Digital Citizenship in Schools

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

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

"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."

"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"

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 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.

"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."

"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."

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

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.

"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. "

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 Living Sky School Division in Canada

"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. "

"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."

"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."

"A high-school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges ''disengaged, lazy whiners'' is causing a sensation by daring to ask: why are students unmotivated - and what's wrong with calling them out?"