Moving Forward

     Before taking this class, I will admit that I did not completely understand how important it was to educate my students on internet safety, digital citizenship, terms of service, and all of the other essential lessons that we have learned over the last 8 weeks. My first seven years of teaching took place in classrooms that were very far from being 1:1. While teaching in Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand we didn't have many resources---period. The schools that I taught at did not educate the teachers on the importance of internet safety and as such, I simply did not think about it. I did always challenge my students to take a break from using social media, but that was about it. We had no responsible use agreements and never had to discuss these topics in our classrooms. In 2019, when I moved home and started teaching in a 1:1 district, I was completely blindsided by how technology pervaded each moment of my students' days. I was quickly thrown into a 4th grade classroom after accepting a job late in the year. This meant that I had no "new teacher orientation week." Each day, I was introduced to a new app that my students needed to be successful in the classroom. I started the year after my students had been lectured on safe technology use. I was completely in the technological dark. My district seemed to focus more on keeping the iPads safe from yogurt spills than on keeping students safe from the information super highway that is the internet. I was so busy learning about the apps and policies myself, that I never had time to focus on the importance of teaching digital citizenship. 

   Despite being extremely discouraged by my last two years in a horrible district, I do think that I will end up in a classroom again one day.  After taking this course, I can honestly say that I am determined to weave digital literacy lessons into my classroom as much as possible. I will start the year by giving my students the tools that they need to be responsible digital citizens. This article and so many like it that we have read throughout this course, have shown me the importance of teaching the 9 elements of digital citizenship. 

Image Source: Schoology

    It is truly crazy to me how often my students were exposed to social media and technology tools each day without having a digital literacy curriculum in place. There were so many issues that arose in my classroom due to my students using the internet irresponsibly. This was especially apparent when my students were learning from home. 

Moving forward, I will take these action steps to ensure that my students are using the internet responsibly: 

       I will also make sure that my students are aware of how important it is to read the Terms of Service agreements of the apps that they are using. During this course, I was sad to learn that some apps that I have used in the classroom are currently unable to be used due to the new SOPPA law. Some teachers are having issues using Kahoot, which was adored by my students. It is important to keep these things in mind as I progress in my career.  I am truly thankful for all of the information that I learned during this class as it will make me a better educator moving forward. I believe that I have become a better digital citizen and as such, can educate my future students to do the same. Thank you!