Journal 1

Passport to Digital Citizenship

Ribble, Mike (2008). Passport to Digital Citizenship. Learning and Leading in Technology, 37, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/Current_Issue/L_L_November.htm

In summary, author Mike Ribble’s article on students becoming good technology citizens, he emphasizes the need for teachers, parents and the community to create, adopt and set into motion a universal language in which students can be taught responsible, legal and ethical behavior when utilizing global technology today and in the future.

Ribble and co-author Gerald Bailey, suggest the use and implementation of their nine elements of digital citizenship, ranging from access, to law, to security, health and wellness as a launching point for teaching. Also provided is a four stage technology learning framework for teaching digital citizenship to our children for a lifelong foundation in the digital universe.

Once the universal language is in place in our school system, how do we integrate parents and community into the learning, teaching and modeling process for a more seamless learning experience for the kids?

When the teachers have the groundwork and process integrated into their curriculum and feel confident in their own aptitude, a once a month meeting with parents and community librarians should be hosted by the school district. The first in a series of meetings is to introduce the concept and need for cohesive modeling both at school, home and in our libraries. The need for community libraries to be involved is critical for those students that doo not have access in their homes. This series of meetings should be at a minimum of six meetings, with an emphasis on acceptable digital behavior away from the classroom. Modeling by parents is critical.

How do we measure the success of the digital citizenship program?

Without monitoring and measurement, even the best processes may fail. It is a good idea to set goals to measure the success of the program. From the initial parent community meeting, a syllabus should be provided with areas for suggestions of what worked and what doesn’t. Tweaking the process at six months and one year, based on student and parent suggestions may improve the outcome. A quiz should be implemented for students and parents at the end of the course to measure it’s success.