Tool #11: Good Digital Citizenship

In order for students to become good digital citizens, the teacher will have to model the proper norms. One of the ways to do this is to instill ethical practices, etiquette and responsibility. Ethical behaviors involve the absence of plagiarism and giving credit where credit is due. By teaching students sound digital behaviors with moral and legal foundations, they will be sure to seek aid from an adult when something unethical or questionable crosses their path.

Exhibiting etiquette in cyberspace is no different than treating everyone with kindness and respect in the "real world." By teaching students digital etiquette, they will understand that the digital sound-waves are interacted by people with feelings just like them. A good rule of thumb is to always ask: 'how would you feel is someone sent you a digital message or video with that tone?' This level of checks-and-balances will assure our students interact digitally with the utmost etiquette and respect!

Responsibility is key when using all of these modern gadgets. Your alias traces and trails everything you do in the e-world; therefore, our students must know that the virtual places they visit, and the gadgets they manipulate, must be done with the utmost responsibility in order to maintain trustworthiness. Modeling this level of responsibility will make sure our students are responsible users of 21st century tools in all of their digitally-educational, and recreational endeavors!