Digital Citizenship

A video of a chimpanzee scrolling through an Instagram feed on a smartphone has attracted more than 1.6 million views, but has also drawn criticism from animal welfare experts. Primatologist Jane Goodall said she was "very disappointed to see the inappropriate portrayal of a juvenile chimpanzee," and commented that such viral videos encourage illegal chimpanzee trading.

Strategies to help students be better digital citizens offered by Chief Technology Officer Dr. Audrey Hovannesian of the Victor Valley Union High School District in California include focusing on digital etiquette, respect and safety, and preparing students to leave digital footprints they can be proud of. She also reminds districts that you can’t put a price on the value of educating a student to be a good digital citizen. Safety needs to be the number one priority for all stakeholders – from parents and kids to teachers and administrators - in every district.

From the The New York Times , twenty-one universities have formed the Public Interest Technology University Network to better teach students to develop, manage and utilize technology for the public good. Public interest technology meshes the academic fields of computer science, sociology and law. As technology becomes increasingly pervasive and intrusive in American life, this network seeks to devise ways to teach students how to grapple with the consequences on society.

According to National Public Radio/Michigan, Michigan State University has launched the McLellan Online Free Speech Library at https://mclellanlib.com to help support students who may be facing disciplinary action from schools for their online speech, including in social media posts and videos. Among other things, the online library will offer students resources, case studies and other documents that may help them better understand their rights. This is a good resource to know about if you find yourself in a situation, whether your child is the one accused or a victim of online abuse.

How do you or your children’s school define “digital citizenship”?  According to  Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, speaking recently at the South by Southwest Conference, digital citizenship goes beyond the scope of online safety. He says that positive digital citizenship is about making better communities online that include proactive actions to affect public policy, increased civility and the skills need to ferret out valid information.

A new Pew Research study has found that after years of steady gains, social media has edged out newspapers as a news source for adults in the US in 2018. The survey reveals that 20% of adults access social media for news, topping the 16% for newspapers, although TV remains the leading source.

Marty Ringle of Reed College in Oregon, who has worked in educational technology for more than 40 years, says there should be more consideration by the public, especially parents, of the risks of technology. In this interview with EdSurge, he suggests that an ethics course focused on technology be required in schools and colleges and the materials available for parents to use. Ringle writes, “There are people today who are well respected, well known, who are expressing anxiety and concerns about this. I personally think those are very well placed concerns. Not just in terms of the immediate obvious concerns about privacy and tracking and profiling people to within an inch of their lives and all those sorts of things, but decision-making, understanding the strengths and weaknesses, the limits of technology, not just today, but tomorrow, I think is vital.”

What is the difference between cyberbullying and cyberexclusion? Take a look at a video in which adolescent psychiatrist Jodi Gold, M.D. explains the difference and why seemingly innocent social media posts – “fun” posts from parties, playdates, and other events where other kids are “excluded”- can hurt kids’ feelings. Find out what you can do as a parent to combat cyberexclusion and help your child learn to be kind online.

World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee is initiating a campaign called #ForTheWeb, aimed at advocating principles that protect users from threats such as false news, discrimination and hate speech, among others. The campaign, based on a "Contract for the Web", has received support from Facebook and more than 60 other organizations.

Google is helping to educate children about good online behavior as part of a new partnership with the National Parent Teacher Association and the nonprofit DonorsChoose.org. Schools that adopt the program, "Be Internet Awesome," will receive resources and training about digital safety, among other things.