Promoting digital citizenship and the 3 C's in the classroom

Video Transcription

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Today, we're going to be looking at the concept of promoting digital citizenship in your classrooms, specifically looking in at how you as a teacher can promote being a good strong digital citizen and using those 3 Cs in your classroom. For today's lesson, I've chosen a quote by one of my favorite authors William Faulkner who says, "never be afraid to raise your voice." I think this speaks really nicely to the idea of promoting digital citizenship in our classroom as we teachers really need to be the advocates for how our students can use this and make a practice of this in their everyday lives.

By the time you're done with the lesson today, you are going to be able to describe the role of teachers in promoting digital citizenship and the 3 Cs in your classroom. You're going to be able to discuss how specifically you can promote that digital citizenship in your class through modeling behaviors, and you're going to be able to discuss how specifically to promote digital citizenship through the actual explicit teaching of some of these main behaviors. So let's look at what the role of teachers are when talking about promoting digital citizenship in the classroom.

First and foremost, I believe there are two main ways that you can really be a good promoter of digital citizenship and the 3 Cs. The first is being a model for that exceptional behavior that we are hoping to see. You're going to show them the appropriate elements of being a digital citizen while you yourself are up in front of the classroom exhibiting those core elements of the 3 Cs Framework as you yourself are teaching so that they're encountering that every single day.

The second main way for you as a teacher to help promote this is to explicitly teach some of those elements of digital citizenship as well as the way in which we can be safe and responsible users of digital devices and digital technology. This explicit teaching is really a helpful way of showing how they can use that digital information safely and responsibly. So let's break each of those elements down just a little bit more.

When we're looking at how you as a teacher can model behavior, there are a couple of areas where you can hone in on. First and foremost, you can look at how to model digital etiquette. This would be when you are using those specific tools in the classroom. You can be showing students how to use those appropriately so that when they go and start using them they are in fact modeling and copying your behavior.

You can also model good use of your districts and your schools acceptable use policy. As we've stated before, many different schools have different acceptable use policies. So as you are using those tools in instructional activities, make sure that you're complying with those acceptable use policies, especially those policies that are put in place for the students.

Oftentimes, teachers will have access to different websites or technological devices that students won't. Sometimes that's as simple as me not pulling out my phone during class if a student is expected to keep it away. And sometimes it's advanced as explaining why we aren't using a YouTube video because our school doesn't allow it. Or we are using a YouTube video, but here are the ways in which we're using it that help comply with our district and our school's acceptable use policy.

Finally, you can model good security practices in your classroom. What that means is that you are showing students how you're using that virus protection on classroom devices. Sometimes this is something that teachers are expected to do on their own. Sometimes this is something that's updated through a technological person at the school. And if whenever possible you can get those people who use technology the most in your school to come into your classroom and help model that for students, the better.

Now let's take a look at what you should be explicitly teaching your students when it comes to being a digital citizen and using those 3 Cs in the classroom. A great way to help explicitly teach some of this information is to look at and teach appropriate online behavior. This can be done through situational examples. Perhaps you provide a situation to the students about behavior online and they can help look at what was appropriate about it and what was inappropriate about it.

For example, maybe you could tell them about a young female, someone their age, who posted on Facebook that she partied all night with her BFFs. What she actually did if you were to know her was that she went to a bowling alley and then had a sleepover, but talking with the students about what are the perceptions we have with the term partying, right, especially when we use it in conjunction with really late evenings and how might that appear to other people who are reading this, really breaking it down so that they can see specifically what is appropriate, what's inappropriate, and how can those things affect a reputation both online and offline.

Another thing that's important to explicitly teach when it comes to digital citizenship is that all information that's put out there is public, making sure that students understand that even if they posted on their Facebook or if they were to have been a part of a blog conversation that that information can be googled. In fact, it's good to teach students about the Google Alert system and how they can be alerted to whenever something pops up about them, how they can begin Google searching themselves and using other various search engines to make sure that the image they're putting out there to the public is one that they want to.

Finally, it's really important to teach students about the dangers of sharing personal information online. This isn't necessarily referring to the sharing of what you did and when you did it, but also sharing important information, such as your birthday or, heaven forbid, any financial information that could potentially catch the eye of predators or hackers who would then use that information to put your students in a very difficult position. As you are explicitly teaching these elements of digital citizenship and the 3 Cs, it's important that you as a teacher remember three important things, to stay current, stay authentic, and stay involved.

When I say stay current, I mean that it's important for you as a teacher to stay up to date in terms of the digital issues and regulations that are out there. This is such a fast moving part of our world that being up to date makes you such a better teacher and advocate for your students. When I say stay authentic, what we mean here is that you are encouraging wise choices online not just when you are explicitly teaching it in front but when you are teaching other lessons and you see students interacting with these digital technologies. Oftentimes, the best learning happens when it's integrated into an authentic experience so that they have real life context as opposed to just some of those scenarios and situational examples.

Finally, it's really important for you as a teacher to stay involved. This means making sure that you are using the online environment often in your classroom. Start exposing students as much as you can to the digital world so that they have every opportunity to practice good elements of digital citizenship.

Now that we've reached the end of our lesson, you are able to describe the role of teachers in promoting that digital citizenship and those 3 Cs in the classroom, specifically the two main ways we can do that through modeling and explicit teaching. You also should be able to discuss how specifically to model those elements of digital citizenship in your class and to discuss how to explicitly teach certain elements of digital citizenship and the 3 Cs with your students. Now I would like to take just a moment for reflection.

As you look back on all that you've learned in promoting digital citizenship, what do you think would be the first step you would take in promoting digital citizenship in your classroom? As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you might want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to really help you deepen your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skill set. That's all we have for right now. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.