Digital Citizenship

With many teachers implementing blogs, social media, and computer use into their classrooms, too many cases of students taking advantage of this privilege have arisen. Teachers are being blamed for the inappropriate behavior and students aren't phased by the permanent impact that the internet has in their life. Parents are expecting teachers to supervise their students online behavior and are asking them to be responsible for posts and chats that are happening outside of the classroom. The situation is messy to say the least.

As an innovative educator, I am excited that many teachers are taking their first steps in implementing technology into the classroom. However, I believe that it must be implemented in the correct order. At a charter school in Riverside County, students are not allowed to go online until they complete a digital citizenship class and pass a digital citizenship test. Once the test is finished, they must sign a document that says that they will act like digital citizens and will follow the school's internet policy at all times. Teachers are extremely strict with this policy and students are issued strikes if they do not adhere to the rules. After three strikes, the student is dismissed from the school.

While this technique sounds like a great preventative measure, the school has still struggled with plagiarism, inappropriate comments left on a public google document, and many other minor issues along the way. In short, schools cannot prevent inappropriate things from happening online. It will take a joint effort between staff and parents to monitor and lessen the damage that students can do to themselves or others while on the internet.

In my classroom, I plan on having each student sign his or her name at the bottom of every assignment. Just like when you sign a legal document, you are certifying that the information above is true and correct and that you are the creator of the work. If and when a student in my class plagiarizes, I can then remind him or her about their signature. I believe this is one more way to hold students accountable for their work on and off the computer. That is the most important part to me.