The Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship

           The nine elements of digital citizenship forms the baseline for helping us be successful in today's digital society.  Dr. Mike Ribble’s nine elements are: Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Law, Digital Rights and Responsibilities, Digital Health and Wellness, and Digital Security. 

            Educators, administrators, and technology leaders need to work as a team with their school district to create and design the framework for instructing digital citizenship in their schools.  When creating this framework the nine elements from Dr. Mike Ribble need to be embedded in policies, plans and instruction.

            There needs to be an understanding of who has access to technology devices in their homes. Do students have access to a public library to use the computer? Understanding what access students have can help the teacher create appropriate accommodations in school. Registration and any other school forms should be accessible two different ways; paper based and online through the school website.

            Students should be informed how to research and find secure and reputable websites before purchasing or giving out private information online. There should be many different learning opportunities for students; face to face or through a distance education course. This goes along with the saying “college is not always for everyone”.  I think as a society we should also include with this statement, “the regular school framework is not for everyone”.  Every child learns differently. School districts need to have many different learning environments in place for students to be successful. 

            Students need to be informed when it is appropriate to use their technology device. Educators and administrators have banned the use of phones in their schools and classrooms. This sends a mixed message to students. If students can use their phone outside of school, they are confused as to why they can’t use it at school.

            Instead of banning phones, I think educators should implement the device into their instruction and teach students about digital citizenship when using their phone. Students can learn how to use their phone appropriately in class through education social media sites and etiquette; voice, conversation and appropriate words when communicating to another student.  Students who have this opportunity in school may will use their phones more appropriately in other environments outside of school. This will also give students the understanding of how to be a digital citizen. With this understanding, students will be able to create guidelines for the policy at their school. If students are given a chance to help create the policy, they will follow their guidelines rather than someone else's.

            When I was in school technology was starting to evolve.  I had to teach myself how to be a digital citizen, and continue to do so today. As an educator it is important to me that I teach my students how to be a digital citizen. 

            I was never taught or told about websites that provide access to music that can be illegally downloaded. It wasn’t until college that I learned about limewire.com This is a website that can search for any song and download it instantly without any cost. A lot of my friends were doing this and didn’t see any harm in it. I researched information about this website, because something didn’t seem right. What I found was not very much information on how illegal this website was.

           If you were to Google Limewire today, you would find a posting that explains how the company has a “court order from October 6, 2010 and that anyone who has this software should remove it from their computers immediately and this is illegally downloading music.” A lot of students at the university I went to had their computers confiscated because they were using this program. Some students were even expelled. As an educator having this experience it drives me to teach my students about etiquette use when in a digital community.

            I don’t want my students to end up with consequences because they didn’t have the baseline of knowledge on how to be a digital citizen. It is important for educators to receive professional development on technology devices and programs that will be used in our classroom. When educators know how to use the technology and understand the risks that face our students we can create lessons and educate our students to be a successful digital citizen.

            For future study I plan on taking as many professional development classes on new technology devices and programs that will be used in the classroom. I will model how to be a good digital citizen to my students and colleagues.