Digital Citizenship

The successful online educator:

Demonstrates knowledge of the role of online learning in preparing learners to participate as global citizens.
Facilitates learning experiences that model and promote digital citizenship and ensures a safe digital learning spaces for all learners.
Models, complies with, and implements federal, state, and program-level policies related to intellectual property, fair-use standards, and Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) designed to protect learners in the classroom.

Standards:
NSQOT: A5, A7, B5, E1, E3, E4
OTS: 1.5, 2.5

Reflection: Explain what you have done in your professional experience to address these indicators and include reasoning for why you chose this evidence.

One activity I created for my elementary students that promotes digital citizenship with students being able to recognize cyber bullying and how to react to cyber bullying situations is my video discussion post assignment. In the assignment students watch a video on on Cyber Bullying by Common Sense Education then they draw two pictures to represent emotions, one, a happy picture and the other, a sad picture. Then, after watching the video on cyber bullying students make a video recording of themselves holding up the happy picture and telling about something that makes them happy in the digital world like ‘I am happy when everyone takes their turn in meetings’. Likewise, students hold up the sad picture and tell about something that makes them sad in the digital world like ‘I am sad when no one includes me in their groups and interrupts me when it is my turn to talk’. For the second part of the assignment students reply with either written or recorded responses on how their classmates feel in different situations. Another activity I prepared is in a zoom session with a question and answer peer discussion in breakout rooms followed by a class discussion. Some of the questions are, ‘What do you do if someone sends you a mean message’, ‘Is it ok to copy and paste material from a web site and claim it as your own work’, ‘What should you do before posting a picture’ and ‘Which of the following is considered cyber bulling’. I am meeting the standards by promoting digital citizenship through activities that include being able to recognize cyber bullying and how to react to these type of situations.

I try to model safety in my zoom sessions by asking students to turn on their cameras and to use their real first names so we can all identify all participants in the room. Then I ask students why they think it’s important to do this, making them aware of precautions. Students are often more willing to keep cameras on and not use made up names. I also explain to students that if there is an issue with using a camera to ask a parent to contact me so we can come up with a plan.

In regard to emails and web tools I ask for students (and parents) to use only the first name or student initials and to not include any private information in the message or post. One digital project at my school is students’ making posters on what it means to be safe using social media and the do’s and don’ts of sharing information.

One lesson in my course is the digital citizenship discussion post activity on cyber bullying, how to recognize it, how it affects the individual being bullied and what are some ways we can address the issue. Another lesson I created for a zoom session in breakout rooms is a multiple choice questionnaire with prompted responses. For example, T/F, everything you read in social media is real’. For multiple choice, one question is, ‘Which written phrase is considered good netiquette. The response, ‘HOW ARE YOU TODAY’, ‘How r U today’, or ‘How are you today’. Another question is, Is it ok to copy and paste material from a web site and claim it as your own work’. After the breakout room activity I prompt students to talk about the topic ‘What does it mean to be a digital citizen’. Through questions like these I am meeting the standards by promoting digital citizenship in being safe, learning about what is appropriate communication and what is fair use, preparing students to become life long learners for a global community.

In the course I post and go over appropriate behavior and student code of conduct, including academic dishonesty. See link below. Included is a statement that students will use their individual work in assessments and activities. In our zoom meetings I remind students to use work and am beginning to use the word plagiarize with young learners, that it means any material in written or verbal forms must be something they created. This means, not share work with others, unless directed by me, or copy the work of others and represent it as their own. Also the use of an online translator is not permitted though dictionaries and other reference material is ok to use in the course.

Through NCVPS I completed a 1.5 CEU course on Intellectual Property, Copyright and Fair Use and also cite all material. When using my material I state ‘Created by Instructor, Annette Frey’. For images I generally search photosforclass.com. All images are appropriate for a school setting, the citation is cited at the bottom of all images and photos are licensed by Creative Commons (Flickr and Pixabay)

Where are you now in reaching mastery of these indicators? Explain your reasoning.

Approaching / Meeting / Exceeding

I am meeting mastery in digital citizenship. Teaching students how to interact, to be aware and what is appropriate is important. Being able to make connections will take students to a level they need in order to compete in the global market, being informed as they reflect on their own practices. This includes social media, networking, means of communication, collaborating, navigating and how to share information.