Reflecting on Digital Citizenship and Digital Ethics

Darren Kuropatwa, educational technology educator, explained the difference between digital citizenship and digital ethics. I had always thought of these two ideas as interchangeable and synonymous. Mr. Kuropatwa made a clear distinction and speaks about how digital ethics focuses on how we treat each other in a virtual world and how this can often been seen as a list of what not to do. Digital citizenship, rather, focuses on how to make a positive impact in an online community. Mike Ribble, lists the nine elements of digital citizenship that expands on Kuropatwa's distinction between ethics and citizenship. Ribble lists these elements as the following:

-Digital etiquette

-Digital communication

-Digital literacy/fluency

-Digital access

-Digital commerce

-Digital law

-Digital rights and responsibilities

-Digital health and wellness

-Digital security

These nine elements really bring to light the disconnect between what educators think they are doing versus what they need to do. Teachers who embrace the 21st century and understand the importance of intentionally weaving the digital world in their lessons, also understand the necessity of digital citizenship. But from what I have seen in education and what I've learned in the first week of a Digital citizenship course through Lamar University, teachers often are teaching digital ethics when they should be focusing on the nine elements of citizenship.

The two main elements that I think get over looked are digital access and digital literacy/fluency. While the majority of my students, AP juniors and seniors, have access to devices, this is not true for the majority of students in my school and in the district. Last year, this gap in digital access was a minor inconvenience, this year with the pandemic and digital learning, it's been a full blown nightmare. Only a few teachers in each department have access to Chromebooks and many students are left to defend for themselves for digital assignments and online exams. Students are taking tests on their iphones and by the end of the day their phones are dead and there's not enough outlets in a classroom for students to charge their phones. My district has a wide range of income levels and students made their choice on whether to return to school or not this year, not based on COVID-19 or safety, but whether or not they had the device and the capability to even access their assignments.

The other element, that is much needed, especially for older students is digital literacy/fluency. Ribble writes that "Digital literacy includes the discussion of media literacy and the ability to discern good information from poor, such as “fake news” from real news." The importance of this element of digital citizenship was evident this year as students, as well as adults, have a difficult time applying the critical thinking skills taught in class to the digital world. Students now-a-days have an amazing opportunity to have access to a world of information at their fingertips but haven't been given the skills to navigate this world in a way that adds to their knowledge.

Educators can not make the assumption that students are receiving these lessons in digital citizenship at home and they also cannot assume that they are providing digital citizenship when in reality they just might be teaching digital ethics. Both are important for students and teachers alike, but if we want our students to be prepared and set up for success we have to give them the tools that they need. In this day and age, these tools must include the nine elements of digital citizenship.

Resources:

Anthology, T. B. V. (2015, July 16). Darren Kuropatwa - Digital Ethics and Digital Citizenship #BLC15. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbMsbxYvr4E

Ribble, Mike. Nine Elements. (2020, November 17). Retrieved from https://www.digitalcitizenship.net/nine-elements.html