ITSE4 EDTC6433 Resolution Reflection Module

ISTE Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship

The following standards are most relevant to my triggering question:

Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources 

Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information 

Triggering Event Question:

How can I instill ethical, safe and responsible technology practices in my third grade students that they will carry with them throughout their education, and ultimately, their lives?

Technology is becoming more pervasive in the everyday lives of students, and in the classroom setting. Part of educating the whole child is ensuring that students have the skills and explicit instruction necessary to make positive, responsible and ethical decisions when using technology. ISTE standard four addresses that teachers must “advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology,” and I believe that is an extremely important lesson to teach my third grade students (ISTE Standards, 2016).  Even though in the classroom, my students use of technology is very teacher directed and students do not have the freedom to explore without restriction, I still find that it is extremely important to educate them regarding digital responsibility to ensure that they are safe and making positive choices when they have future, unrestricted access.

Initially, I assumed that while digital responsibility would be an important skill to model, it may not be directly applicable to my third grade students at this point in time. After conversations with my students regarding their access to the digital world, I learned quickly that this was not the case. I am shocked by how many of my eight-year-old students have personal cell phones, iPads, tablets or unrestricted access to the Internet at home. This further illustrated the importance of teaching internet responsibly and ethics to my students. The importance of teaching safe and ethical technology use is illuminated in EducationLeadership in an Onlineworld: Connecting students to Technology Responsibly,Safely, and Ethically. While ethical technology use is not a curricular component, students are exposed to the Internet and social media at much younger ages. To educate our children comprehensively, we must also focus on Internet etiquette during this digital age. The article addresses a “lack of leadership preparation” related to digital literacy, and how this can lead to problems (Ribble, 2011). This led me to understand how important it is to prepare students. This article provides strategies for educators to prepare our students for a responsible digital future. It also provides ideas to reduce technology misuse or abuse. The most important take away that I will undoubtedly teach in my classroom is that teachers “need to begin to make parallels for students between being good to teach other both in the classroom and in the digital world” (Ribble, 2011). It further explains that students must be provided with specific examples of responsible behavior in both worlds. It is so important to teach students that rules that apply to real life also must be applied online.

This research led me to further explore the importance of teaching digital responsibility and safety at a young age. The majority of my third graders do not have access to social media accounts, however it is extremely important to teach them the importance of digital ethics at a young age.  I teach my students often how to appropriately interact with one another, and how to resolve conflicts and navigate bullying but I now realize the importance of teaching these lessons to protect my students from cyber bullying as well.  When I researched further into cyber bullying I found that in the cast of cyberbullying “there is a greater ease of anonymity for aggressors” (Gualdo et al., 2014). Another factor that makes cyberbullying dangerous is that the victim’s reactions are largely invisible. Typically this type of bullying takes play away from the schools and supervision, so it is incredibly important to educate our students on the importance of digital responsibility and the adverse effects of cyber bullying.

This information led me to my area of research I fully understand the importance of teaching digital citizenship and responsibility, and the adverse effects of failing to do so, but how do I teach digital citizenship in the most effective manner? How do I fit this instruction into my already packed curricular schedule? A member of my learning circle, Megan Leonard, led me directly to that answer through her research.  The article that she found explained that digital citizenship should not be taught through explicit and direct instruction (Marrs, 2016). The answer to my question is found through embedding the instruction into authentic digital learning experiences that are already occurring. This means that I will not need to devise a separate unit to teach digital citizenship, I can simply teach it through our exploration and authentic conversations (Marrs, 2016).

ITSE 4 reveals the importance of teachers teaching ethical and safe use of technology. This lead me to research the importance of teaching digital responsibility and the most effective way to approach this instruction to ensure that my students are prepared to ethically use digital information.

References

Ribble, R., Miller, T. (2011). Education Leadership in an Onlineworld: Connecting students to          Technology Responsibly, Safely, and Ethically. Retrieved from    https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/10314/files/271981?module_item_id=101807.

Marrs, H. (2016) Don’t Teach Digital Citizenship- Embed It! Retrieved from   https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=809&category=In-the-  classroom&article=Don%E2%80%99t+teach+digital+citizenship+%E2%80%94+embed+it.

Gulado, A., Hunter, S., Durkin, K., Arnaiz, P., Maqilon, J. (2012). The Emotional Impact of  Cyberbullying: Differences in perceptions and Experiences as a Function of Role. Retrieved from  https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/10314/files/271964?module_item_id=101805.

Artifacts:

Seesaw Link:

http://web.seesaw.me/

Cyberbullying Educational Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XktuYaCqj5k