Digital Citizen Advocates

We believe coaches need to support educators and model digital citizenship, encourage leaders, students, and educators to utilize technology, collaborate and support them in evaluating online content, and empowering educators, leaders, and students to protect personal data and digital profiles (ISTE, 4.7.a.-d.).

The following link is Ethical Implementation of Technology for Personalized Learning

https://canva.link/tml0jom5hof6kp3

The following is taken from the report below and emphasizes the need to be aware of the dangers of not being aware of the dangers of not taking digital citizenship seriously.

"There are issues pertaining to safety, health, legal, and ethical issues related to digital citizenship that technology coaches embrace when teaching others. Congress enacted the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requirements in 2000 (updated in 2011) to tackle the obscene/harmful content that happens over the Internet (Federal Communications Commission, FCC, 2019). Libraries and schools that are subject to the CIPA must adopt/implement an Internet safety policy that addresses:

Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet;
The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms and other forms of direct electronic communications;
Unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking,” and other unlawful activities by minors online;
Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors; and
Measures restricting minors' access to materials harmful to them. (FCC, 2019, para. 5)."
Digital Citizenship Artifact

There are a variety of things to study when considering the unique challenges and opportunities of online teaching. Digital citizenship is both distinct from and like in-person citizenship, so technology coaches need to be able to assist teachers to understand the differences and relate the differences to their students. Regarding grades 7-12 teachers using the Common Sense curriculum, this paper discusses some safety, health, legal, and ethical issues related to digital citizenship, appropriate student communication, cyberbullying, and the Children’s Internet Protection Act requirements, equitable access to digital tools and resources, diversity, cultural understanding, global awareness, and collaboration, and one additional technology trend/issue important in digital citizenship which are intertwined. This is the link to the Model Product:

video1877536402.mp4

Safety, Health, Legal, and Ethical Issues Related to Digital Citizenship

According to Heick (2024), various sources define citizenship as “the quality of an individual’s response to membership in a community” (para. 2). Citizenship is more complicated than a simple legal issue because citizenship pertains to interactions, self-knowledge, and personal knowledge of places, people and cultural history (Heick, 2024). Heick (2024) states that digital citizenship is similarly defined as “the quality of a response to membership in a digital community,” and there needs to be an articulation of the digital and physical communities; therefore, a clear definition of digital citizenship could be “self-monitored participation that reflects conscious interdependence with all (visible and less visible) community members” (Heick, 2024, para. 3). A better definition which includes content for teachers might be, “The quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities” (Heick, 2024, para. 3). Heick’s (2024) final definition is “the self-monitored habits that sustain and improve the digital communities you enjoy or depend on” (para. 3). Digital Citizenship Utah (2017) shares that HB213 defines Digital Citizenship as follows: “The norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior related to technology use, including digital literacy, ethics, etiquette, and security” (Digital Citizenship Utah, 2017).

There are issues pertaining to safety, health, legal, and ethical issues related to digital citizenship that technology coaches embrace when teaching others. Congress enacted the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requirements in 2000 (updated in 2011) to tackle the obscene/harmful content that happens over the Internet (Federal Communications Commission, FCC, 2019). Libraries and schools that are subject to the CIPA must adopt/implement an Internet safety policy that addresses:

Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet;
The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms and other forms of direct electronic communications;
Unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking,” and other unlawful activities by minors online;
Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors; and
Measures restricting minors' access to materials harmful to them. (FCC, 2019, para. 5).

Common Sense Digital Citizenship Curriculum offers topical content that

educators have identified as urgent for students to learn (James et al., 2019). Common Sense Digital revised lessons designed to nurture both dispositions and skills to assist students to thrive in an increasingly interconnected digital world (James et al., 2019). The guided theory of the Common Sense curriculum is based on a dispositional approach which means that skills (i.e., abilities/things someone can know how to do) that lead to creating strong passwords and identifying clickbait (James et al., 2019). Dispositions guide behaviors/thinking, shaping how one uses their skills/knowledge (James et al., 2019). Examples include logically thinking through outcomes before posting content or photos or arguing online with someone (James et al., 2019). The curriculum focuses on five core digital citizenship dispositions to include slowing down and self-reflecting, exploring perspectives, seeking evidence and facts, envisioning possible impacts and options, and taking appropriate action (James et al., 2019).

