Digital Citizenship in Schools: Fostering Responsible Technology Use

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of digital citizenship within the context of Australian schools. It defines digital citizenship, outlining its nine key areas including etiquette, communication, education, access, commerce, responsibility, rights, safety, and security. The essay highlights the declining digital gap between adolescents and adults, emphasizing the need for educational and socio-psychological programs to increase internet literacy and reduce risks. It examines the implications of digital citizenship on education, discussing how ICT and social networks are changing the learning landscape, fostering innovation and critical thinking. The essay also addresses appropriate technology behavior for students aged 5-18 years, the impact of increased screen time, and the need for schools to adapt to the digital transformation. Furthermore, it explores the skills to teach children in digital citizenship, including identity management, screen time organization, coping with online harassment, cybersecurity, privacy management, and critical thinking, providing a detailed analysis of the challenges and opportunities for educational institutions in the digital age.

Running head: DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 1
Digital Citizenship in Schools
Name:
Institution:
Date:

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Introduction
digital citizenship are the norms of behavior with regard to technology use.There are nine
areas of behavior that digital comprises of digital citizenship. The areas are;
 Etiquette: this is the standard of conduct or procedure expected.
 Communication: This is the electronic use of information.
 Education: The is the process of learning and using of technology.
 Access: this is the extent of societal participation.
 Commerce: this is buying and selling of goods electronically.
 Responsibility: the users responsibility for deeds and actions.
 Rights: These are the rights of everyone in the digital world.
 Safety: Physical well being of the digital world.
 Security: these are precautions that guarantee safety digital citizenship.
Australian population studies on the use of the Internet by school children in recent years
clearly show that rapid mastery the growing generation of the Internet is associated with a
lack of awareness about both the risks and threats of the digital world, and the opportunities
for coping with them (Webster,2018). At the same time, the digital gap between adolescents
and adults (parents and teachers) is declining very slowly, which does not allow the fullest
help to the older generation, and the younger one - to accept the help of parents and teachers.
According to qualitative research , the causes of problems related to the Internet vary
significantly, depending on the age and content of the activity, the level of knowledge, skills
and skills, the degree of responsibility and the attitude to the Internet (Voogt, Knezek &

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Roblin, 2015). On the issues of ensuring the safety of adolescents in the Network, Australia is
significantly "behind" the countries of Western Europe, where educational and socio-
psychological programs aimed at increasing Internet literacy and risk reduction have long and
successfully functioned( Lim, Tan, Nizam, Zhou & Tan 2016)..
The most stringent criterion of "impact," which determines the success of the socio-
psychological program, involves two points. On the one hand, empirical identification of
factors contributing to increasing literacy in the digital world. On the other hand, the widest
possible conduct of population studies taking into account the Australian reality.
Applicability of the basic concept in practice, i.e. its clarity and acceptance both from the
side of society and from the side of the education system (Alexander, Cummins & Giesinger,
2017). In addition, the construct should allow not only the possibility of screening evaluation,
but also a deeper analysis of its structure for the correct designation of the goals of socio-
psychological interventions.
Implications of digital citizenship on education
The world is being changed by ICT and social networks. The children are able to get a lot of
knowledge from the world by being digital citizens. This is because communication is
constant and instantaneous (Al-Zahrani,2015).. Learning has become more accessible to
anyone with a connection. The days of where a teacher needed a chalk and a blackboard to
teach are over in this information age. The current Australian educational system focuses on
memorization of information which is now available and can be accessed any time from the
internet. This has allowed the students to be more innovative, creative and use more of
critical thinking.
This is a good thing because the economic, social, ecological and political problems facing
the coming generations need creative and innovative thinkers. The students are also able to

