Running head: YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN 1

You’re on Your Own

Alek Turner

Lamar University
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You’re on Your Own

How many people, adults and children, of varying ages know what is digital citizenship?

This is a question I have been reflecting in how the definition and importance of digital

citizenship is communicated to students and teachers. I feel that a large gap for many students is

understanding how to navigate the online community in a responsible way and avoid falling into

the negative traps of unsafe information and communication. Ribble (2015) gave the analogy that

one would never take a student to Washington D.C. and have them go and explore on their own,

and the same should not be done when having a student use, explore, and interact with the

internet. Students need to be guided and shown how to interact with the internet and online

community in an appropriate manner. Are we educating students to understand what is a

responsible digital citizen?

As I reflect on my own campus, we use iPads and chrome books, and many of the

students interact with some digital learning community in class like Seesaw or Google

Classroom. However, I realized that there is never an explicit opportunity taken to educate the

teachers and the students on how to properly communicate and interact online, and what it means

to be a digital citizen. I believe that so many times, as educators, we fall into the typical response

of telling students this is a place to learn and not play, do not write or send anything silly or

inappropriate. The problem with this approach is that as educators we are waiting for the

problems to happen, then it will be addressed, rather than being proactive to educate the students

and then react if a problem should arise. Ohler (2010) discusses that “school systems tend to

respond to all issues either by case-by case basis, or by arbitrarily blocking internet resources and

punishing students who break rules of digital engagement.” In which, the student learns do not
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go to this site or do this action yet will continue to search for another alternative, thus never

learning the issue at hand because it was the “symptom addressed, not the issue” (Ohler, 2010).

Ultimately, we need to model or explain what this definition means and why it is important. Even

more importantly, we must show how digital citizenship is critical and relevant to student’s

everyday life where they interact with online technology tools of all kinds in various

environments. Ribble (2015) states that the common practice with digital citizenship in schools is

that students “are not being taught what is appropriate online and why, yet instead students are

told what they can and cannot do.”

I believe that first it is important to assess what areas need to be addressed and explained

with staff and students. A campus could begin with “considering which issues need to be

addressed,” in a survey, through reflection questions, or focus groups with teachers and students,

(Ribble, 2015). It would then be best to provide a professional development training with

teachers on the 9 elements of digital citizenship. Once staff have been properly trained, teachers

would continue the process of educating students with what is digital citizenship and why it is

important. Ohler (2010) says that “students and adults need to engage in important conversations

about living digitally.” Students should not have to learn real-world problems the hard way or

alone, if they are taught how to count and to read, then they should also be taught how to

navigate the internet in a safe way.

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References

Ohler, J. (2010). Digital community: Digital Citizen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed.).

Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.