ISTE Standard: Citizen

It is incredibly important to teach students how to use technology safely and ethically. For many reasons beyond just being nice to others.

The more that we are online the more we are opening the door to "bad actors" that can harm us in multiple ways. Young people are incredibly vunerable to personal safety attacks by people posing to be who they are not to gain trust. They are also vunerable to ideas and actions that are illegal or questionable. 

Teaching students to be aware of these things and to keep their Internet social circle limited to those they know in real life is only part of the job we have. We also much teach them that while they have the ability to voice their opinions that it is important to be sure they are not using technology to hurt others or themselves. 

I have also seen students handing each other access to gaming accounts, this is a huge safety breech and they need to be reminded to keep all passwords safe. 

Last but definately not least, they should be taught to use valid sources as they tour the world through the Internet. 

In my classroom we go over proper use of technology, how to handle misleading information and how to treat others in an online environment. I had a cybersecurity expert come in an talk with them about online security to teach them about passwords and online security.

The students were fully engaged and responded positively. I saw an uptick in password changes almost immediately. 

My first artifact is a short interactive course for students to show their knowledge as super digital citizens.

This second artifact is an infographic sharing some important proper use and safety points. This give students and teachers a quick guide to basic safety.