Digital citizenship, the idea of being a safe, responsible and respectful user of media and technology, is a foundational principle of 21st century learning. To successfully navigate the online world, youth need the digital citizenship related skills and understandings of how to use media and technology to enhance their lives and be smart consumers and producers of information. One issue is that the topic is so broad that it can be difficult to pinpoint who is responsible for conveying the concepts and necessary skills. Teachers? Parents? Mentors? The opportunity and obligation is ripe for all of the above. To integrate digital citizenship as part of youth culture, positive examples of social media, incentives to do the right thing, and direct instruction on relevant skills must be woven into the context of everyday life, not just isolated in a technology classroom. This session will focus on why, where and how positive online expectations can be imparted in an engaging and authentic manner. We will discuss how intentional integration efforts are, in fact, more effective than standalone instructional lessons and could potentially act synergistically in ways to build culture and trust among community members.
Panelists include Vanessa Monterosa, Doctoral Candidate from the California State University, Long Beach, who will provide the research foundation for the panel by sharing her dissertation work on the analysis of digital citizenship efforts and why it is important to embed them across instruction rather than treat digital citizenship as a separate subject. Her work examines efforts from an organizational leadership perspective and will provide a context for the discussion. April Moore, Director of Educational Technology at Corona-Norco Unified School District, will describe the work her district is doing to embed digital citizenship across her district population through a comprehensive badging system. Corona-Norco Unified School District is the world’s largest issuer of digital badges using the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) and is committed to making digital citizenship a foundational part of their student education efforts, as well as a part of their staff and parent culture. Through the district’s badging system design, demonstration of digital citizenship skills unlock the opportunity for students to level-up in technology access upon certification. Keegan Korf, Lead Teacher of Digital Citizenship for Omaha Public Schools, is partnering with Do Space, a youth technology space in Omaha which promotes a “Technology for Everyone” mission. Keegan’s approach began by offering parents sessions on Digital Footprints, Selfie Culture, and Cyberbullying. Working with Do Space, Keegan provides relevant programming for parents who are watching their children grow up in the digital landscape to allay the fears that comes along with raising kids in this digital age. Parents are provided with knowledge and resources, but also a space to talk with other parents facing the same concerns as them. Sue Thotz, Program Manager for Common Sense Education works with both K-12 schools and after-school organizations within the Los Angeles region to create a culture of digital citizenship among youth. Sue will be sharing resources and examples of organizations that have proactively used a project-based approach to student media creation on digital citizenship issues.
