The Importance of Digital Citizenship

Why is it important to be a good digital citizen?

It is important to be a good digital citizen for the same reasons we hold value in being an active citizen. As a teacher I believe in developing the whole child. This means teaching citizenship. I feel fairly confident on that area in my classroom but I must say I will now embrace the digital world and expand my knowledge of digital citizenship to my students. The students are already becoming more and more advanced with technology and I think we must teach them earlier how to use the internet in an appropriate manner and use good judgments. I think being a good digital citizen is important because it protects you from many things. Some of these are your personal information, your emotions, your privacy, your friendships, and many more. I personally uphold the philosophy, “due unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I revisited the website digitalcitizenship.com and found something really interesting. They suggested a way to teach students the norms for using the internet that would encompass good digital citizenship values. They used the acronym R.E.P. which stands for:

R-Respect yourself and others

E-Educate yourself/Connect with others

P-Protect yourself/Protect Others

Each one of these sections have several different points included in them to cover the norms of good digital citizenship. As a teacher I believe you could also the website safekids.com to show safety on the internet in a kid-friendly way. Using some of these resources and making students aware of what digital citizenship is and its importance will help students be prepared for a technology rich society.

What value does a good digital reputation have?

Having a good digital reputation is very important, it parallels with having a good reputation in society. I think teaching students early about digital citizenship is important because I do not think students understand the importance of a reputation how it can affect them. The chart on page 222 in our text would be a good place to start. It goes over netiquette rules for the internet. Having a good reputation does not only come from the words you type but it also comes from how you type it, using correct grammar and presenting in a positive way. A good digital reputation can take you a long way and that needs to be communicated to the students.