The Importance Of Digital Citizenship In Education

On the issue of whether or not schools should be allowed to limit students’ online speech, I firmly believe that they shouldn’t. Doing so directly infringes upon the student’s first amendment rights to the freedom of speech, and for what? Numerous surveys have shown that cyberbullying isn’t a huge problem. Further, one document affirms the conclusion that cyberbullying is just another phase in the long-running evolution of bullying. With this essay, I aim to convince you that schools should not limit their students’ online speech, using my vast knowledge as well as cold hard facts.

Since children today have become digital natives; they will never truly know a world that is not touched with technology. This means that the educational paradigm has to shift in order to keep up with the needs of our young learners (Jo, 2016). In the last thirty years, technological advances

Some people believe that the internet is “designed for opinions, rants, and invective” (Source C). They use that excuse to justify their actions whether their comments are friendly or not. In another case, more than 50 students protest a principal’s decision to suspend a student for cyberbullying. The students that did participate in the sit-in expressed that the student accused of cyberbullying was “exerting his rights to post what he pleases” (Source B). These accounts prove that the bullies know what they are doing is wrong and are aware of the potential outcome of their words. When students are accused of cyberbullying another person, they often find an excuse for what they did; the First Amendment of the Constitution. However, if these adolescents felt as if  their comments were not wrong in any way, they would not bother to look for an excuse when being

One can think of the internet as a living network; it is ever changing, and perceptive to the interactions of its users, always yielding to the external pressures that they put on it. For this reason, members of the online world need to behave as active participants to their digital experiences and reputation, as opposed to passive observers. This is the underlying point that the authors Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja (2013) convey to teens in chapter 5 of their book, Words Wound. The authors use this chapter to educate teens of ways in which they can actively participate in both forming and protecting their digital reputation, and in turn, guard themselves from becoming a passive victim to cyberbullying.

As a digital immigrant, it takes a lot of effort form me to keep abreast of the latest advances in technology. Digital Native students utilize technology often in order to socialize with friends and complete projects. Teachers need to thoughtfully determine what technology applications are most effective and enhance instruction (Hammonds, Matherson, Wilson and Wright, 2013). By staying focused on student engagement and learning, teachers should find websites, application and programs that align with these goals.

This concept is Loewy’s “‘interdisciplinary curriculum for the digital age,’” and from this, education should change for the better. By highlighting important aspects of the program, Wong shows opposers and concerned parents the solutions to their worries. Danger on the internet will always be present, and it’s all a matter of understanding of how to interact with the internet. If students don’t know how to properly interact on the internet, of course, parents are going to have their concerns. This leads to the “fearmongering and massive information campaigns” over avoiding such issues, which wouldn’t be an issue if covered in school more in-depth. In addition, according to Wong, Loewy’s concept is not the first either, “University of Pennsylvania English Professor Kenneth Goldsmith launched a course [in 2015] called ‘Wasting Time on the Internet,’” where it teaches students how to use technology appropriately, and use it to their advantage of gaining knowledge, rather than wilting it away with societal norms. Therefore, digital citizenship becomes vital if technology is to be a part of education, which Wong thrives in informing her

In a world where information can be easily accessed with a quick web search and where online networking plays a huge role in present-day communication, many educators and employers are urging students and potential hires to think twice before posting. The reason for this is that the mistreatment of internet sources has consequences. Issac Gilman– an assistant professor and Communications and Research Librarian at Pacific University – evaluated how the misuse of online sources could harm a student’s professional and academic life. In Gilman’s article Online Lives, Offline Consequences: Professionalism, Information Ethics, and Professional Students, it is clear that a plague of plagiarism persists in the modern world and that the effects of certain social media posts are often neglected. While teachers and other adults should prepare students for the potential risks of engaging in academic dishonesty and social media misuse, students must take it upon themselves to be aware of how their online actions can affect their lives and take precautions as needed.

Williams (2008) and Papandrea (2012) are both law review articles about social media. While Williams focuses on student use including, Papandrea reviews legal cases that affect educators. Williams presents various challenges concerning use of social media including cyberbullying to free speech. Papandrea addresses free speech as well, but presents it from the educators view point. Additionally, free speech in the context of employment is addressed.

The article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Presky, appears in the book On the Horizon. The article asserts that due to the the anacrusis of the digital age, this generation has changed dramatically, thus, it is no longer possible to reach them through obsolete teaching methods, as it comes close to teaching them in a foreign language. In order to solve this issue, Presky suggests that we need to update our methodology in order to fit today’s needs better.

In Tanner Higgin's article, "Making Media Literacy Central to Digital Citizenship," Higgin explains that new technologies such as, VR headsets, do not make their way into the classroom despite the potential benefit. However, students and teachers have utilized video in the classroom for many years. Higgin suggests that students should learn about media literacy in order to become digital savvy citizens, in doing so, will potentially change the world to become more, "thoughtful, inclusive and just." Higgin provides five steps that will aide in molding media literacy into digital citizenship. As students gain knowledge and confidence, and encouraged to create video content about issues that matter to them, they are prepared to challenge any disagreement

Digital citizenship is interesting to me. We the people (2014) states, “digital citizenship is when people use technology to engage in society, government, and politics.” A few examples of it are reading the news online, following a presidential candidate on twitter and reading their tweets, watching the debates online, or blogging about political candidates. This gives citizens the opportunity to have an active role in their government without physically being involved.

Every year, "over 25 percent of adolescents and teens [are] bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet." (cyber bullying stats) and "Cyber-bullying [is] becoming more and more rampant in school and after school among teens and children." (Bullying stats). Social media can be a great thing that can open doors to new opportunities and discoveries, however, when used incorrectly, the digital footprint left behind may greatly affect future opportunities. To prevent a negative digital footprint, children and teens must be educated about internet uses.

As schools promote 21st-century learning, there has been a push for literacies which encourage students to be 21st-century learners. The two overarching literacies, new and digital, has taken over the three R’s literacy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. New Literacies continuously change due to the new technology emerging providing different ways to get information and communicate with others (Leu et al., 2015). In contrast, digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools to access information for understanding and communication (Jose, 2016). New literacies and digital literacies also differ in aspects of use in the classroom. New literacies are the building blocks for digital literacy; which are the skills students need to understand the internet (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2017). New literacies can be taught without the use of technology because students are learning to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information. Teachers can demonstrate these skills using encyclopedias and journal articles to gain a minimalistic comprehension. Once students learn the necessary understanding, teachers can transfer these skills to online which will promote digital literacy; furthermore, digital literacy can only be taught using digital tools. Teachers would teach students how to use computers and the social practices of the new literacies to gain an understanding of the digital literacy (Jose, 2016). Furthermore, digital literacies

Technology in the classroom is important to assist in the learning process; however this is creating new challenges for teachers. Teachers are now required to educate students on the importance of technology ethics. Computer ethics is the moral guidelines that govern the use of computers and networks (Shelly, G, Gunter, G, and Gunter, R 2012). Ethics in the classroom also requires teachers to explain what plagiarism is and the proper way for students to give credit for information attained from another source. Teachers must also have a plan in place to address internet security, as well as devise a student use agreement and discuss ethical practices while using technology in the classroom.

“As the use of social media increases and becomes an integral part of nearly every student’s life, problems arise when student expression on these sites turns into threats against the school or other students, implicating both student safety and the speaker’s right to free speech” (Hughes 208). There’s no denying that social media has become a part of most people’s daily life. We have sites like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. These websites, or apps, allow us to express ourselves in any way possible, whether it’s supporting families who lost a member in a mass shooting, trying to impeach the latest president, or donating to those who are victims of natural disasters. It’s not always that social