Digital Citizenship

Step One

Read the Lesson

So much of our human engagement takes place in digital form and so much of our identity is immortalized via our digital footprint. Therefore, students must be prepared for the responsibility of communicating and representing themselves, their school, and someday their employer in an increasingly connected and tech-driven world. Indeed, digital citizenship (sometimes called dig cit) is one of the most important skills for both the current and future social and professional environments. Because it is technically a collection of critical skills, we gave digital citizenship its own pillar as an extension of Skill Building with the Class Intercom Pedagogy Pillars.

Important at All Levels

With so much focus on students’ need for digital citizenship skills, it’s easy to forget that faculty and staff often need to be explicitly educated on these skills, too. Although the youngest generation of educators may have received some training in online safety, the majority of our workforce has learned these skills on the fly, if at all! The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Education Leaders recommend that “educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world.” Specifically, educators should “mentor students in safe, legal, and ethical practices with digital tools and the protection of intellectual rights and property” (3c). And so, if educators in your school are going to mentor students in these skills, they should be given some level of formal, front-loaded training in digital citizenship.
Similarly, as you begin to involve students in the content creation process, be sure there is a plan in place to ensure a foundational knowledge of digital citizenship principles. For students who have already completed formal instruction through district curriculum, a brief refresher is recommended. If your school does not offer formal training, refer to the article below for a number of ISTE-recommended resources.

Experiential Learning in a Safe Format

As with the myriad skills covered in Pillar 3, the best way to practice and master the principles of digital citizenship is through hands-on experience. Class Intercom allows for real-time, hands-on digital citizenship training for all participants. In the webinar with Midland ISD, Robert Pryor notes that his teachers are not trained social media experts and may not always know exactly what they are and are not allowed to post. But with Class Intercom’s moderation function, they can submit their content for filtering and feedback from trained moderators. For both students and teachers using Class Intercom, this feedback loop allows them to learn and improve in a safe, low-risk environment with each piece of content they submit.