Let’s Embrace Digital Citizenship: Teaching Digital Citizenship in today’s classrooms

Written by Paul Kim, Teachers Guild Community Catalyst

Do you remember carbon copy paper forms? I do. I had to use them to write comments about student performance when I began my teaching career. It was the early 1990s and computers were not yet common. The internet was still a mystery to most educators.

Over the past decade, digital technology and internet use have become a prominent, daily tool in classrooms. Like other educators, I have kept up by playing with new technology and running experiments to integrate technology into my classroom.

As an educator, I ask myself: How might we support students as they develop habits that will make them informed, savvy, and safe citizens in the real world and online?

Working in schools, I know technology holds tremendous possibility. I have seen it empower students to co-create, problem-solve, and share their voice widely. Of course, we can just as quickly point to issues in the digital world that concern us. Cyber-bullying, filter bubbles, and access to inappropriate content remind us of how the digital world mirrors the real world: the good and the bad coexist. While we talk about how to prepare our students to be leaders in the real world, we need to consider the realities of their digital presence, which is only growing in significance.

That’s why I’m excited to share these teacher-created, student-tested ideas to bring digital citizenship into your classroom. These favorites were selected from over 100 ideas submitted from educators across the country, who came together to share, collaborate, and build together during The Teachers Guild’s and ISTE’s 10-week design challenge. Along with other teacher mentors, I supported in coaching teachers to further develop their ideas. This collaboration between The Teachers Guild and ISTE is a perfect example of the power and value that good digital citizenship can bring into the world.

You can download your very own copy of the Digital Citizenship Solutions Book here. We hope these ideas will inspire you and that you’ll try them in your classroom! Share how you’re bringing digital citizenship in your classroom with The Guild and ISTE by using the hashtag #TGDigiCit or email us at hello@teachersguild.org.