There are two cornerstones in the Common Sense curriculum to include rings of responsibility (i.e., digital technology actions/habits affect students, their communities, families and others in the world—toward identifying blind spots), and promising pedagogies (i.e., authentic activities, thinking routines, and digital dilemmas as pedagogical practices to foster digital citizenship dispositions/skills) that support/assist students to become good digital citizens (James et al., 2019). Teachers of 7-12 grade students using Common Sense could utilize four domains of digital dilemmas toward student discussions in small groups/large groups to offer more intimate learning experiences and legalities of behaviors quoted from James et al., (2019):

Personal dilemmas: Include how time online may support or undercut time for reflection; pressures related to "being present" in face-to-face encounters and/or always within reach online; and digital footprint, identity, and reputational concerns.
Moral dilemmas: Include dilemmas that arise between close friends, romantic partners, family members, and other so-called strong ties.
Ethical dilemmas: Include online scenarios that implicate distant individuals and wider communities—e.g., hate speech and appropriation of content without attribution.
Civic dilemmas: Include dilemmas: Include online scenarios that raise questions about free speech and other civil liberties or that involve civic, political, or social justice issues with accompanying legalities” (p. 16)

Appropriate Student Communication, Cyberbullying, and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Requirements

Technology coaches need to incorporate the requirements of the CIPA and the FCC (2019) as noted previously. Teachers need to understand and teach others about appropriate student communication, cyberbullying, and the CIPA in alignment with the legalities of the FCC (2019) so that everyone knows what could happen if they commit illegal acts. There are a variety of digital citizenship resources that provide curriculum for classroom teachers to meet CIPA and FCC requirements which offer school districts, schools, and educators information to present to parents and students appropriately. Communications may include cyberbullying which is, “Cyberbullying is the use of digital devices, sites, and apps to intimidate, harm, and upset someone. Targets of cyberbullying report feeling depressed, sad, angry, and frustrated. Cyberbullying can also affect self-esteem, contribute to family problems, disrupt academic achievement, lead to school violence, and give rise to suicidal thoughts” (James et al., 2019, p. 32). Cyberbullying could be continual or intermittent and may involve digital drama that teens do not believe is being handled well by the adults in the room (James et al., 2019). Teachers need to include educational pieces on behaviors to include racism, sexism, homophobic content, or religious persecution/bullying (James et al., 2019). Core lesson strategies of teachers should emphasize the following:

“Core question: How can I be kind, respectful, and civil when communicating online?
Students take on tough topics regarding how we communicate online and how we treat others. Students learn how to be an upstander and ally for others and learn strategies for combating online cruelty and building positive, supportive online communities.
Lessons feature authentic activities to foster dispositions including "slowing down," "exploring different perspectives," "envisioning options and possible impacts," and "taking action." (James et al., 2019, p. 33).

Equitable Access to Digital Tools and Resources

Teachers need to know how to advocate for their students’ equitable access to digital tools and resources while doing so legally. If professional development is not provided for teachers regarding how to offer equitable access to their students, they should request this from their administrators. Teachers must have the knowledge and skills to determine if their students are in need to iPads/Chromebooks, computers, or access to the Internet at home. Ribble & Miller (2013) state, “As technology continues to become a more integral part of students’ lives, making sure that all members within school environments are well versed in appropriate use” (p. 142). This requires teachers to form relationships with students through being empathetic, practicing positive regard, and displaying genuineness (Fisher et al., 2020).

Diversity, Cultural Understanding, Global Awareness, and Collaboration

Diversity, cultural understanding, global awareness, and collaboration are necessary entities for teachers to address (James et al., 2019). Prasetiyo et al. (2023) found that the skill of digital citizenship is a necessary skill for teachers, prospective teachers, and students in a global world. Fisher et al. (2020) share that students who engage in distance learning may be at risk:

English language learners
Students living in lower socio-economic status homes
Students with disabilities
Students identifying as lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual
Students who have or are experiencing trauma
Students whose basic needs are not being met
Students who do not have equitable learning resources/access

If students who do not have safe/secure homes in which learning is encouraged, then they will not prosper academically, behaviorally, and developmentally (Fisher et al., 2020). Teachers should advocate for students in their districts to receive free access to the Internet and free use of Chromebooks and other supplies they need to do well in school (Fisher et al., 2020). An organization called Communities in Schools provides mentors, homework helpers, counseling access, and backpacks for students on Fridays that are full of food for the weekend.

Clarity of organization, explanation, examples/guided practice, and student learning assessment are integral to online students gaining academically and collaborating regardless of their challenges (Fisher et al., 2020). Teachers need to provide information for students visually, orally, quantitatively, textually, and using charts, graphs, web pages, etc., as well as skills related to interpretation, explanation, and deeper understanding (Fisher et al., 2020).

