Why is Digital Citizenship
Important?
www.huffingtonpost.com

http://lonesailor.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/web1vsweb2.png

The Internet Has Changed!
• 1.0 was static.
• It was a one-way information highway.
• It was a one-way flow of information through
websites which contained 'read-only' material.
• There was widespread computer illiteracy.
• It involved slow Internet connections which added
to the restrictions of the Internet.
• It was application-based and applications needed
to be purchased.
• It was single creator content, meaning one person
created the content and posted it.

Web 2.0 is different.
 It allows software developers and users to
use the Web in a participatory way.
 It has moved from personal websites to
blogs, from publishing to participation.
 It is collaborative, many times involving
multiple collaborators.
 It is increasingly free with less need to
purchase applications.
 It allows for creating and sharing content.
 It is faster.

We are on the frontier!
http://www.bruceruiz.net/PanamaHistory/Covered_Wagon_400.jpg

• Just like the pioneers who traveled West,
we don’t know what is around the next
corner.
• It is impossible to predict the new
innovations that will come our way on the
Web!
• We don’t have rules for this frontier. We
have to make decisions based on what
we know to be right and wrong in our
physical world.

• The story is still being written all around
us at an amazing pace.
• The good news is there is a lot that can
be done by parents, educators,
community members and business
members.
• We need to harness the good that can
come from the opportunities of Web. 2.0
and seek to head off the worst
problems.

http://wallscometumblingdown.files.wordpress.com
I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but
the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to
exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to
take it from them but to inform their discretion. ~ Thomas Jefferson

•Our students are growing up in a culture
which is global in scope and nature.
• Our students are connected:
by the they relate to information,
by how they relate to new technologies,
by how they relate to one another.

• Cultures are being created not only in
the physical world but the digital, virtual
world.
We need to help students understand:
• the possibilities their global culture
brings forth and the challenges they will
face.
• along with the possibilities, there are
responsibilities.
Who helps them understand these responsibilities?
How do we help them understand?

Our Students

In 2006, Time magazine declared its
Person of the Year to be
You.
Why? Anyone with an internet connection can
now be a reporter, political commentator,
cultural critic, or media producer.
• The new digital media frontier is rich with
opportunities and risks, particularly for
young people.

• Making quality judgments becomes more
demanding as the complexity of the information
and task increases.
Young people are likely to avoid making quality
judgments when it is difficult.
• Students brains are not fully developed.
The prefrontal cortex is not fully functioning. This
brain functioning impacts students’ abilities to
evaluate, interpret, modify, foresee consequences,
and plan ahead.
• Capacities for moral decision-making and action
evolve over time and are affected by social
contexts and experiences. (Kohlberg, 1981; Turiel, 2006)

Born Digital
• Click and listen to the book talk.

Born Digital
What does it mean and why does
it matter to educators and
parents?

born after 1980
user of technology
thinks, writes, interacts,
socializes with technology
online is part of life

Thesis: “Digital Natives”
know a world different than
the one we know.
They are making choices
which may have significant
consequences in their
futures.

As educators and parents, our
roles include guidance and
support. We need to
understand the issues.
We need to be informed.
We can make a difference.

Palfrey and Gasser have
provided a current, well-
researched and thoughtful
framework.
They describe the issues that
are and will impact Digital
Natives. Their understanding of
the issues can inform our work.

We can use this framework:
* to develop a shared
understanding of the issues
behind our work to support
Digital Citizenship.
* to help us decide which issues
are most pressing.

3 major areas
1 Identity
privacy & safety
2 Intellectual Property
+ great creativity
- online piracy
3 Information overload
how to navigate- fact/fiction

Issue #1
As students’ identity
development is shifting to the
web and personally identifiable
information is growing…
What is the impact on privacy
and safety?

Issue #2
As it becomes much easier to
access and use content…
What should we know about
creating, creativity and
copyright?

Issue #3
How do we support our students
to make sense of the information
they access?
What should we know and do
about overload?