different needs and ideas regarding on-line safety, much of it dependent upon their experience and comfort on the spectrum of users of digital media to promote student success. It is necessary for schools and communities to work together to demystify the potential uses and abuses of digital media within and outside the school setting. Understanding the potential for cyberbullying, sexting, or other inappropriate consumption and planning for responsible reactions to such is a priority for the community that wishes to harness the potential of the tools while also keeping children safe.

The rapid spread of internet use among young people is making it essential to address eSafety and ePrivacy, in order to protect young people from online risks and threats and to prepare them to use digital technologies in a secure and responsible way.

"This Media 21 LibGuides chronicles the learning experiences of 10th Honors Literature/Composition who have participated in a 2009-10 learning initiative, Media 21, at Creekview High School. This program, spearheaded by school librarian Buffy Hamilton and English teacher Susan Lester, provided students a learning environment facilitated by both Hamilton and Lester in which Hamilton was "embedded" as an instructor. Media 21, rooted in connectivism, inquiry, and participatory literacy, emphasized students creating their own research "dashboards" and portals and the creation of personal learning networks to help students engage in their learning experiences and to evaluate a diverse offering of information sources more critically. This guide is also documenting the 2010-11 Cohort 2 of Media 21 and the learning experiences of both the students and the teachers."

"Cyberbullying is back in the spotlight with the recent suicide of a Rutgers University freshman following his roommate's posting online of a video of him engaged in sex with another man. And many pundits and legislators are now calling for more stringent laws around cyberbullying and online harassment. Bullying is, of course, nothing new although undoubtedly, the Internet has changed the speed and the breadth with which cruel behaviors, comments, photos, and videos can be spread. And it has extended the persistence of this information as well."

Protecting informatoin - advancing information policy. "This paper gathers together Australian reports and developments that advance the creation of Australian Government Information Policy."

"Open Source software now has to be considered as part of any Australian government agencies ICT procurements, as of March 2011. Australian Government - Department of Finance and Deregulation - Open Source Software Policy. It will be interesting to see which agencies (if any) will take implement Open Source solutions and which ones they will be."

"You may think the only people capable of snooping on your Internet activity are government intelligence agents or possibly a talented teenage hacker holed up in his parents' basement. But some simple software lets just about anyone sitting next to you at your local coffee shop watch you browse the Web and even assume your identity online. "

"The following slide show is available to download, and includes previously used information for other slide shows, as well as links that support each of the two content sections. There are three parts to this presentation: * Introductory information that is general social networking info * Information to distribute to teachers * Information to distribute to parents"

Information on Digital Citizenship, Search/Research, What's Web 2.0, Plagiarism, Copyright, Safety 'Net, Cyberbullying. From 2Learn.ca Education Society, Canada

"Disney has just acquired Togetherville, a social network for kids 10 years of age or younger, we've confirmed with the company. Terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed at the moment."

"Schools have had to act fast to try to manage the widespread use of Facebook and other social media by students and teachers"

"The evolution of education, particularly as filtered through the prism of emerging technology and new media, is something we're keenly interested in and something of increasing importance to society at large. Now, from authors Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown comes a powerful and refreshing effort to approach the subject with equal parts insight, imagination and optimism, rather than the techno-dystopian views today's cultural pundits tend to throw our way." A really useful post that introduces the book New culture of Learning, and includes two good videos and links to the book website.

"Last week, I wrote about how the internet facilitates civic participation and encourages individuals to connect with each other. But what about those on the other side of the digital divide? Not everyone has access to the technologies that enable this new kind of participation. As Gov 2.0 becomes the norm, and digital citizenship becomes even more intertwined with "offline" citizenship, how will we ensure that everyone is included in the benefits of participatory governance - not just those already fortunate enough to have broadband access at home and the know-how to use it effectively?"

Nortel LearniT Provides teachers and students with FREE cybersafety education tutorials and resources tied to English Language Arts curriculum.

"D.A.R.E. America and iKeepSafe.org have teamed up to create 14 simple activities that teach important internet safety principles to children (4-10 years). Each activity is designed to be used with a parent, teacher, or law enforcement officer or perhaps an older child. Expect about 10 minutes for each activity."

"As edu­ca­tors, it requires con­sid­er­ing what it means for our stu­dents- when they are grow­ing up in a media sat­u­rated world. Access to mobile tech­nolo­gies and the Inter­net have increased ten-fold. The Inter­net is now a two-way process rather than a broad­cast model, and the impli­ca­tions of this are huge."

"Kids today seem to be born knowing how to use technology, but they don't automatically understand responsible online behaviour. It's a new challenge parents face - teaching children how to be good digital citizens; how to use technology safely and responsibly, and how to evaluate, manage and use the information and tools they find online. Here are eight areas of digital citizenship that parents may consider and discuss with their children."

"While students and teachers alike are anxious to integrate new learning tools into the classroom, we must err on the side of caution. It is our responsibility to empower our students by giving them the fundamental lessons in digital citizenship. Like basketball, students must enter the world of social media and digital media with a good defense. They must understand the repercussions of irresponsibly using social and digital media and what affects it may have on their future."

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This is more about school information than social media policy but may prove a useful template.