Module 3

So my homework this week is to reflect on Digital Citizenship. For this one I want to share my personal expereince in working with 9th graders (age 14) in a Digiteen project several years ago. I will quote them "Why are we even learning this? It is all common sense." Hence, the difference between a digital citizen, or one who has grown up with access to technology, and a digital immigrant, or a person my age who has "immigrated" to the world of the internet. Or how about my mother in law, age 80, who still believes EVERY e-mail she gets from Nigeria is legitimate. I don't think she is even an immigrant yet.

I see 2 year olds playing with I-Pads in restaurants now and some of the fasting growing software programs are targeted to preschoolers! However, the same group of kids that claimed "this is all common sense" fell for the "Dihydrogen Monoxide" website scam page and even clicked to order t-shirts and send money! I use this assignment to prove to kids that not everything you read on the internet is true and you have to KNOW who you are talking to.

While I was involved in the Digiteen project, our school had a Facebook "scare" where a student posted a message on somone elses FB page that a bomb was going to be set off. The school took this very seriously, especially since it had been posted from--get this--a computer teacher's class through a proxy (we don't have access to FB in our school district--but every kids knows how to access it anyway). Parents were very concerned and we had the FBI at our school for two days investigating. That SAME WEEK a student in my class who was involved in the Digiteen project found another classmates Ning page open and typed "Sebastian is a homo" on that student's Ning page. It made me angry, but it was a teachable moment. Our so called digital citizens, tech savvy students, still don't always behave in a responsible manner.

Our district has mandatory "internet security" training for each student, but it involves our principal reading a script over the announcements and having them take home a handout about internet security. This is a start, but not enough. We must teach responsible digital citizenship from very young.

I resolve to: continue to teach responsible digital citizenship, even when my high school students who "know everything" claim it is "all common sense" :)