EDUC-5131 Digital Citizenship Blog

What are teens sharing online? This is only my second year teaching, but I have been working with youth for the last eight years. Throughout this time, I have witnessed my fair share of students' issues in the online world. I have also seen the same in unsafe use in my teenage years. People in my high school have gotten in trouble over things shared online. There was a group of male students in my school who gathered and shared a large number of explicit images of female students amongst themselves. Once word started to spread that a group of students were doing such a thing, the administrators at my school called the police, who came in and launched a small investigation. All the students had lengthy talks with the police, their parents and the principal. Afterwards, the boys were suspended, but nothing further was done.  As a teacher, I have seen some similar issues arise with students and some other unsafe uses of technology. Some situations have involved the sharing of explicit...

What is Digital Wellness? In short, one's digital wellness or wellbeing relates to the relationship between someone and the digital world. Mariek Vanden Abeele (2020) defines digital wellness as:  "A subjective individual experience of optimal balance between the benefits and drawbacks of mobile connectivity. People achieve digital wellbeing when experiencing maximal controlled pleasure and functional support, together with minimal loss of control and functional impairment".   Screen time and digital wellness In an article published in 2015, Houghton states, "Approximately 45% of the youngest  participants (i.e., Year 3, age eight years) exceeded the <2 hours recommendation, rising to 80% by Year 9 (15–16 years of age)." (2015). This blog post was made about ten years after the publication of this article, and I believe this number has increased even more, especially in light of the pandemic.  A screen time survey is one of the first activities I do in my jun...

What is Netiquette? According to A Dictionary of the Internet (2019), netiquette can be defined as: "The series of informal rules which users of the Internet are often urged to follow in order not to annoy other users Typical rules include: check with an  FAQ  list before asking a question, do not betray confidences, use  emoticons  to indicate subtleties, and stick to the subject you are writing about."   Netiquette is the same as personal etiquette and is sometimes called internet etiquette. Essentially, it is how someone should behave online. Much like a person's etiquette, their netiquette can change based on what they are doing or interacting with. How you message or email a close friend should differ from a message or email to an employer, coworker or educator. When communicating professionally, emails and messages should reflect professionalism, much like an in-person conversation with an employer.  Netiquette also extends into the world of soci...

What is Digital Citizenship? As stated by digitalcitizenship.net, "Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology l eaders, and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology."  Digital Citizenship is a relatively new concept to me. I was introduced to Digital Citizenship in one of the technology education courses I took for my education degree. I find it hard to remember when I couldn't access some digital device. I have been connected to the digital world, whether it was a cellphone, laptop, or gaming console. As I went through the education system, I was never taught about Digital Citizenship. Regarding technology, all our discussions were based on not trusting anyone online. This led me to ask when this concept first started to appear. And why discussions ...