Discovering where students are academically and developmentally/how to help is one of the dilemmas of teachers in a global society (James et al., 2019). Teachers, and others, are responsible for educating students about how to negotiate their digital lives to develop into good citizens, online and offline (James, James et al., 2019) advocate for good citizenship through developing dispositions and skills that assist them in thinking and acting appropriately (James et al., 2019). Utilizing the framework of the Rings of Responsibility (James et al., 2019), teachers educate students about how to examine the effects of various choices on not only themselves, but on others in the world, near and far. James et al. (2019) advocates for the following:

Pedagogical practices such as the use of authentic activities, thinking, and digital dilemmas to develop dispositions and skills
Skills/dispositions include slowing down of students’ thinking to observe behaviors/consequences, exploration of various perspectives of self and others before acting
Seeking evidence and facts before acting
Envisioning options along with possible impacts when taking chosen actions

Additional Technology Trend/Issue With Digital Citizenship

One additional technology trend/issue with digital citizenship is the use of cell phones in classrooms while school is in session. Hatfield (2024) found that 72% of high school teachers would prefer that students in junior high/high school leave their cell phones outside of classrooms. On the other hand, students prefer to have their cell phones in class (Hatfield, 2024). High school teachers reported that no-cell-phone policies are difficult to enforce and “Six-in-ten high school teachers in places with a cellphone policy say this, compared with 30% of middle school teachers and 12% of elementary school teachers (Hatfield, 2024, para. 4). Teachers need to advocate for whatever peer-reviewed research evidence finds appropriate.

Conclusion

Digital citizenship is a complicated entity in the educational world but must include:

Safety, Health, Legal, and Ethical Issues Related to Digital Citizenship
Appropriate Student Communication, Cyberbullying, and the CIPA
Equitable Access to Digital Tools and Resources
Diversity, Cultural Understanding, Global Awareness, and Collaboration
Additional Technology Trend/Issue With Digital Citizenship

References

Digital Citizenship Utah (2017). What is digital citizenship and why is DigCit education important? General DigCit Resources - #DigCitUtah

Federal Communications Commission. (2019). Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Consumer Guide. Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) | Federal Communications Commission

Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Hattie, J. (2020). The distance learning playbook, grades K-12: Teaching for engagement and impact in any setting. Corwin Press.

Goodyear, M. (2023). Digital citizenship resources to support ducators. Integration of Instructional Design and Technology: Volume 3 Paper. Digital Citizenship Resources to Support Educators – Integration of Instructional Design and Technology: Volume 3

Hatfield, J. (2024). High school teachers say phone distraction in class is a big problem. Pew Research Center. High school teachers say phone distraction in class is a big problem in the US | Pew Research Center

Heick, T. (2024). The definition of digital citizenship. www.teachthought.com. The Definition Of Digital Citizenship

James, C., Weinstein, E., & Mendoza, K. (2019). Teaching digital citizens in today's world: Research and insights behind the Common Sense K–12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Common Sense Media.org/education, 1-50. common_sense_education_digital_citizenship_research_backgrounder-2-copy.pdf

Prasetiyo, W. H., Sumardjoko, B., Muhibbin, A., Naidu, N. B. M., & Muthali'in, A. (2023). Promoting digital citizenship among student-teachers: The role of project-based learning in improving appropriate online behaviors. Participatory Educational Research, 10(1), 389-407.

Ribble, M., & Miller, T. N. (2013). Educational leadership in an online world: Connecting students to technology responsibly, safely, and ethically. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17(1), 137-145.

Social Networking and Gamification Teacher Web Resources & Safety

Social networking and gamification teacher web resources are a significant to students both inside and outside of school environments. Bridging the gap between school and home digital literacies is essential to student learning development. Gaming, social networking, and other virtual settings can result in student engagement increases. This paper offers utilization of a gaming application to create a 10-question game, features game content by presenting three to four social and academic benefits of social networking and gaming in learning, presents ethical implications for utilizing social media and gamification appropriately in the classroom, and offers safe and acceptable student use of classroom games and social media.

10-Question Game

To create games, teachers can install Kahoot on students’ Chromebooks. Groups of 4 students sign into the gaming application Kahoot and create a name for their group. Teachers prepare Chromebooks featuring 10 pre-test quiz review questions pertaining to the upcoming unit exam about World War II (or pertinent teaching/learning topic). Students will have 30 seconds to answer each question through group consensus. After groups of students answer the 10 questions, the groups who have the most correct answers will receive five extra/additional points on the upcoming unit exam. Then, teachers create groups with the same students, using WhatsApp so that students can review their questions/answers and other information that may be on the unit test. Students may use notes taken during class, etc. for review purposes, to create additional questions/answers that group members determine may be on the unit test. Students will be given three sessions to study together. There are four groups of students. During the study sessions, each group will create 5 questions/answers to share them with other groups. This will result in 20 new questions to add to the game. Teachers must actively monitor the group members to ensure students are not accessing inappropriate websites, information, content, or resources through monitoring breakout room conversations and scheduling check-in zoom meetings with students and parents (Maloy et al. 2017).

