Digital

Citizenship
Advocacy
Thomas Wheeler
ISTC 702
Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship is the responsible use of technology by anyone who uses

computers, the internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level
(Zook, 2022).

Good Digital Citizenship emphasizes responsibility, empathy, and

engagement.

Bad Digital Citizenship fosters a dangerous environment of apathy.

Agenda

● Identify the four components of digital citizenship

● Discuss a problem or issue surrounding each of the topics in my specific
school or workplace
● Present a possible solution for my teachers and my students
● Each issue will be specifically associated with a problem and will include
potential solutions or programmatic recommendations for change.
The Four Components

1. Civic Engagement to Improve School Community

2. Respectful Online Behavior and a Healthy Technology Balance
3. Examining Online Media Sources
4. Protecting Personal Data and Your Digital Profile
Digital Citizen Advocate 7A

Component #1

Civic Engagement to Improve School Community

● Inspire and encourage educators and students to use technology for civic
engagement and to address challenges to improve their communities
My Students

Problem/Issue Resolution/Application

● Technology is used as a tool in a lesson in ● Teachers can integrate technology and

order to enhance learning, but does not authicatilly empower their students to
provide any outreach to society, small interact with their community
scale or large scale.
Specific Example

Censorship in Fahrenheit 451

● Original Lesson
○ Define Censorship
○ Research book bannings in our school
and other counties
● Enhancement Opportunity
○ Encourage students to identify books that
have been censored in local counties or in
our own school and contact the board
petitioning that their educational merit.
Digital Citizen Advocate 7B

Component #2

Respectful Online Behavior and a Healthy Technology Balance

● Partner with educators, leaders, students, and families to foster a culture

of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of
technology
My Students

Problem/Issue Resolution/Application

● Students will engage politely in academic ● Teachers must continue to model the
settings (discussion board posts, PearDeck, behavior and showing examples of positive
etc.) but will actively ignore these norms in online interaction outside of academic
settings that are not monitored. settings.

● Students have become addicted to technology ● Teachers should maintain opportunities to

both in terms of academic engagement and detach from technology in appropriate and
personal interest. healthy ways.
Specific Example

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Acting

● Original Lesson
○ Read the play together as a class on
Actively Learn, a curriculum platform,
and discuss as a form of literature.
● Enhancement Opportunity
○ Remove technology from the lesson and
actually act out the play in class or in the
auditorium
Digital Citizen Advocate 7C

Component #3

Examining Online Media Sources

● Support educators and students to critically examine the sources of

online media and identify underlying assumptions
My Students

Problem/Issue Resolution/Application

● Students have, more than in the recent ● Teachers should model what appropriate
past, resorted to the “path of least fact checking looks like especially in
resistance” for information gathering and terms of determining what misleading
research. They have a tendency to trust information looks like.
information that they find easily as
opposed to performing any form of fact
checking.
Specific Example

Misinformation in Fahrenheit 451

● Original Lesson
○ Review how characters determine who
they will vote for as seen in the novel
○ Identify how their decision making
indirectly characterizes them
● Enhancement Opportunity
○ Encourage students to actively research
local politicians in order to make an
informed decision on whom they would
vote for
Digital Citizen Advocate 7D

Component #4

Protecting Personal Data and Your Digital Profile

● Empower educators, leaders, and students to make informed decisions to

protect their personal data and curate the digital profile they intend to
reflect
My Students
Problem/Issue
● Students are under the impression that
their identities and private information are
safe using the school provided
Chromebook and wifi. They fail to
participate in risk management decisions
when engaging online.
Resolution/Application
● Teachers go through online safety training
protocol at the start of every school year.
However, the training that is undergone is
not offered or mandatory for students.
Specific Example

Start of School Lessons

● Original Lesson
○ At the start of the school year, I use a
series of modules to introduce students to
various school based practices including
plagiarism information, student services
resources, etc..
● Enhancement Opportunity
○ I would like to add a module on online
safety practices that include password
protection, phishing scams, etc…