Digital Citizenship A Growing Need for Digital Literacy
Since the invention of the printing press, there has been an ongoing debate on how copyright laws should protect individuals who produce, and wish to protect, their original work. The use of technology in the school, especially the Internet, has dramatically changed the way educators gather information. Now, with emerging technology and the emergence of social networking tools, school curriculum developers are finding it again necessary to reshape the ethical practices of today's media consumers. In education alone, educators are facing challenges regarding copyright that did not exist 20 years ago, such as open source software applications that allow for the sharing remixing digital media through mashups. This fact makes restructuring of a digital citizenship curriculum a necessary component for digital literacy in schools.
However, today, educators and learners can often obtain educational materials directly from the creator, especially through use of the Internet. While this increases access to educational resources, it also can make people less likely to abide by copyright laws and regulations. Because of this, schools now are faced with a new ethics problem which can only be remedied by developing digital literacy curriculum that supports digital citizenship. In these and other areas, curriculum developers must strike a balance between protecting the creators of original work and allowing the public to use the works in an appropriate and legal manner. Educators should be involved in the development of digital literacy curriculum that supports digital citizenship. Educators and media specialist must outline and define how digital citizenship issues will be applied within the school setting, especially when addressing plagiarism.
"Plagiarism is an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author."1 The following classroom rules could apply to appropriate digital citizenship when addressing plagiarism.
However, today, educators and learners can often obtain educational materials directly from the creator, especially through use of the Internet. While this increases access to educational resources, it also can make people less likely to abide by copyright laws and regulations. Because of this, schools now are faced with a new ethics problem which can only be remedied by developing digital literacy curriculum that supports digital citizenship. In these and other areas, curriculum developers must strike a balance between protecting the creators of original work and allowing the public to use the works in an appropriate and legal manner. Educators should be involved in the development of digital literacy curriculum that supports digital citizenship. Educators and media specialist must outline and define how digital citizenship issues will be applied within the school setting, especially when addressing plagiarism.
"Plagiarism is an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author."1 The following classroom rules could apply to appropriate digital citizenship when addressing plagiarism.
● Users should not plagiarize (or use as their own, without citing the original creator) content, including words or images, from the Internet.
● Users should not take credit for things they didn’t create themselves, or misrepresent themselves as an author or creator of something found online.
● Research conducted via the Internet should be appropriately cited, giving credit to the original author.
● Users should not take credit for things they didn’t create themselves, or misrepresent themselves as an author or creator of something found online.
● Research conducted via the Internet should be appropriately cited, giving credit to the original author.
Digital Immersion
We live in an age of vast communications where social networks, texting and the use of the internet occupy a large portion of a student's day. Students use technology to communicate with their friends, play games, express themselves, and their thoughts about how they interact personally with the world. Studies have shown that students spend far more time interacting with digital media than they do visiting and communicating at school or with their parents. The alarming factor about monitoring students use of digital media is that only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend using media devices. According to the 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation Report, "The average 8- to 18-year-old spends 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).1 And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours. 2 This generation of students have become digitally immersed. This is also a generation who will need our help in making a distinction between the “real” world and the“virtual” one.
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What is Digital Citizenship
This is a generation where the youth are forming behavior patterns that need to be recognized and appropriately supported by knowledgeable adults. This is also a generation of youth who crave recognition through social interaction and are at times rewarded for boundary pushing behavior. This is the virtual social world where networked behavior becomes an experience of trial and sometimes unfortunate errors. This is the millennial generation where youth can easily become at risk. The risk is in the exploitation of social networks as youth are easily taken in by inappropriate actions that become separated from real consequences. These actions form individual behavior patterns. Behavior patterns that are lacking in contributions to others who are involved in the social network. To reduce the risk of forming inappropriate behavior on social networks is to help students learn important digital literacy skills. These are skills that need to be taught. They are also skills that have not been well defined for the previous generation who are now the parents of the millennial learners.
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A generation who are in need of adult assistance in helping them form an understanding of digital citizenship. This support is about the formation and understanding of appropriate use of digital media as students are mentored in digital citizenship. This is a time when responsible adults become involved in defining for our youth the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to media use. Digital citizenship is about helping students learn valuable ways to use social networks, how to provide constructive feedback and build groups of people with common interests that enhances appropriately focused behavior . These are the skills they will need when they enter the workforce.
Lessons in Digital Citizenship
Luckily, the nation’s schools do not seem to be filled with cyber criminals although this does not mean that students will not be creative. To offset the negative impact of student creativity, teachers should make every effort to educate their students on the importance of digital citizenship. As schools begin to utilize social media, the development of lessons in digital citizenship will become necessary. These lessons should emphasize the students’role in protecting themselves, as well as their role in honoring the work of others.
The lessons can be designed in a cause and effect format that allows them to see these problems as relevant to their lives. To demonstrate how these lessons can be developed, I will provided four sample mini-lessons, in the areas of cyber security and cyber ethics, that can be easily integrated into the curriculum. They were created using a simple and easy to follow format, that includes a rational, an activity description and an activity script for each mini-lessons. |
Great Resource: Plagiarism Awareness Northern Kentucky University
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Lessons on digital citizenship can include a wide variety of topics, ranging from issues of legality to questions of courtesy. For instance, students should be exposed to lessons that emphasize consequences of copyright, plagiarism and hacking violations online. Through proper activity design and instruction, students will learn to understand that if too many unauthorized games are downloaded to the network or software changes are made without permission, the system may be overwhelmed. As a result, the network and Internet services may not be available for them to use for research the following day. On the same note, students may be more likely to follow copyright guidelines and regulations if they too have spent time creating original work for the Internet. Through appropriately designed lessons or activities, teachers can illustrate how easily someone is able to violate another’s work. Educators agree teachers should make the online and offline worlds appear seamless if these types of lessons are to be effective. The most important factor in developing cyber ethic lessons is to teach students that the rules and laws on the Internet are the same as rules in the classroom and laws in society.
Cyber Ethics on Trial Activity
This activity is designed to help teach students the school’s copyright policy in a creative and innovative way. It gives students a look at what can happen if someone decides to violate copyright policies. See Reference: Cyber Ethics on Trial Activity Online Guidelines
The purpose of this lesson is to make students aware of their right to privacy. The lesson will emphasize the importance of keeping individual personal information from being exposed to the public at large. When online, it is possible students will provide strangers with information that could be used for harm against the student or his/ her family. This activity will teach students what information is not appropriate to share. It is also an opportunity for students to interact with one another and practice their public speaking skills. See Reference: Online Guidelines |
Creative CommonsMore PowerPoint presentations from Mike |
Don't Get Traped
This activity is designed to educate students on deliberate traps that web developers may use to invade their right to privacy. It will allow many students to call on life experiences in order to answer the needed questions. This activity will help students identify marketing strategies that pry too far into personal information and assist them with avoiding such situations while online. It is also an opportunity for students to interact with one another, as well as share useful cyber safety information with their fellow students within the school. See Reference: Don't Get Traped
This activity is designed to educate students on deliberate traps that web developers may use to invade their right to privacy. It will allow many students to call on life experiences in order to answer the needed questions. This activity will help students identify marketing strategies that pry too far into personal information and assist them with avoiding such situations while online. It is also an opportunity for students to interact with one another, as well as share useful cyber safety information with their fellow students within the school. See Reference: Don't Get Traped