DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 1

Reflection Week 1

Brianne L Yount

Lamar University EDLD 5316

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 2

The Ethical and Moral Digital Citizen

One of the most important concepts when using technology tools in the classroom a

teacher can teach their students is digital citizenship. Often children are offered devices far

before they have learned how to be a good citizen on or off a device. It is a concept that has been

missed too often in the education system, and the lack of it has created a digital environment that

is not healthy. According to Fingal 2017, “88% of teens who use social media have witnessed

other people being cruel online.” Students often listen to the social news feed as credible, use

technology in unsafe environments like driving, download illegal content, have received sexually

suggestive content from others, and use the internet to talk to strangers (Fingal, 2017). All of

these unhealthy behaviors are a result of the lack of ethical and moral instruction revolving

around technology usage. It has occurred to me that this is one of the most important concepts a

student in this new digital era needs to learn.

When considering education of digital citizenship one must look at Ribble’s (2015) nine

areas of the digital citizen: digital access, commerce, communication, literacy, law, rights and

responsibilities, health and wellness, and security. Several schools have given their student’s

access to technology, but have they considered teaching their students any of the other 8

elements of appropriate digital citizenship? As an elementary teacher, it is my job to teach them

how to be a good citizen in our community, but I have not considered how to be a good digital

citizen. I have often had incidents that arise that remind me to tell students what appropriate

behavior online should be, but I have yet to begin a year with teaching what is the expected

ethical behavior on a device. This is something that I begin every year with from now on,

especially since I am allowing more and more access to technology devices in my day to day

teaching.
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Teaching digital citizenship to elementary students may be a big job, but one should

consider Ribble’s REP principles: Respect your self and others, Educate your self and connect

with others, and Protect your self and other. (Ribble, 2015). These concepts seem basic and help

students get a foundation of how technology can benefit their lives not drag it down. If the

students from the past were taught to respect others on social media, would there be as

significant as a problem with cyberbullying than there is today? If students were taught to respect

others property, would there be as significant as a problem with illegal downloads as there is

today? These are things to consider as educators of the past. We have failed when it comes to

educating our students about digital citizenship. It is our job to make a healthy change, to teach

our students how technology can change the world for the better, and how they can cooperate

with others and create a world of respectful, mature, and ethical collaboration among each other.
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References

Fingal, D. (2017, December 14). Infographic: Citizenship in the digital age. Retrieved June 3,

2019, from https://www.iste.org/explore/Digital-citizenship/Infographic:-Citizenship-in-

the-digital-age?articleid=192

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools - nine elements all students should know (3rd

ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society For Tech.