Digital Citizenship – The GOOD Stuff
The end of my semester has arrived, bringing with it the end of my experience in University 349.
So I’ll be taking this time to reflect on what I’ve learned over the semester and how my ideas on digital citizenship have changed. you When I entered this class, I was more apprehensive about the format than the subject matter, and looking back, my biggest question going in was why this class was only available and targeted to transfer students. I will say this though, I had absolutely no idea just how much there was to digital citizenship when I started studying it in September. My thoughts on it were something like “Well, it just means that there are rules and regulations regarding our lives online just like in our physical lives right? And we should be careful about our interactions, obviously.”
Right now, I can look back at that and laugh because that is exactly the kind of thinking that true proponents for digital citizenship in education are fighting to discourage. Referencing an article by John Waters that we studied a while back called “Turning Students into Good Digital Citizens,” we must remember that students are “producers and managers of information and perspectives.”
While being safe and respectful online are of course important things to do, to teach only that is severely lacking. The possibilities of the online world are limitless and with that knowledge and power, we have to do more than think twice about how a Facebook status might come across. We can use social media to learn about social issues such as the refugee crisis from the refugees themselves. We can directly impact our political system by contacting those in office and addressing our concerns with them, in real time. We can find ourselves a community to belong to when it seems as though those around us don’t have the answers that we are looking for.
And that is what digital citizenship means to me months later: in order to be a good digital citizen, you must use skills like crap detection (know what information and knowledge producers to trust), we have to be active participants in the world-wide conversation (use our resources to be true citizens rather than just interacting with people that we’ve met in person), and we should also be open-minded and willing to think outside of the box (let children and students teach us about what the digital world means to them versus what it means to parents and professors).
After reviewing the challenges posed to us in this class, it’s easy to see how much has changed. My digital footprint, for example, is much better now! Nearly all of the results on the first page of 2 different searches are linked to me thanks to this class and I couldn’t be happier and more grateful for that.
I think one of the concepts that will most stick with me is using social media for purposes other than our personal lives. This class has shown me that lurking doesn’t have to be a bad word, if we’re doing it right! Another thing that I’ve learned how to do better is engaging – we have to use all of our resources, be persistent, and responsible with our knowledge and power in all ways.
This has been an amazing journey and has far exceeded my expectations. I will take what I have learned about new perspectives on research and issues that impact our lives in to every class that I have from here on out. Social media is a relevant resource and I hope to continue sharing that with others. I will also take all of the tools that I now have and not only use them, but keep them sharp, in the face of advances and new information in our ever-changing online world.
Thank you Jill and Michelle, you two have taught me so much and this class has been a unique experience that I hope won’t be unique for long. You two are great and I know your past, current, and future students would agree. Goodbye, #Univ349DC – it’s been real!
MGH, Professor in Training
The post Digital Citizenship – The GOOD Stuff appeared first on Professor In Training.
