Digital Citizenship _ Leas

How can digital literacy be integrated into classrooms?

Digital Literacy can be integrated into any class if the teacher is using technology. Any time we are technology in our classrooms, we need to ensure that the students are using it properly and being safe in the virtual world. Being a good digital citizen is something that needs to be taught just life manners in real life. According to the powerpoint this week, teachers need to model what it looks like to be a good digital citizen.
One thing I have been doing is using Flipgrid in our virtual learning to help give students the chance to collaborate. Each student was given a math question to work out and explain the steps to the class. Other students can then leave comments or ask other questions. This ties in with the ISTE standard from the powerpoint of "Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community". I am giving the students the place to build that community in the virtual world and we talk about the importance of being respectful of each other's ideas.
In any class, we could meet the standard of "Establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency". Doing a research project would allow teachers to have these conversations about fake news and what sites are credible. The course we took and the powerpoint both had good ideas for how to help students know that the resource they are using is legit and credible. The students need to be taught this, otherwise they may think anything they find is true and reliable, which is not the case.
Another thing that I think is key is teaching students about their digital footprint. So often, they think that if they post it on social media, they are not held responsible for it. I do think students are become more aware of this and are being more thoughtful in what they post. However, this is still something that we can help them with. In healthful living when we talk about our body being healthy, we also can tie that into our digital health. Students could talk about what a healthy footprint would be versus an unhealthy footprint.

How can we support teachers' digital citizenships and their teaching through teacher professional development?

Gleason and Gillern discuss in their article three ways for teachers to help students develop good digital citizenship. They are having students create digital research projects, have ways for students to investigate issues, and develop and participate in digital citizen practices. In order for teachers to be successful in doing these types of activities with students they need to have the support and knowledge. One thing I think would help, is having the teachers do a similar project first. Set up a professional development where the teachers create a public service announcement on various topics. This gives the teachers the hands on practice and they can better get a feel for what the students will be doing. I find that if the teachers have the chance to "play" and build their confidence then they are more comfortable doing things with the students.
Choi et. al. talk in their article about how what influences teachers levels of digital citizenship. Just like with our students, we need to meet teachers where they are and help to build them up. When we plan our professional developments, we should ask the teachers what they need help with and try to fill those needs. Offering mini courses like the one we did this week that teachers can do independently is good too. Sometimes teachers come to PD already not wanting to be there and so they get nothing out of it. Perhaps offering more virtual PD like we are doing now in this crazy world we are in, teachers would be more interested and be able to work at their own pace.