Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship is a crucial aspect of today’s technological classroom.  Many of the research methodologies used in the past cannot be transferred directly into the technological realm due to problems such as cutting and pasting information and the abundance of information available to students through a simple internet search which would have taken several hours in a traditional library.   Along with these concerns comes the issue of appropriateness for the classroom, ranging from discussion student’s using slang and social media language to bullying using technology.  These issues must be addressed head on.

One of the primary methods in this approach is my video showing the correct way to post messages and assignments on Edmodo, my classroom website.  Many students see the format of Edmodo, since it mimics the setup of Facebook, and use the website as if they’re on a social media website.  Slang, non-classroom related conversations, and overall misuse of the website are covered in the video I created on the website Animoto.  Both Edmodo and Animoto are free for educators, with Animoto having several restrictions on their free educator service, but the quality of both services is very high, and no cost to the school or me is a bonus when finding a quality product.

The students view the video at the beginning of the year and after winter break in January to serve as a refresher.  Many of the issues discussed in the video happen occasionally, such as slang, misuse of capital letters or punctuation, and classroom inappropriate conversations, so bringing up the rules from the video and showing the poor use of Edmodo to the class is done immediately.  Students are now policing the website on their own and will remind their classmates to keep conversations appropriate and educational.  Their reminders to each other are proof they know one of the varied ways to show digital citizenship.