Digital Citizenship Within the Curriculum

Digital citizenship is the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.

Ribble, M. (2017). Nine elements. Digital Citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.digitalcitizenship.net/nine-elements.html

In the article Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship, I explored the different ways digital citizenship has taken over. When comparing it to the Saskatchewan Curriculum.

As I think about digital citizenship I can remember a time in grades 7 and 8 when my teacher Mr. T used his blog to keep in touch with parents and students about what is happening in the classroom, along with posting weekly spelling test words that we needed for the week. I did a little research and found his blog site again and saw that he still uses it for his classroom. I have also heard stories about an elementary school teacher who introduced her students to blogging and made them blog for the school year. This is a good way to incorporate English into the classroom and for parents to see their children’s growth throughout the school year.

So, how should we integrate digital citizenship into the classroom?

First, we have to recognize that not everyone has access to technology inside or outside of the classroom. A huge realization of this was during the COVID years when teachers had to move online. Not every student could access the internet and learn what was being taught.

Secondly, if students have access to technology and the internet we as teachers need to teach them about the safety of social media and the internet. In the Saskatchewan curriculum Grade 4 Health Education – USC4.4 Determine basic personal responsibility for safety and protection in various environments/situations. Indicator d. examines cyber safety etiquette and related safety risks and strategies as a way to introduce the pros and cons of social media and the internet. We can teach students about cyberbullying and how we could use social media and the internet in a positive way.