New Skills Needed for Digital Citizens

Requiring Literacy Skills for the production of Responsible Digital Citizenship

What's the Meaning of This!

The meaning of citizenship has changed with the developments in technology and media. Previously citizenship was associated with how individuals effectively required and used functional skills in societal life, as well as in decision making. In the past, reading, writing, and arithmetic were considered these necessary skills within the public sphere and used for media like radio, television, and newspapers. The era in which we live now, known as the digital age, has transformed this meaning through the expansion of information and communication technology (ICT). According to Common Sense Media, “digital citizenship goals for the 21st century are to educate, empower, and protect”, (2011), whereas Ribble and Bailey state the goals are to “respect(etiquette, access, law), educate(communication, literacy, commerce), and protect(rights, safety, welfare)”, (2007).

Concepts

Digital Citizenship is a concept that incorporates multiple elements such as digital literacy, access, commerce, communication, etiquette, law, and security. Digital literacy refers to the use and security of networks and tools that include content creation and collaboration. In order for educators to promote and produce students that are positive and responsible digital citizens, one must take into account the changes in ICTs now that the production of knowledge requires a different set of skills.

A Need to Know Basis

With the developments of social media and mobile technology, students now have the capability to access and create, which provides educators with a responsibility to educate their students so that they develop an understanding on their digital footprint, privacy, and security. Not just students, but all users must understand that their shared content leaves a trail. Like in the real world, their actions can hold consequences, whether positive or negative, their privacy isn’t as private as they believe, and security goes well past just a strong password most of the time.

The End Goal

One of the quotes on the website where I teach used to say, “Creating and sending responsible citizens into the world that will shape our future”, but after the pandemic it was changed to say, “Creating and sending positive digital citizens into the world”. As an educator, I believe that while we integrate technologies into our classrooms, we have a responsibility to first teach our students how to use the technology everyone already has access to. Our teaching must change in order to produce a future generation that has the skills required for success in the digital age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2EJ2oelEOc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9w09VPNtbA

References

Common Sense Media White Paper (March 2011). Digital Literacy and Citizenship in the 21st Century: Educating, Empowering and Protecting America's Kids. Retrieved from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/DigitalLiteracyandCitizenshipWhitePaperMar2011.pdf 05.04.2013

Ribble, M.& Bailey, G. (2007). Digital Citizenship in Schools. Washington, DC: ISTE. ISBN:978-1-56484-232- 9.