Technology and Learning in the Library
Course
Professional Development in Digital Citizenship [8:22]
- Learn to establish the library as the information hub for all topics related to digital citizenship.
- Learn to use technology tools to gather data about teacher's needs involving digital citizenship related themes: copyright, netiquette, plagiarism, online safety.
- Learn how to develop professional development opportunities that spark conversation around digital citizenship while building a teacher support network for topics related to digital citizenship.
As the school librarian, a professional known for disseminating information, it is important to create awareness among other educators of the need for attention to digital citizenship, not just in the library, but throughout all aspects of life and learning. Strategize the timing of when you bring this topic to the forefront so that it is routinely on the agenda: pre-planning, mid-year, and end of year. Avoid addressing digital citizenship from a place of fear. Consider that stories of copyright violations and the ensuing consequences can capture the attention of school leadership.
Explore using a previous grievance as a hook. Perhaps share a large fine that a school had to pay for showing a movie at a PTO fundraiser when they did not have the rights to do so, or a musician's legal consequences for copyright infringement in their song lyrics, or even when a professional's career was jeopardized for sharing unseemly information via social media. There are countless examples of such instances so consider using one as a hook to gain initial interest in the topic.
Once you have a captive audience, seek permission to host a mandatory professional development session during pre-planning. Since digital citizenship is a broad topic that encompasses using technology responsible at any time, narrow the session down to a few topics so that it is less daunting. Consider incorporating copyright, online safety, and netiquette as a starting point. Then by midyear target a specific lesson for each grade level in which you can share your digital citizenship expertise. For example, jointly develop a rubric with the language arts teacher for a research project that encompasses in-text citation requirements, works cited specifications, and copyright expectations related to images and text. Offer to create a presentation to share with students in science before they begin a project involving a digital tool to share how they need to establish their privacy settings and the dos and don'ts for evaluating their peers. Work with diplomacy. Share this presentation in the students' digital learning space so that they and the teacher can access this resource on demand for future reference after you leave the classroom. Volunteer to join a social studies class and teach the students how to become information experts by critically evaluating information sources for current events and specific strategies to avoid plagiarizing. Finally, at the end of the year, when many teachers are creating slideshows to highlight their students memorable experiences, offer a copyright workshop to demonstrate how to acquire royalty-free music or how to publicly share their slideshows with the appropriate privacy settings. Work to intentionally keep digital citizenship on the radar throughout the school year.
Survey to seek information about what digital citizenship content areas colleagues feel least confident in their depth and breadth of knowledge. Data driven professional development and instructional support will reduce frustration among colleagues when they are called to attend another meeting or asked to participate in their own learning that results in more time constraints. Use technology tools to assess teacher needs. These types of tools are plentiful and device agnostic. Examples include Google forms, Padlet, and Survey Monkey.
Discover what type of support they need to incorporate digital citizenship into their teaching and learning. In addition to open-ended survey questions, provide specific examples of how you can support the teaching and learning and then solicit their interest: digital citizen workshops for teachers and students, lunch 'n' learns, weekly emails with digital citizenship tips and tricks, instructional templates that focus on digital citizenship, topics that teachers can incorporate into their lesson plans, and stand alone lessons on a variety of topics such as online prank cultures, cyberbullying or email etiquette. Offer to partner in creating parent guardian communication that highlights the type of digital citizenship learning that is happening throughout the school.
Mix up the digital citizenship learning experiences. Invite a cybersecurity expert to share why online prowess is increasingly important. Gamify the learning with a choose your own adventure badge system in which teachers embark upon challenges such as exploring Common Sense Media's Lesson Plan Bank and identifying one lesson plan that they will commit to executing by a certain date. Incorporate levels at which they can earn prizes. Create opportunities for colleagues to demonstrate their areas of digital citizenship expertise and therefore, be able to support each other when different needs arise. For example, with those who participate in the gamified learning experiences, host a concluding ceremony to highlight their individual progress.
Approach digital citizenship with the goal of growing accountability among colleagues invested in the teaching and learning of this topic. A digitally responsible learning community cannot be built in a silo. Demonstrate the ways in which the school librarian is well equipped to lead, support and forge a communal commitment to digital citizenship competency.
Knowing your audience is critical to the successful development and implementation of professional development for digital citizenship. In order to meet colleagues where they are, create a survey that will seek to inform your focus for professional development programming related to digital citizenship. After reviewing the resources below, complete the Reflect & Practice activity below.
After reading both of the above articles, craft an online survey for your schools' teaching community that will uncover areas of interest and classroom needs related to digital citizenship themes. Using page 13 of the Course Packet (found in the Resources above), create a list of topics that are meaningful to your learning community. What do the results reflect? What topics are of significant majority importance? How can you effectively support your teachers in navigating these issues?
MLA Citation
Brown, Stacy. "Technology and Learning in the Library: Develop a Digital Citizenship Educator Survey." School Library Connection, July 2022, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2282106?learningModuleId=2281499&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2294725
Each school community has their own distinct needs. Additionally, each learner's needs are unique. As a result, gamification works well as a strong educational platform to motivate and inspire learners to embark upon their own adventure in professional growth. Develop a gamified professional development opportunity for your school's adult community that will provide a foundation for digital citizenship education and that aims to spark additional teaching and learning surrounding this topic. After reviewing the resource below, complete the Reflect & Practice activity.
After reviewing Become a Digital Citizenship Scout, use page 14 of the Course Packet (found in the Resources above) to brainstorm what type of badge system would work for your learning community. Use a digital tool to develop a badge system to motivate your colleagues to learn more about areas related to digital citizenship. Consider themes that are meaningful to your school community both in design and content. Incorporate a final reward system. What are the ways in which you can inspire participation? How can you involve your administration to help support and communicate this learning opportunity as a valuable professional development strand?
MLA Citation
Brown, Stacy. "Technology and Learning in the Library: Develop a Digital Citizenship Professional Development Program." School Library Connection, July 2022, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2282106?learningModuleId=2281499&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2294727
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Brown, Stacy. "Technology and Learning in the Library. Professional Development in Digital Citizenship [8:22]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, December 2022, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2282106?learningModuleId=2281499&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2282106?learningModuleId=2281499&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2282106