Being a Good (Digital) Citizen
In a recent post about the Frontline special “Growing Up Online,” I suggested that we have an obligation to learn more about our students’ “digital world.” What I did not expressly state, but will do so now, is that we also have an obligation to teach our students how to live as good digital citizens. Although there are many avenues for exploring this concept, several of our seventh grade advisories are addressing the issue through participation in ProTechT, a collaborative project organized by Plano Middle School teacher Scott Smeech.
As stated on the ProTechT wiki, “ProTechT is an open project for students to explore and promote what it means to be a good “Digital Citizen”, how to use technology ethically, and how to be safe online. We ask the students to help us define these terms for their generation, demonstrate their skills and promote positive use of technology.”
We officially began working on the project this week by having the students complete the Introduction Survey and answer the question, “What does Digital Citizenship mean to you?”. While some immediately began filling in their questionnaires, others were unsure how to respond. In talking with the students and their advisors, it became apparent that the idea of citizenship was not widely or well understood. For many, we had put the cart ahead of the horse.
Before our students can contemplate the idea of being a responsible member of the digital world, they must first come to understand what it means to be a citizen of the “real world”. So where, then, does citizenship fit into our students’ education? How can we help them understand what it means to be part of something larger than themselves?
Next week we will begin the second ProTechT activity and ask the students to create an online profile. As we do so, I hope we can engage them in conversation about honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, and courage: themes that apply to any good citizen of any community.
