This week was the last week of our study on digital citizenship, and we covered quite a bit of information. I learned from this study of digital citizenship that there are nine elements that construct the character of a digital citizen: access, commerce, communication, literacy, etiquette, law, rights and responsibility, and health and wellness. These elements are organized under three principles (REP): respect, education, and protection. Respect involves etiquette, access, and laws. Education involves literacy, communication, and commerce. Protection involves rights and responsibility, security, health and welfare (Ribble, 2015).
The biggest accomplishment I experienced in this course was, due to the amount of writing, I had to communicate what I had learned from the resources that were given. Although the resources were extensive, they enabled me to see how important digital citizenship is. I had a limited perspective about what being a digital citizen was and they help me to increase my understanding.
One of my greatest achievements in this course was I learned to be more confident in my ability to use some of the apps needed to create video content. I am not afraid of using technology, but I do not consider myself proficient in creating video clips. I know as a digital educator it is required that I do things that I may not be familiar with, therefore I considered that portion of assignments an accomplishment.
My challenges in completing this course was the ability to synthesize the information from the resources and apply it to the case studies. I consider myself a practical person that can view things and see them for what they are. After looking at some of the case studies, I found myself having to read and re-read to see some of the ways they applied using copyright laws.
My best work in this course came from the creation of my video presentation on digital citizenship. It helped me to concisely communicate what a good digital citizen does while in their global community. My outside experiences have been connected to this class through me sharing with family, colleagues and friends the information that I have learned about using technology, making sure your personal information is secure, as well as the safeguards of social media use.
The most useful thing that I have learned from this course would be the importance crediting of copyright material. I was not aware of the protections were covered and how long copyright protection lasted. As an educational leader, this course has helped me grow in my understanding of why we should not assume that users already know how to responsibly handle technology. My favorite aspect of this course was that it exposed me to a variety of resources that caused me to critically think about digital citizenship. I am very pleased that the resources provided could help me in my area of early education.
For future students, I would advise they start early to read and view resources, videos, and complete discussion boards because it helps in the preparation for the extensive writing that is required. Lastly, I really enjoyed the class and cannot say that I would change anything. This class had a unique presentation and helped me as an educator, grow in my ability to be a communicator. I must admit that it was three weeks before I was able to see the benefit of the amount of information we were given. It helped me to change my superficial prospective about technology and closely examine what I read and post online. When speaking to my friends about this course, I will share my experiences of how the use of technology links us to our global citizenship and requires that we know our rights and responsibilities while using it.
References
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know. (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology.
Empowering Others With Knowledge 