Digital Citizenship
FOR STUDENTS K-12
Thanks for visiting our site. Digital Citizenship is super important
for students in an ever-changing and fast-paced society.
Digital One~Your #1 Group for Digital Citizenship Resources
Digital Citizenship
​Digital Citizenship is many things, but it is not an online safety course. It is critically thinking about material read or placed on the internet. It is ethical choices made when deciding what to post and where to visit on the internet. It is thinking ahead when deciding what to write and the possible consequences of those words. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) defines digital citizenship as teaching students to “understand human, cultural and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior” (Patterson, 2015).
The online world young people live within can be just as dangerous as the physical world. As such, digital citizenship instruction is an essential part of the K-12 curriculum. What is posted today becomes part of the student’s digital footprint which can not simply be erased like a mark on a paper.
To help promote Digital Citizenship, members of the ISTE were challenged in 2018 to commit to one activity to promote Digital Citizenship in their classrooms. To share their ideas, members were encouraged post it on social media with the hashtag #DigCitCommit
Will you DigCitCommit?
Resources for Parents and Families
Digital Citizenship Guide for Parents
http://mediasmarts.ca/parents/digital-citizenship-guide-parents
Digital Citizenship Resources for the Homes
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/digitalcitizenshipweek/home
What is Digital Citizenship?
Email and Internet Use
Internet Safety
The internet is a great tool for young people of all ages to practice new skills or find information about a hobby or personal interest. To use the internet safely, boundaries and guidelines need to be established. It’s not enough to trust that our young people are following those guidelines- supervision needs to be in place.
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is designed to keep strangers from learning personal information about children younger than 13 when logging into a game or entering a contest. Bookmarking favorite sites, keeping the computer in a common area of the home, and modeling proper online behavior are all ways to teach internet safety. Always look for sites that begin with https because the S stands for secure!
Some general rules for families and children:
*Never post or trade personal pictures
*Avoid revealing personal information such as address, phone number, or school attending
*Never post using your full name but instead create a screen name for internet activity
*Create strong passwords that don’t include any personal information
*Report threatening or uncomfortable information to a trusted adult or parent
​
Check out these internet safety tips to stay safe online:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/5-internet-safety-tips-for-kids
Cyberbullying
​
Cyberbullies send messages that threaten or intimidate the receiver of the message. Avoid these types of situations by limiting your young person’s “online friends” on social media sites to only people you know in person. Unlike bullying in school situations, this can occur at all times of the day and night. It can be hard to spot if a young person is being cyberbullied, so parents need to be alert to changes in a young person’s attitude and self-esteem. Monitoring all electronic devices may help parents prevent problems before they happen.
Email Safety
Personal email accounts are one way a cyberbully may contact their victims. Parents are the first line of protection for the email accounts of young people! Creating strong passwords and keeping those passwords safe by sharing them only with parents is one way to keep young people safe. Encourage young people to keep their email address private and only give it to trusted friends or family members. Spam mail may still make it to an inbox, so unsolicited mail, offers too good to be true, and suspicious looking messages should never be opened!
​
Additional Information for Parents
Protecting Kids Online
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/net-safety.html
Privacy and Internet Safety Videos for Families
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy-and-internet-safety
Email Safety Tips
https://www.digitalunite.com/technology-guides/email-skype/email/email-safety-tips
What is Cyberbullying?
https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html
Netiquette is short for "Internet etiquette". Having good etiquette is showing polite behavior in society. Netiquette is the same, except for it's showing good behavior on the internet. There are many ways to display netiquette. It can be shown via email, social media, online chats, website comments, and other types of online communication.
​
Having Netiquette on Social Media:
1. Real-Life Rule: Adhere to the same standards of behavior as in "real life". Don't say anything you wouldn't say in real life.
2. Make Yourself Look Good Rule: Make sure you proofread posts before you post them. Also, advertise yourself, but not too much. You don't want to seem boastful. Share your friends and colleagues posts as well.
3. The Off-limits Rule: Opinions on politics, religion, personal attacks, and controversial subjects that could cause embarrassment to others should not be put on the public Internet. When in doubt, don’t.
4. The When in Doubt, Don’t Rule. Make the conversation worthwhile. One less tweet, update, or photo won’t matter.
​
5. The Acronyms Rule. Don’t overuse acronyms in online communication. People may misconstrue the meaning and assume something differently. Communicate clearly.
6. Make sure your tone is well-represented and that you are appropriately conversing to whatever audience you are talking to.
​
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is any form of bullying done online. It involves the use of information and communication technologies to support hostile behavior. It is any type of harassment done online in order to intimidate or hurt the receiver. Cyberbullying is definitely not having proper netiquette. Cyberbullying is very serious and could get someone in serious trouble. It is important to make students aware of their responsibilities online.
Additional Resources:
-
Netiquette and Online Ethics: https://www.webroot.com/ca/en/home/resources/tips/ethics-and-legal/ethics-netiquette-and-online-ethics-what-are-they
-
Core Rules of Netiquette: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
-
Why do people use Netiquette? https://classroom.synonym.com/why-do-people-use-netiquette-12078439.html
Netiquette
 |  |
|---|
Copyright, Plagiarism, and Fair Use
http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/academic-integrity/
​
What Is a Copyright?
Fundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/stopping-internet-plagiarism/your-copyrights-online/1-what-is-a-copyright/
What Is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is simply taking other people's words and/or ideas, using them, and then - rather than giving credit to the person who thought of them, pretending that those words/ideas belong to you.
https://www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism/what-is-plagiarism.php
What Is Fair Use?
Fair Use is a legally permissible use of copyrighted material for specific purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship. The best course of action is to get permission from a copyright holder before using their work. If the copyright holder does not agree that your use qualifies as “fair”, legal action can be brought against you. Downloading and distributing copyrighted materials without authorization from the rights-holder is never an example of fair use.
https://dmca.harvard.edu/faq/what-“fair-use”-and-how-does-it-apply-copyright-law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_hcAXN_obM&t=20s
Resources on how to cite sources and avoid plagiarism:
6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism in Research Papers
http://en.writecheck.com/ways-to-avoid-plagiarism/
​
Yale Center for Teaching and Learning: Citing Internet Sources
https://ctl.yale.edu/writing/using-sources/citing-internet-sources
​
Citing Sources: Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism
http://holyfamily.libguides.com/c.php?g=610218&p=4236574
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Equitable Digital Access
Equitable Digital Access ensures that students have access to emerging digital devices and resources. Equitable Digital Access is a more 21st century approach to learning. Equitable Digital Access ensures that students are engaged, collaborating, and thinking critically. Equitable Digital Access ensures that students are thinking creatively.
Equitable Access to Technology is proven to increase math scores.
Equitable Access to Technology is a way for students to learn digitally. Its no secret, it is not realistic nor engaging for students to be seated at their desk all day, taking notes. Equitable Access to technology allows student to engage, interact, and be responsible for their own learning.