The article, "Passport to Digital Citizenship" by Mike Ribble, examines the importance of teaching technology in the modern day. "Digital citizenship" is defined as the appropriate and responsible behavior regarding technology, as well as how we work with one another in a digital society. Ribble describes his nine elements to digital citizenship. These nine elements create a base of learning. They assess many different aspects of technology use, including if students are participating electronically in society, able to buy or sell good electronically, know how and when to use technology, know the legal rights and restrictions, and know the behavioral expectations with regard to technology. Along with the elements, there is also a four stage cycle of implementation. The four steps described are awareness, guided practice, modeling and demonstration, and feedback and analysis.
As students in this course, we know the practical implications the use of technology in the classroom. We are practicing appropriate and responsible use of technology right now! As we submit our weekly homework through a blog, we cannot deny the importance of technology in society today and the prevalence of technology in schools is only going to increase. I think Ribble has some good points in his article. He stresses the utmost importance of responsible and appropriate use of technology. I think technology can often be misused without even knowing its proper use or even without knowing the rules and restrictions. Educating teachers on this would be an obvious step, in order to pass on that information to the students.
However, I do not think the elements and process of digital citizenship is entirely practical. First and foremost, I am concerned about the cost of this program. As teachers are today are worried about losing their jobs or there are rumors of IOU handouts instead of paychecks, this is not a prime atmosphere for new programs to be implemented. Also, I think Ribble has looked at this from only one side. I do not think he explored the negative effects of this program in depth. What would the negative effects of this program have on schools and classrooms? What would have to be given up in order to implement this program?
Question 1: How is this practically applied for students in special education classrooms?
All students today will be faced with technology in the classroom and eventually in the workplace. The use of technology in special education classrooms will be modified. Essentially, though, teaching the appropriate use of technology is important in all classrooms.
Question 2: Ribble briefly mentions that students often have to "gear down" technologically in school as opposed to home. What is the positive effect of students having to "gear down" in school?
As teachers begin to focus more on the use of technology in classrooms, obviously something will have to be cut back. Also, having to gear down at school forces students to use other resources and rely on learning rather than on technology.
Ribble, M (2008, December). Passport to digital citizenship. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved
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