Northern Gateway Public Schools recognizes that instructional resources, made available through technology, can enhance learning and teaching and support program delivery based on the prescribed curriculum. Access to these resources can support individual and group projects, collaboration, idea sharing and provide access to curriculum materials. Internet access also makes possible contact with people all over the world, bringing into the classroom, experts in every content area.
Digital citizenship is an approach which helps us understand how to use technology appropriately. Digital citizenship is more than a concept to be taught: it is a way of interacting with one another in our digital society. Adults must model for students appropriate technology usage in order to prepare students to act conscientiously, morally and ethically when using technology independently.
At the heart of digital citizenship are the underlying characteristics of citizenship we tend to be familiar with: being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties as a member of society. Educating about digital citizenship while modelling appropriate technology usage will ensure students are informed, critical, responsible and aware of their duties and rights, provide a framework which promotes the social, moral and cultural development of students, and enable students to become more self-confident and responsible, both in and beyond the classroom.
Digital citizenship also presents characteristics which may be unfamiliar. This dimension of citizenship is complex and presents new expectations for how we lead, learn, and interact with one another. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed National Education Technology Standards (NETS) which outline these new expectations, including performance indicators for students, teachers and administrators.
Northern Gateway Public Schools believes in leveraging technology for learning by putting it in the hands of our students. As such, we have developed an Administrative Procedure on Digital Citizenship which aligns with the Learning and Technology Policy Framework.
Resources
Digital Citizenship.Net - Mike Ribble’s website serves as a core resource in the area of digital citizenship in the classroom.
Educational Origami – Andrew Churches’ wiki provides some excellent resources on digital citizenship and 21st Century pedagogy, teachers, learning spaces and assessment.
Digizen.org – This website provides information on digital citizenship for educators, parents and youth. It encourages responsible digital citizenship and shares specific advice and resources on social networking and cyberbullying.
Digital Citizenship Resources – This website provides content from other sites in a “binder” format. The content is directed at teachers, parents and students with content for students broken into grade ranges.
CyberWise Digital Citizenship Hub - Proclaiming "No Grown Up Left Behind", this site has compiled many resources to assist with the understanding of the digital playground.