Practicing responsible “digital citizenship” requires students, educators and administrators to do more than simply avoid confrontations online, but to be proactive in improving their online communities, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education said at a conference Monday.

Practicing responsible “digital citizenship” requires students, educators and administrators to do more than simply avoid confrontations online, but to be proactive in improving their online communities, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education said at a conference Monday.

As more and more laptops find their way into middle and high schools, educators are using Google Docs to do collaborative exercises and help students follow along with the lesson plan. The students, however, are using it to organize running conversations behind teachers’ backs.

As more and more laptops find their way into middle and high schools, educators are using Google Docs to do collaborative exercises and help students follow along with the lesson plan. The students, however, are using it to organize running conversations behind teachers’ backs.

Natalie, now 13, said that in fifth grade she and her friends competed with one another over the amount of information about themselves on the internet. “We thought it was so cool that we had pics of ourselves online,” she said. “We would brag like, ‘I have this many pics of myself on the internet.’ You look yourself up, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, it’s you!’ We were all shocked when we realized we were out there. We were like, ‘Whoa, we’re real people.’”

Natalie, now 13, said that in fifth grade she and her friends competed with one another over the amount of information about themselves on the internet. “We thought it was so cool that we had pics of ourselves online,” she said. “We would brag like, ‘I have this many pics of myself on the internet.’ You look yourself up, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, it’s you!’ We were all shocked when we realized we were out there. We were like, ‘Whoa, we’re real people.’”

Here are 10 essential questions for teaching Global Digital Citizenship. Use them to get lively discussions going in your classroom. Ask how students feel about these issues. Explore ideas that make teaching Global Digital Citizenship effective and engaging.

Here are 10 essential questions for teaching Global Digital Citizenship. Use them to get lively discussions going in your classroom. Ask how students feel about these issues. Explore ideas that make teaching Global Digital Citizenship effective and engaging.

Digital leaders do more than consume information. They synthesize learning and use it in collaborative environments. Digital leaders are dynamic change agents who transform the status quo, facilitate better communication and understanding, and integrate a variety of technology tools in their lives.

Digital leaders do more than consume information. They synthesize learning and use it in collaborative environments. Digital leaders are dynamic change agents who transform the status quo, facilitate better communication and understanding, and integrate a variety of technology tools in their lives.

n an age where so many of a child’s waking hours are spent in front of an interactive screen, the ability to bring ethical thinking to the content they choose to upload, download, or otherwise consume is not only a critical component of their formational experience, it is a record of their behavior that, in Diana’s words, “will never go away.”  

n an age where so many of a child’s waking hours are spent in front of an interactive screen, the ability to bring ethical thinking to the content they choose to upload, download, or otherwise consume is not only a critical component of their formational experience, it is a record of their behavior that, in Diana’s words, “will never go away.”  

Technology planning is a process. TechSoup has broken it down into seven phases.Establish leadership and support. Assess your resources. Define your needs. Explore solutions. Write the plan. Get funding. Implement the plan.

Your organization's technology vision (together with a brief section about the current state of technology in your organization) can take the form of an executive summary. How will technology further your organization's mission? What is your long-range vision for technology use? While this isn't necessarily an essential part of the plan, this section can give an overview of your technology goals as they relate to your organization's mission.

Taking your hardware and software inventory may be the most well-defined part of technology planning. As a result, you have more options for how to get it done. If someone on staff has even a minimal knowledge of hardware and software vocabulary, you may well be able to do it in-house. Is there someone who knows how to find out the processor speed of a computer?

Following the National Education Technology Plan, and realizing that Vermont has some unique needs, we’ll frame the Vermont Goals under the following areas:  Learning, in Vermont’s case, Personalizing Learning  Teaching and Pedagogy  Leadership  Assessment and Evaluation  Infrastructure

How could/would digital learning environments increase students’: o Exposure to new ideas, communities and culture? o Civic engagement and responsibility? o Collaborations and community/state/national/global connections o Appetite for new experiences in learning?

Chromebooks, offering a low-cost solution to providing full or near full-time access for students, now comprise almost 50% of devices in schools.

Taking full advantage of technology to transform learning requires strong leadership capable of creating a shared vision of which all members of the community feel a part. Leaders who believe they can delegate the articulation of a vision for how technology can support their learning goals to a chief information officer or chief technology officer fundamentally misunderstand how technology can impact learning. Technology alone does not transform learning; rather, technology helps enable transformative learning. The vision begins with a discussion of how and why a community wants to transform learning. Once these goals are clear, technology can be used to open new possibilities for accomplishing the vision that would otherwise be out of reach. Moving to learning enabled by technology can mean a shift in the specific skills and competencies required of leaders. Education leaders need personal experience with learning technologies, an understanding of how to deploy these resources effectively, and a community-wide vision for how technology can improve learning. 1