When schools put devices such as Chromebooks and tablets into students’ hands, they also must teach students how to use the technology safely and appropriately. But students shouldn’t learn these critical lessons only in standalone workshops or assemblies. source <> http://www.edubilla.com/blog/how-to-take-digital-citizenship-schoolwide-/

1. How to Take Digital Citizenship
Schoolwide?
When schools put devices such as
Chromebooks and tablets into students’
hands, they also must teach students how
to use the technology safely and
appropriately. But students shouldn’t learn
these critical lessons only in standalone
workshops or assemblies.
For good digital citizenship to become a
lifelong habit for students, educators must
embed these skills into their daily

2. instruction and model them in their own
behavior. They must also involve parents
in this process and begin the education
early on in a child’s experience.
Kids are coming to school having already
had some contact with technology, says
Mike Ribble, IT director for
Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District.
Whether they have a knowledge of how to
use it appropriately is another question.
As an example, Ribble points to Common
Sense Media’s report “Zero to Eight:
Children’s Media Use in America.”
According to this study, the percentage of
children up to age eight who have used a
mobile device nearly doubled from 2011 to
2013, from 38 percent to 72 percent — and
40 percent of children have used a mobile
device before age two.

3. The report’s findings suggest that schools
should start teaching digital citizenship to
students at a very young age. In fact,
Ribble strongly believes students should
learn these skills throughout the K-12
curriculum. When schools teach digital
citizenship using a “one-off event” such as
a presentation or an assembly, students
take in the information and then forget it
over time, Ribble says. But if the topic is
taught continuously throughout the
curriculum, “that’s when it sticks.”
Four Keys to Effective Digital Citizenship
The International Society for Technology
in Education (ISTE) has unveiled a new set
of ed tech standards for students, which
could help educators instill good online
habits in their students throughout the
curriculum.

4. The standards outline the knowledge and
skills that students should learn and be
able to demonstrate when it comes to
technology use. They define four key
elements of exemplary digital citizenship:
Students cultivate and manage their
digital identity and reputation and are
aware of the permanence of their actions
in the digital world.
Students engage in positive, safe, legal and
ethical behavior when using technology,
including in social interactions online or
when using networked devices.
Students demonstrate an understanding of
and respect for the rights and obligations
of using and sharing intellectual property.
Students manage their personal data to
maintain digital privacy and security and

5. are aware of data-collection technology
used to track their navigation online.
Many schools teach online safety and
responsibility by creating an atmosphere
of fear: Don’t give out your personal
information. Be careful how you act online.
While these lessons are important, ISTE’s
new standards aim to set a more positive
tone by focusing on how technology can
empower students, says Jim Flanagan,
ISTE’s chief learning services officer.
For instance, students should learn how to
use LinkedIn and other tools to build their
personal networks and cultivate a positive
digital identity that can lead to success in
work and life. The opportunity for one
child to have a positive impact has never
been greater, Flanagan says. We don’t just
want students to be afraid, or they’ll miss
that opportunity.

6. Get Parents Involved
Parents must play a critical role in digital
citizenship conversations. Parents need to
understand these concepts, and they need
to be engaged in the process so they are
reinforcing appropriate online behaviors
at home, Ribble says.
Ribble’s district uses a variety of strategies
to reach parents, such as parent-teacher
conferences, PTA meetings and social
media. He encourages schools to hold open
houses for parents in order to set clear
expectations before handing out devices to
students in mobile learning programs.
But even the best efforts won’t be effective
unless teachers and administrators
exemplify these skills and behaviors in
their daily interactions with students. As
adults,

7. we must be modeling effective online
behavior and calling out inappropriate
behavior when we see it, Flanagan says, or
we’re giving students the opportunity to
discover it for themselves.
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