Digital Citizenship in Schools

"In collaboration with several content area organizations, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a series of ICT Literacy Maps illustrating the intersection between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy and core academic subjects including English, mathematics, science and social studies (civics/government, geography, economics, history). The maps enable educators to gain concrete examples of how ICT Literacy can be integrated into core subjects, while making the teaching and learning of core subjects more relevant to the demands of the 21st century."

"In the emerging decade, ideas will migrate across multiple social media platforms: podcasts, digital video, virtual worlds, microblogs, wikis, social networking, tagging, etc. The amplified, transliterate organization will have the capacity to communicate across these platforms. "

Explore the concept and practice of digital citizenship, from social, economic, political, ethical and technological perspectives, and consider how a knowledge of new media strategies and activities coupled with information policies in schools can develop the capacity of students and teachers as digital citizens. This page is inspired by and curated for ETL523 at Charles Sturt University

The Internet and American Life Project at the Pew Research Center found that from 2006 to 2009, blogging among children ages 12 to 17 fell by half; now 14 percent of children those ages who use the Internet have blogs. Among 18-to-33-year-olds, the project said in a report last year, blogging dropped two percentage points in 2010 from two years earlier.

"A year ago Jack Vanderhart was an ordinary 16-year-old Cronulla school boy listing surfing and football as favourite pastimes on his Facebook profile. Little did he know that same Facebook profile would change his life after a local talent scount stumbled across the photo he had posted there. Now instead of hitting the Sydney surf, Jack is strutting down a catwalk for Calvin Klein at New York Fashion week."

"All members of the school community should agree on a clear definition of cyberbullying and hostile online behaviour. This definition needs to be understood, accepted and shared within the whole school community, including identifying unacceptable online behaviours and the consequences of these behaviours. It should reflect the school's ethos that cyberbullying is unacceptable, harmful and will be acted upon."

Cyber bullying is a term used to describe covert, psychological bullying behaviours among mainly teenagers through email, chat rooms, mobile phones, text messages, mobile phone cameras and websites (Campbell 2005; Brown, Jackson & Cassidy�y2006). As a relatively new phenomenon, there is limited research on cyber bullying. The rise of cyber bullying is attributed primarily to increased adolescent access to the internet and mobile phones, facilitated by the anonymity provided by the internet.

"The Department has a clear Anti-Bullying Policy through the strategy 'Safe Schools are Effective Schools' which highlights that every student has the right to feel safe from bullying at school. All forms of bullying, whether it be physical, verbal or cyber are not tolerated at any level in Victorian government schools. As noted in the Department's Anti-Bullying Policy, all Victorian government schools must develop and implement a Student Code of Conduct. The Student Code of Conduct must now be updated to include cyber bullying. See the Department's anti-bullying Policy & Code of Conduct ."

The concepts of digital citizenship and citizenship 2.0 are particularly relevant in the context of globalisation and the knowledge economy. The most recent technology standards for students published by ISTE enshrine a major category for digital citizenship (ISTE, 2007). "Digital citizenship" is now being dubbed as "citizen 2.0" and in the simplest terms it refers to the ability to participate in society online and to use technology appropriately. Digital citizenship represents capacity, belonging, and the potential for political and economic engagement in society in the information age (O‟Brien, 2008). Digital citizens practice conscientious use of technology, demonstrate responsible use of information, and maintain a positive attitude to learning with technology (ISTE 2007 cited in Richards, 2010). The affordances of the recent raft of web 2.0 technologies - sharing, collaborating, networking, customising and personalization enable new forms of civic participation which are changing existing social relations (Punie & Cabrera, 2006). Social communication technologies offer new channels for political engagement, contacting officials, and discussing issues. The network effects or benefits of bringing people together online exceed the satisfaction gained by individual participants - creating what economists call "positive externalities" or spill over benefits.

"Bullying through electronic media has surfaced as a serious issue. Katie Couric offers her perspective, as she says that parents need to have a talk with their children about this growing problem."

Smokescreen is a game about life online. Promo: We all use Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and MSN to keep up with our mates - and we've all heard the stories about parties on Facebook being mobbed, or people getting stalked on MSN. The question is, what would you do if it happened to you? Over 13 missions, Smokescreen follows the story of Max Winston and Cal Godfrey, two mates who've set up an exclusive social network called White Smoke. After Cal's involved in a car accident and falls into a coma, White Smoke becomes huge - and starts attracting huge problems. Each mission explores the world of White Smoke, and players find out who they can trust - and who they can't.

from The 2Learn.ca Education Society presents NetKnowHow.ca

"Since media is such a big presence in kids' lives today, many schools have already implemented some form of media education. What has your school done? Do you think the efforts so far have been effective? What would you change if you could? "

"The aim of the digital citizenship program is to teach members of the school community the responsible use of technology. With iPods, laptops and smart phones becoming an everyday reality for students, the board has decided to embrace technology rather than fight against it."

"This leads to an intriguing thought: that the young cyber-activists in Cairo are showing the rest of the world what it means to be a digital citizen. We, in the online safety community, have been promoting the idea and ideals of 21st century citizenship for a number of years. Simply put, we ask: How can we move the rights and responsibilities we take for granted in the offline world and move them into the online space? How can we encourage the equivalent of rushing to the scene of an accident or reporting a crime or getting involved in your local community when it comes to the online communities we increasingly inhabit? How can we promote new social norms of behavior in a seemingly rule-free, anything goes environment that much of the web seems to exhibit?"

"Following news reports that a Central Bucks School District English teacher was recently suspended for posting unflattering comments about her students in an online blog, it seems several local school districts already have policies on the books for similar situations."

"Trying to prepare students for their future and teach them about Internet safety without Web 2.0 in schools ~ is like trying to teach a child to swim without a swimming pool! The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use has developed a new framework to address safe and responsible Internet use ~ Cyber Savvy Schools."

a digital product connecting Smithsonian's museums and research centers with the public.

Sort of related to the topic of Digital Citizenship, but also a bit of a test posting.