Digital+Citizenship

=**Digital Citizenship**=

According to a Digital Citizenship-focused website created by Mike Ribble, perhaps the leading authority on the subject, Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. There are many and various facets to Digital Citizenship, including:
 * **Digital Law (Copyright & Fair-Use) - not to be used in assignment**
 * Cyberbullying
 * Digital Etiquette (how should we behave? Anonymity's effects?)
 * Digital Literacy (e.g. how to properly/effectively research on the WWW) - Tree Octopus
 * Digital Security (privacy and safety)

As teachers, we strive to teach students to be good citizens within the classroom, community and society at large. More and more though, They, like many members of society, spend a significant amount of time connected to the Internet. The problem is that students (and again, many members of society) do not have an innate understanding of how to behave in the digital world. Therefore, they must be taught. Parents have a responsibility in this effort, but there are a couple of potential obstacles - (1) parents may not have the knowledge themselves, to teach their children about issues related to digital citizenship, and (2) even if they do have the knowledge, parents, for whatever reason, might neglect teaching their children.


 * Enter the teacher!**

Again, there are many facets to digital citizenship; which should teachers focus on and how should they do it? For purposes of this class, we are going to divide and conquer. You will be placed into groups and assigned one of the topic areas listed above. Each group will compose a 1-page letter addressed to the parents of students. In this letter, you need to:
 * 1) **Introduce the idea of Digital Citizenship to the parents** - include a definition (written in your own words), its importance, and what you, as the teacher, will be doing to teach it throughout the year.
 * 2) **Present your particular topic area** - What does it mean? How does/will it relate to the students and their parents? What are real-life examples that demonstrate its importance (provide citations)
 * 3) **What can parents do** to better understand the particular topic area, and, therefore help their children to understand? You will need to explore 8-10 sites that are directly relevant to your topic area. Once you have fully explored them, present 2 or 3 of the most meaningful sites to the parents that will provide them with this understanding. Interactivity is often desirable!
 * 4) **Include a summary statement** that presents the most important informational points that the parents should "take away."
 * 5) **Be extremely professional** in your presentation, grammar/spelling, and tone.

**Assignment Submission**

 * By October 7th, each individual will submit to Blackboard a 2-page Word document.
 * Page 1 - Title Page including your topic area and group members. Also include the 8-10 Websites your group initially and thoroughly explored. Present them in a numbered list in which the sites are arranged most helpful (1) to least helpful (10). Include the URL of each site and 2-3 sentences describing the site and presenting the pros and cons of it.
 * Page 2 - The one-page letter to the parents
 * In the comments section within BB, please comment on the responsibility and effort of each group members

Once the assignments have been submitted and graded, we will compile them and attach them to this page.