Leadership: Teaching Digital Citizenship

There are many opportunities for school librarians to take a leadership role in their schools. When new initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are being implemented, wise librarians can use a global view of the school learning community to determine the ways in which they can make connections between the library and the classroom. Today, with new technology resources, tools, and devices proliferating daily, tech-savvy school librarians can hone their focus on ways to effectively integrate technology into the classroom curriculum.

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

While annual events such as Banned Websites Awareness Day and Digital Learning Day provide opportunities for connections, President Obama’s ConnectED Plan suggests a sustained and, if funded, sustainable emphasis on systemic solutions to technology integration. Announced in June 2013, the ConnectED Plan calls for increasing student access to online resources, improving teacher training, and building on private-sector innovation in technology. By reforming the eRate initiative of 2008, this initiative aims to foster a “robust ecosystem for digital learning.” School librarians know that resources are necessary, but the added emphasis on teacher training and private-sector partnerships provide additional opportunities for leadership.

As collaborators, co-teachers, and professional developers who positively impact the teaching practices in our schools, school librarians can capitalize on one of our areas of expertise—teaching digital citizenship. This area is implied, but not explicitly stated in the ConnectED Plan. (This is also true of the CCSS; digital citizenship is not named per se, but aspects of these behaviors and skills are embedded in these standards.) With increased access to technology tools, students will also have increased opportunities to practice the necessary safe and ethical online behaviors known as “digital citizenship.”

According to Mike Ribble who writes and speaks on this topic, there are nine elements to digital citizenship including Digital:

• Access
• Commerce
• Communication
• Literacy
• Etiquette
• Law
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Health and Wellness
• Security (self-protection) (http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html).

These elements are part and parcel of our charge as school librarians. In AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, the third standard states that learners use skills, resources, and tools to “Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of a democratic society” (AASL 2009). The entire “Responsibilities” strand focuses on the behaviors of digital citizens who, for example, respect copyright and the principles of intellectual freedom, follow ethical and legal guidelines, use valid information, and practice safe and ethical behaviors in personal electronic communication and interaction. Our AASL standards support our efforts to lead in teaching digital citizenship.

There are many staples of library-based instruction that foster digital citizenship. Our efforts to teach students how to evaluate electronic information for relevance, accuracy, validity, and bias are essential competencies for digital citizens. With the ease of copying and remixing digital information in all formats, respecting the intellectual property rights of others is increasingly important. Teaching students to make notes in their own words and to use information ethically by citing sources and avoiding plagiarism are key skills as well. These concepts have long been central in our work.

Other aspects of digital citizenship, such as digital etiquette and security or privacy, may not yet be systematically taught in our schools. These topics can easily be integrated, however, into inquiry unit mini-lessons at the point of need—when students are engaged in online communication with peers, mentors, and experts or are using social media and participatory culture tools in their projects. In July 2012, an amendment to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) added a requirement for schools to teach students appropriate online behaviors, including how to safely use social media and become aware of the consequences to both perpetuators and victims of cyberbulling. In her School Library Monthly “Fostering Digital Citizenship” article, Kathy Frederick offers many resources to help school librarians develop or expand their digital citizenship toolkits (2013). See also, Fredrick’s article in this issue of SLM, pages 24-25, “Dealing with Cyberbullying: Educating Students.”

ADDITIONAL AVENUES

In addition to the job-embedded professional development opportunities co-teaching digital citizenship offers classroom teachers and librarians, providing faculty in-service trainings or serving on school- or district-level technology committees are additional avenues for leadership. Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides federal funds for training teachers in educational technology use. School librarians have a critical role to play in advocating for these funds being used for technology tools integration that impacts learning and results in authentic assessments of student outcomes rather than tools focused solely on testing.

School librarians can also take a leadership role in partnering with businesses and foundations to secure and improve these tools for students and teachers. Through grant writing, school librarians can help administrators and colleagues purchase the digital devices that students need to succeed. ConnectED notes the necessity for a more robust educational software and apps menu of options for educators and learners. School librarians have regularly consulted with “library” vendors to help improve their products and will continue to step up to provide guidance to technology developers who recognize the need to support learners in organizing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas and information using digital tools.

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS’ KEY ROLE

Leading in teaching digital citizenship is a quick remedy for positioning the school library program at the center of the academic program. By contributing to students’ and teachers’ online knowledge, ethical behavior, health, and safety, school librarians can play a key role in preparing children and youth for living, working, and participating in a global society. Focused on the “Responsibilities” strand of AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and continuing to develop technological expertise, school librarians are prepared to lead.