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question everything. Thus, facilitating a curriculum that focuses on digital aspect is great.
We have seen companies such as Google in the recent past launching a Digital literacy and
citizenship curriculum (Jones & Mitchell, 2016).. Most schools in Australia have supported
the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) initiative which seeks to show how the digital
citizenship has been welcomed. The digital citizenship program is collaborative which
ensures that studenst, teachers and parents contribute in the learning and development of an
individual. This has encouraged communication between the various stakeholders in the
education sector. The use of papers has also reduced in schools because most learning
institutions use apps in teaching. There has been a reduction of bullying cases or other
internet related issues after the rollout of digital citizenship program.
Appropriate technology behavior for students aged 5-18 Years
It has been observed that that there has been an increase in sedentary behaviors among
students aged 5-18 Years. Digital citizenship has contributed to this trend as most students
spend their after school time either on their computers or watching TVs. Emerging evidence
shows that this students are at risk of developing health complications. There has been an
increase in adiposity, poor self esteem, poor academic achievement and decreased fitness
among the students in this age bracket.
Thanks to advances in technology, Australian schools have also benefited from new systems,
devices, programs, services and others, which promise to be the solution to learning
problems, offering products that will allow an experiential, perhaps immersive, learning the
students (Searson, Hancock, Soheil, & Shepherd, 2015).. This fact, added to the discourse of
the "digital natives" has been a "business boom" for many companies and experts in
innovation, as well as for schools that have entered into serious competition to acquire more

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software and equipment to maintain them. always on the vanguard. Being a modern school,
on the way to digital transformation, is no longer an option: it became a duty.
Well, there is also the other side of the coin, those schools that have closed the doors to
digital technology, denying to a large extent what technology can offer to improve the
learning levels of their students, based on proposals and projects that they have maintained
over the years.
Be our school on one side or the other, or somewhere in between; It is real that today's
students spend most of their time connected to the Internet. Studies like the one made by
Common Sense Education in 2015 show that children from 8 to 12 years old spend 6 hours a
day in front of the screen of some electronic device and adolescents, from 13 to 18 years old,
spend 9 hours a day, on average. Half of these times, connected to the Internet (Saito &
Aragaki,2017)..
The simplest way is to ignore or be prohibitive, arguing that it is harmful and that it does not
contribute to the educational training of students. That is not facing the situation, not wanting
to turn the "problem" into possibility, leaving it to the students to develop it on the web; In
short, ignore reality.
Digital citizenship is the set of tools and criteria that allow us to make safe, intelligent and
ethical decisions online. This fact implies that it is something that can be formed, educated.
And the school, which seeks to educate young people to be responsible citizens with ethical
principles, can not look the other way when it comes to digital citizenship (Couldry, et al,
2014).. This is happening today, it is part of our day to day and it will be more and more in
the future.

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Educate and train in security and privacy on the web, how to handle relationships and digital
communication, in reputation and digital image, copyright, cyber bullying; it will only
contribute to the comprehensive education of students and is the true vanguard education that
schools need to offer today. To look the other way is to ignore the reality of the students, is to
offer an incomplete and decontextualized education (LeBlanc, Furlong, Leger & Freiman,
2018). Schools have an enormous responsibility today so that young people and the working
world of tomorrow are as we dream them.
It is in the presence of modifications of both the training objectives of the students, who must
be prepared to enter the labor market, as well as the pedagogical strategies of the teachers,
who must constantly update their technological knowledge so that their forms of
communication become more attractive.
The current knowledge society demands the educational system a set of knowledge
and skills that students must develop in different areas of learning, all related to the so-called
21st century competences. These competences correspond to new ways of thinking
(creativity, critical reasoning, problem solving, decision-making and learning), new ways of
working and new skills to function in today's world (citizenship, personal responsibility,
professional, social and individual development). characteristics that become transcendental
for the good future development of students in society. In this way, the use, knowledge and
understanding of technology in the education system is essential today.
In our country, practically 70% of the students who are in primary schools are able to give a
basic use to Information and Communication Technologies, mainly through the use of text
processors and the resolution of minimum problems raised; while 3% of them use them
effectively to solve complex tasks related to learning, discriminating content and integrating
different sources of knowledge to their own ideas (Curran & Ribble,2017)..

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These figures show the multiple challenges that Australia faces as a country in relation to the
use of information technologies in education. Perhaps one of the most important corresponds
to the effective incorporation of these tools in the learning processes and in the official
curriculum, using ICT as a source of information of relevance for the development of specific
knowledge in the classrooms. Likewise, another important challenge that we must resolve is
related to the role that teachers have in the incorporation and use of ICT in educational
processes (Kane, Ng-A-Fook, Radford & Butler, 2017).. They are the ones who must find the
meaning of its use in the classrooms and extend its importance for the future of the students.
It requires your support, collaboration and understanding regarding the use of ICT, because
the perception of the facility, related to the professional or personal competence required, and
the perception of the utility in solving problems, are necessary for them to be feel able to
technically master the technological tools (Paulus & Ingersoll, 2015).. Third, it is also
necessary to change the conception of what access to information means through digital tools.
For this, it is essential to lose the fear and make sense of the use of ICT in an appropriate
way, since it is demonstrated that the ease of creating, processing and disseminating
information has overcome all the barriers that limit the acquisition of knowledge,
contributing to the development of skills and abilities in society (Ribble, 2014).
For all the above is that the Australians educational system must adapt to new socio-cultural
contexts, imitating the initiatives of countries with greater use of Information and
Communication Technologies, and preparing students for the daily management of these
tools in their future entry into the labor market (Isman, 2014). Only in this way will these
premises be established as a good basis for future delineation of public educational policies
around the development of digital skills for all Australians.

