Did you know that more than 71 percent of the U.S. population age 3 and over used the Internet in 2013? Yikes, that’s a lot! Moreover, 94 percent of American youths use the Internet for schoolwork, including applicable technology in the classroom, a staggering statistic to be sure.
But with widespread access (and necessity) comes the need for some lessons on decent global digital citizenship. A portion of bringing about good global citizenship includes knowing what to look out for. Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Jacqui Murray, who is a seasoned elementary school educator based in Northern California, says kids need tyo be aware of:
- Kids lacking wisdom (and not wanting to listen to their parents).
- Parents lack knowledge.
- Kids wasting time online that is not productive.
- Parents not knowing when to let go and give kids freedom.
Jacqui also includes a review of Grow Global Digital Citizens: Better Practices That Build Better Learners, a book by Lee Watanabe Crockett, with today’s article.
Jacqui sums up today’s centerpiece article like this: “Did you notice something missing from this list? The fears above revolve around the Internet safety of an individual but there's a whole separate digital citizenship issue that most of us haven't even gotten around to worrying about. It is not as frightening as what's described above but fully as critical to building competent, aware users of a webtool (the Internet) that is multicultural, agnostic about perspective, and accessible from anywhere in the world. These are the global demands of digital citizenship.”
How do you teach and encourage kids to be good digital citizens given the challenges put forth by today’s technology in the classroom? Let us know in the comment section.
