While at NECC, ISTE was promoting its newest volume, Digital Citizenship in Schools by Mike Ribble and Gerald Baily. Yesterday, I received my copy after ordering it at the conference and have had a chance to give it a first reading.
The authors argue that it is essential that school districts and schools to take stock and begin to create their definition of digital citizenship. Once defined, they present example activities that will help all members of the school community, students, faculty and staff, and parents gain a better understanding of the definition which was created by the community.
With the author’s goals of wanting to improve learning outcomes and prepare students to become 21st Century Learners, the authors outline nine elements which define digital citizenship:
Student Learning and Academic Acheivement
- Digital Literacy
- Digital Communication
- Digital Access
School Environment and Student Behaviour
- Digital Security
- Digital Etiquette
- Digital Rights and Responsibilities
Students Life Outside the School Environment
- Digital Commerce
- Digital Law
- Digital Health and Wellness
I feel that authors have done a great job of defining the elements and providing the framework for schools to begin to have the conversations about how their district or school will deal with these issues. One of my takeaways from this volume are new ways of thinking about updating of our Acceptable Use Policy. As we continue to develop the changes, we need to be mindful of making sure we cover all aspects of each of these nine elements. The more that we work on our AUP, it is becoming apparent that we need to come at the problem as an information service provider. Education of all groups is essential.
I especially like the inclusion of health and wellness in the list of elements. It provides credence to this important aspect. One element which is not included in the published volume is where social networks fit in. They do provide guidance about podcasts, wikis, and blogs, but social tools, like Facebook, mySpace, or Nings is absent. I am going to have to check the online resources to find these materials.
But overall, a great job of providing a framework to begin the conversations, especially for those who are not regular users of the new tools.