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Young children are often subjected to dependence on technology, cyberbullying (Internet
harassment) and inducement to debauchery through the Internet. They also absorb destructive
behavioral norms that affect the ability to communicate with others. Unfortunately, most
children face such problems (Livingstone & Third, 2017).. Vulnerable groups are affected,
including children with special needs, representatives of national minorities and children
from low-income families. These categories are more often at risk and face serious
consequences.
So what are the skills to teach children in digital citizenship? There are eight such skills:
The identity of a digital citizen is to create and control a healthy person online and offline in
harmony with oneself.Organization of screen time - independently organize the time spent
behind the screen, multitasking and involvement in online games and social media.
The ability to cope with online harassment - the ability to identify such situations and
skillfully solve them.
The organization of cybersecurity - to protect information, creating reliable passwords and
coping with cyberattacks.
Management of privacy - carefully handle personal information distributed online in order to
protect your own and others' privacy.
Critical thinking - to distinguish between true and false information, good and harmful
content, reliable and questionable contacts on the Internet.
Digital traces - understand the essence of digital tracks and their meaning in the real world, as
well as the ability to cope with them.

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Digital empathy is to show empathy for one's own and others' needs and feelings on the
Internet
Social, political or economic views
A digital citizen as suggested is someone who develops knowledge and skills to effectively
use digitall technologies and internet. Indeed, the information era has had an impact on
social, political and economic aspects of life. Currently, we are used to listening and even
repeating concepts such as information society, knowledge society, digital era and digital
citizenship, among others. But we rarely stop to think about its meaning and especially the
implications that these concepts have in our daily lives (Hollandsworth, Donovan & Welch,
2017)..
First, the citizenry has become more aware of the information around them. On the contrary,
it should lead us to reflect on what we can do in the different roles we play within our society.
If we are parents, children, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, housewives or any other role in
this social network, we have the possibility to prepare the eventuality or consequences of a
digital citizenship.
Technological advances occur in a rhythm that sometimes exceed our ability to stay updated
but it is our right and at the same time our obligation to act within our means to try to do so.
It is important to mention that there must be intentionality in this to achieve favorable results.
A final words At present, there is an important debate about the native and digital immigrant
terms (Dotterer, Hedges & Parker, 2016).. we should not lose sight of the fact that it
continues to fall on us, the responsibility and of course the privilege of guiding the following
generations to be the digital citizens that our society requires: citizens aware of our rights and
respectful of our obligations; integrated citizens to this reality called the digital age (Ribble,
2015). .

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Politically, the students and the community in general have become more aware of what is
happening around them, and political actions of the leaders and governments are being
highlighted more. Socially, there has been a lot of cyber bullying for example body shaming
and many other negative vices which have got to be condemned and stopped
(Fenaughty,2015).. Economically, the digital era has opened up markets and businesses are
getting more clients.
Recommendations for education
Digital citizenship should be a key components of the classroom. It is important for teachers
to use social media tools that are educational to have student practice digital citizenship in a
better way. Example of such a social media tool is the schoology, which allows students to
have a two way conversation with other students and teachers. Such a social media tool
allows the students to learn how to use social media properly and responsibly outside the
school.
Teachers should build a community on social media platforms such as twitter and facebook
and through their use, they can know how to maintain a personal image. In this way learning
and development doesn’t stop on the weekends even for the students (Ahlquist,2014)..
Digital citizenship should encourage collaboration, i.e all stakeholders for example, the
parents, teachers and students should be involved to provide a wholesome learning
experience to everyone and their suggestions should be taken (Emejulu & McGregor, 2016)..
Teachers should encourage networking through digital networking to benefit from
information from other students in other schools, therefore, digital citizenship should be
incorporated in all schools.

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