Right now, I teach young students online. We are in fairly protected environment on Google Classroom, in our fairly safe Google Meet. (Fairly). I have had, at times random names want to join my google meets, and I have always denied them. In saying that, anything is truly possible.
Next year I will be in grade six, and those kids will have all the technology and social media a person can have. They will try to find me on Tiktok, try to find out how many followers I have on Instagram, and they will be googling my name. What will come up? Hopefully I appear as a good digital citizen, but will they?
I am just starting to map out my year next year. I have been browsing through all grades, and I have found MANY opportunities for digital citizenship to be addressed and integrated.
Health Curriculum
First off, and most predictable, outcomes in the health curriculum are yelling with opportunities. First off, USC6.1, USC6.2, USC6.5 and USC6.6 all connect to developing a positive sense of self and others in a a variety of environments. When looking at the online environment, developing health relationships is JUST as important as developing a healthy relationship with family and friends! These outcomes directly tie to four of the nine elements that Mike Ribble discusses. First off, digital communication and collaboration –essentially, how can students actively and appropriately talk and discuss with one another using technology. Second, digital etiquette relates back to the perspectives that students need to know how to interact with students in the online environment, just like they need to on the playground, in extra-curricular activities and in the classroom. Third, is digital fluency. By giving students the opportunities to learn more in the classroom, the more likely they are able to use and question the information that they are receiving and giving on social media. That leads to the final element related to the health curriculum is the rights and responsibilities that students have when using technology as a tool. Finally, the health curriculum has many ties to the idea of digital health and welfare to protect the integrity and well-being of the users on a variety of websites, application and programs.
ELA Curriculum
Starting to look into the ELA curriculum, I started to ponder how some of these elements can leak into and be integrated into the ELA curriculum. First, off, digital law comes to mind, as students typically have to share the sources that support their written work. This connects to outcomes CC6.1 and CC6.4.
When looking at the speaking, listening and reading related outcomes, I think back to the digital etiquette and developing a sense of digital literacy and building a sense of communication and collaboration.
Career Curriculum
Finally, another great connection that I made was through the career education outcomes. All of the career education outcomes, that can be found here can be related to the some of the nine elements. First off, many careers rely on newer generations to have digital literacy. Even further, many careers expect their employees to create a solid and professional digital footprint. Employers (especially now), expect their employees to be able to communicate, collaborate and build within an online environment. Building a sense of privacy and law is also a key stakeholder in many different corporations.
Connecting multiple curriculums together provides students with a more authentic approach. If even more time was spend, creating a plethora of connections, students would be given multiple opportunities to explore and dabble with each of the nine elements. I think that it would even be a worthwhile tool to have the nine elements hung up in our classrooms to be sure that students are aware of and able to explore these elements on a daily basis. I made this small poster to the left to hopefully have up in my classroom some day soon!