Social and Academic Benefits

In a physical school setting, as well as a virtual school setting, an instructional technology leader should bring an awareness of principles pertaining to the safe and effective use of social networking platforms/tools (i.e., WhatsApp, Twitter, Zoom, Instagram, and Facebook) and gaming applications (i.e., Kahoot!, Quizlet, and Quizizz) as shown in this 10-question game. Research about the pros and cons of gamification continues to unfold regarding the social and academic risks/benefits related to students’ motivation, engagement, attendance improvement, and fruitful participation (Dicheva & Dicheva, 2017).

Principles that support gamified instruction toward teaching and learning include empowering students to take responsibility for their learning, assisting students in gamified classrooms to establish persistence, encouraging obligatory self-direction through games, helping students to develop social skills, providing formats for students to build/create self-directed personal/community learning, inspiring risk-taking through the nature of meritocratic/democratic gamified instruction, developing an approach to learning that is playful, and a powerful appreciation for the flow of teaching/learning (Cassie, 2020). Social media continues to be used to create better collaboration and communication (i.e., exchange questions with friends/tutors via Google Drive Box), finding appropriate information through news feeds/websites, discovering inspirational information (i.e., Pinterest and Tumblr), and preparing for quizzes/tests, along with involving parents through social networking (i.e., Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp), encouraging students to read using animations, comments, and books (i.e., interactive venues to foster reading/writing), and providing distance learning chances/opportunities that incorporate participants interactions and collaboration worldwide (Willbold, 2017).

Ethical Implications

Maloy et al. (2021) state that many researchers have found that student information was gathered/shared involving third-party apps that should not have been shared (Maloy et al., 2021). Maloy et al. (2021) state, “All in all, more than half of apps appeared to be in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulations” (p. 54). Supposedly, the law protects the identifying information of students including address, name, social security number, username, phone number, location data, and IP addresses (Maloy et al., 2021). Coaches and teachers should make themselves aware of whether social media and gaming entities are age-appropriate and meet the ethical, legal, federal, state, and district guidelines for the use of the technology type in the classroom (Maloy et al., 2021). Adults are responsible for the care of children in the classroom, including online resources/sources that could be harmful to students of all ages, but especially those below the age of 13 (Maloy et al., 2021). Many game models/online resources (i.e., freemium) require creating accounts that allow embedded product links/advertisements, that collect data from students, that encourage paying for product services to gain points, and that collect user data which is sold to third-party vendors (Maloy et al., 2021). Responsible teachers providing this game for students need to monitor every aspect of the game in whatever venue they create for students. To do this, specific steps for teachers and parents are listed under Safe and Acceptable Use.

Safe and Acceptable Use

The game content presents safe and acceptable use for students using social media and gaming applications which requires constant attention, monitoring, observing, scrutinizing, supervision, and oversight (Maloy et al., 2021). Maloy et al. (2021) present seven steps for teachers and parents to take to ensure safe and acceptable use as follows:

Teachers and parents should engage in information conversations with children regarding issues of privacy, apps, and online behavior. In this way, students of all ages will respond positively to honest/authentic talk from respectful adults who provide positive rules/strategies about the safe use of online materials/websites.
Classroom teachers and parents should take advantage of software controls available on most smartphones, computers, and tablets that impose limits on screen time, block specific websites, and monitor children’s online activities. Web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari include functions that can control the content that children/adolescents can access. Smartphone and computer users should disable the automatic/involuntary installation of apps that emerge from vendors who are third-party by choosing on an item-by-item basis.
Install browsers that are kid-friendly and provide environments that are protected while recognizing individualization is required as students get older and need access to more web content to do school assignments.
Only download apps that are purchased from app stores that are official (Apple Pay and Google Play), since they take action to filter harmful software.
Read ratings/reviews from education groups (i.e., Common Sense Media) and consumer reports to ensure high-quality educational materials.
Buy apps only from trusted web content creators/developers who have developed a good reputation, who provide specific terms of service, who offer FAQs/troubleshooting and disclose privacy policies.
Closely scrutinize privacy policies and terms of service for tools and apps that your students or you sign up for. These documents use legal jargon and unfamiliar terms as they are designed to be confusing to users, but users must take care to know how teacher and student data is collected/used.

25 Useful Digital Assessment Tools for Teachers (Formative, Summative, and More)

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Distance Learning--10 Best Practices

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