Journal 1 - "Passport to Digital Citizenship"

Ribble, M (2008). Passport to digital citizenship. Leading & Learning with Technology. 36, 14-17.

In this article, Ribble discusses the need for teaching students today about the importance of what has come to be known as “digital citizenship”. So what exactly is digital citizenship anyway? According to Ribble, “digital citizenship describes the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology.” Our students are inundated with all kinds of technology every day. All of this technology can be an advantage to teachers if we choose to use it to our advantage. Part of that process includes educating ourselves, our communities, and our students on the proper use of the technologies available to us today. Ribble outlines how to educate everyone in digital citizenship through the use of awareness, guided practice, modeling and demonstration, and feedback and analysis.

Question 1 – Why is it important to involve the community in digital citizenship?

Students are not in the classroom twenty four hours a day. If the community at large is not included in digital citizenship awareness and education, students will not have the support they need outside of the classroom. Without the help of the community, there will be a disconnect between students’ use of technology in the classroom and their use of technology outside of school. In order to insure that our students acquire a complete understanding of the importance of digital citizenship it is absolutely crucial for us, as educators, to involve the entire community in the education process.

Question 2 – How can teachers best show students how to use technology responsibly?

I believe the best way for teachers to show students what responsible technology use looks like is by actually practicing responsible use in the classroom. If we are not following the guidelines of digital citizenship ourselves, how can we ask our students to use technology responsibly? If students see teachers using technology responsibly, not only will they see that responsible use is important, they will also see that it’s doable.