1
Integrate
Before we begin
Are you a Diigo member yet? Diigo is an excellent curation tool that allows you to highlight, sticky note and bookmark web pages. This online platform gives teachers and students the opportunity to learn and explore through the collaboration, sharing and discussion of a variety of web content.
Click here to sign up- you will need this later.
Next
Once you have set up your Diigo account, it is quiz time! It's short, we promise!
Did you know?
As primary school teachers, you will have a strong understanding of your state and national curriculum and you often refer to the teaching standards designed to keep you accountable when up-skilling your teaching practice… but are you aware that there is a Digital Citizenship standard we should refer to? There are also a variety of models and approaches to teaching digital citizenship (we will get to those later!). Hover on the image below to see a glimpse of Standard 2 before reading on.
Digital Citizenship Standard for Students
Check it out!
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) supports educators globally in using technology. Their standards aim to encourage proficiency and goal setting when developing the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to navigate the digital world. Look more closely at Standard 2 (digital citizenship) and its four sub-standards in Standards for Students. There are Standards for Educators too that guide us to model best practice!
​
Spend time exploring the Battelle for Kids standards and The International Association of School Librarianship list of information skills.
How is your school currently addressing digital citizenship standards? Discuss with a colleague.
Read
What is digital citizenship?
Put simply, digital citizenship refers to the skills and behaviours necessary for people to be able to use technology to participate responsibly and appropriately in a globalised world. Digital citizenship is a broad term, encompassing more than lessons on cybersafety taught out of context from the rest of the curriculum. Instead, the ‘new’ digital citizenship focuses on a positive approach, with ALL members of the learning community working together to learn and practise how to fluently navigate the online world in ethical, creative, critical and healthy ways.
Watch
(ISTE, 2017)
Model citizen
Once you become familiar with the standards, it is time to select a digital citizenship model for your school. There is a plethora of options for you to frame your digital citizenship curriculum around, so we have selected some reputable models of practice to explore. Digital citizenship is a whole-school approach, so communication and feedback from all stakeholders is imperative before choosing a model to frame your curriculum around.
​
Regardless of which model your school chooses to implement, remember to consider the ISTE Standards for Students when embedding digital citizenship into your lessons. By ensuring this consistency, your students will learn through all key learning areas to “recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they [will] act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical” (ISTE, 2016).
​
You are not alone!
Our students are growing up in a fast paced, connected world. Technologies are constantly changing the way we interact with others, both locally and globally. Therefore, organisations all around the world are constantly working to provide educators with excellent resources to help support the teaching and learning of digital citizenship.
Common Sense Education is an American organisation providing students, educators and communities around the world with ideas, activities and information to support global digital citizenship skills.
Education Services Australia has created Digital Technologies Hub designed to help educators unpack the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum. Within this extensive resource is a section devoted to supporting the development of digital citizenship skills through the Australian Curriculum.
NSW Department of Education have partnered with a range of experts to build a toolkit that supports students to be respectful, responsible and safe digital citizens.
Examples of models in practice
9 Elements of Digital Citizenship
​
Developed by Mike Ribble and Gerald D. Bailey, this model has nine foundational elements classified into three guiding principles.
Enlightened Digital Citizenship
​
Developed by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis, this model has five 'Areas of Awareness' complemented by four 'Rays of Understanding'. It is worth exploring the Flat Connections project, to see this pedagogy in action and what global online learning and collaboration looks like!
(Lindsay & Davis, 2012)
Global Digital Citizen Foundation
​
This non-profit organisation has six 'Tenets of Digital Citizenship' and five 'Essential Fluencies', which together help develop the skills and behaviours needed to become a global digital citizen.
​
Digital Citizenship Toolkit
​
The Regional Educational Media Center Association of Michigan (REMC) is another non-profit organisation that provides access to quality resources. Their digital citizenship toolkit demonstrates how it is possible to align the ISTE Digital Citizenship Standard with the three spheres of ISTE's new digital citizenship, the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship model and Common Sense Education curriculum.
Integrate, don't isolate!
Educators need to be committed to adopting an integrated approach to teaching digital citizenship to varied age levels. Curriculum integration of digital citizenship is about putting digital citizenship at the heart of the curriculum, rather than restricting it to one-off lessons delivered at set times (Earp, 2018).
It is about seamless integration with a proactive list of do's as opposed to the all-too-common list of don'ts (Fingal, 2020). There are many strategies for how to adopt a holistic approach to digital citizenship, ways to weave it into your curriculum, and ideas for how to embed it in all subject areas.
Watch...
(ISTE, 2019)
What is at least one thing you can do differently to teach digital citizenship in a broader, positive way? Contribute suggestions to a shared document at your school to keep each other motivated!