Digital Citizenship in Schools

Watched this as I researched for my assignment topic. It is lengthy (21 mins) but made excellent points about the nature of copyright and patents of early years with the concept of intellectual property and litigation, particularly as it relates to digital environments.

Friedman identified a problem that education systems are only now beginning to wrestle with. Life is largely lived online, and schools do not prepare children for it. It's not just about keeping them safe from predators, cyberbullies, porn and identity theft: it's also about having an ethical framework, and the skills to assess the reliability of information.

"Digital Intelligence (DQ) is the sum of social, emotional, and cognitive abilities essential to digital life. It is having the necessary knowledge, skills and ability to adapt one's emotions and adjust one's behaviour to deal with the challenges and demands of the digital era. Beyond knowledge, these abilities must be rooted in human values of integrity, respect, empathy and prudence. These values enable the wise and responsible use of technology - an attribute which will mark the leaders of tomorrow."

Do you think this will replace digital natives and digital immigrants? That we all just need digital intelligence? Marc Prensky is now focusing on Digital Wisdom - similar thing but all good, methinks.

Summary: Digital citizenship is the state of having access to the Internet and communication technologies that help promote equal opportunity, democracy, technology skills, and human rights.

The following is a list of organizations and projects powered with Creative Commons licenses

An excellent overview of how learning has changed in a digital environment and how to enable students to navigate the complex nature of information today

Copyright Law explained by The Little Mermaid and Buzz Lightyear (video) Using Disney characters to explain copyright law and related concepts such as public domain and fair use, Bucknell University professor Eric Faden produced this cartoon cut and paste masterpiece, A Fair(y) Use Tale. Poetic justice indeed, considering how Disney has tried slamming the copyright door shut behind itself, having built its own empire on the public domain fairy tales such as those used here.   

7th graders learn video as reflection tool

Very interesting perspective from a true curator - read his whole series on curation, he writes well so easy to read.

This series by Dr Jason Ohler will explore the importance of digital citizenship and provide strategies for integrating digital citizenship into schools.

Download this free poster sharing the ISTE student standards. 'I am a digital age learner'

An example of a job description for a digital leader.

Is this skills list valid for Information leaders too? Should we be adding these to our curriculum for digital citizenship?

Google still hasn't shed its "bad guy" clothes when it comes to the data it collects on underage students. In fact, the Electronic Frontier Foundation says the company continues to massively collect and store information on children without their consent or their parents'. Not even school administrators fully understand the extent of this operation, the EFF says.

What are the 4 Cs? Learn how critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are essential 21st-century skills for today's students. Common sense education

eTwinning is the community for schools in Europe. The project "Are you ready to live in the 21st century?" embeds digital citizenship across all subjects. Special because children across Europe (with many different mother tongues) collaborate. 

I subscribe to this guy's newsletter - always interesting and thought provoking.