Digital citizenship

Children and young people are consuming, creating, and sharing content in a global platform. Personal data is generated, tracked, collected, shared, and used online including social media. 

An important aspect of a digital New Zealander is the ethical and informed protection of our digital identity and digital data by individuals and corporate entities. 

Andrew Weaver from Digital Identity.NZ talks about the need for a paradigm shift that draws on ancient wisdom from tangata whenua that sees our identity as a taonga.

Considerations 

Data exploitation

Data can be seen as a commodity where businesses may exploit or monetise the data available to them. This can in turn influence the way we see the world online.

Socio-cultural identity

As a result of globalisation some cultural perspectives are less dominant than others. This can lead to the socialisation of new norms.

Data in education

Data can show trends, be shared and used to inform practice. Schools need to be aware of permissions, rights and responsibilities of sharing students’ data as well as protection of data stored online and in publishing spaces like blogs, websites or on social media.

Copyright and ownership is about the legal expectations and requirements when using and sharing digital content online. It is a crime to damage or steal digital work.

Considerations 

Legal implications

There are copyright laws in both New Zealand and globally and there are implications and consequences of use/misuse, sharing and appropriation of digital content online.

R4vi from London, UK , CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Live events are connecting people across different times and geographic locations via online gaming, live video and streaming platforms.

Considerations 

Access
Live streaming services allow people (16yrs +) to broadcast their lives and experiences, in real time online. While video conferencing is an invaluable tool for remote learning, there are potential risks when live streaming becomes uncensored or unpredictable. Examples include broadcasting personal details to strangers as well as being exposed to inappropriate, harmful or unlawful content, including live streaming of traumatic events.

Online safety is about knowing how to use online spaces in a safe, secure, age-appropriate way, as well as being able to detect and prevent cyber security issues.

Considerations

Phishing

Phishing attack seeking address information

Scammers will steal digital information, data and identity by using numerous methods to obtain your personal information and financial details via phone, email, credit card fraud, online transactions, fake websites, online gaming and social media.

Harmful content

Harmful content such as pornography can have lasting social and psychological implications for young people such as; normalising sexual violence, creating unrealistic expectations as well as increasing the risk of addiction.

Sensitive content

Sharing or viewing indecent images of children is an offence. If young people post sensitive images of themselves (or others) they can potentially fall victim to peer pressure or sexual pressure where images are shared without permission or images are used to extort money.

Online etiquette and communication requires individuals to conduct themselves in a way that does not negatively impact on themselves or others.

Considerations

Freedom of speech

Everyone has the right to free expression as well as privacy however online interaction has largely been governed by self-regulatory control. The Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 provides legislation to 

1. deter, prevent, and mitigate harm caused to individuals by digital communications; and
2. provide victims of harmful digital communications with a quick and efficient means of redress

What to do if students are exposed to upsetting content

Netsafe has developed advice to guide you through this situation.

• Responding to digital incidents guide
• Incident support  

Fake news

Fake news is false information created to mislead people into believing lies or doubting the truth.

• Disinformation – false information created with the intention of harming a person, group, organisation or even a country.
• Misinformation – false information that people didn’t create with the intention to hurt others. For example, some health conspiracy theories circulate with good intentions for the wellbeing of others.

Trolling and cyber-bullying

As our digital sphere expands and technologies become more accessible, cyberbullying (bullying using digital technologies) has also become more common. Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies (mobile phones, online games, social media and messaging platforms) where provocative, false, threatening, hurtful or harmful messages and/or content is deliberately used to scare or intimate others and is a criminal offence.

As well as the many benefits of e-learning, there are also health-related consequences for the increased use of digital technologies, some of which can negatively affect users physically, mentally and emotionally.

Considerations

Psychology of use

Content creators and software developers use psychology of human behaviour to design algorithms that track, respond to and create personalised experiences using features such as; click bait, rewards, infinite scroll, instant play videos, and advertising, that in turn control the ways we make choices to navigate online pathways.

Mental wellbeing
Increased use of digital technologies and screen time can lead to; overuse, blue light effects on sleep, (melatonin) addiction (dopamine), a sense of ‘missing out’ socially, poor self image, body ideals and need for external validation, poor posture and effects of lack of physical activity.

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  What is digital citizenship? Does the whole staff have a shared understanding of what it is, and what it means for teaching and learning?
• How are the key competencies reflected in the school’s vision for e-learning?
• What might it look like if staff and students are demonstrating digital citizenship behaviours?
• How will the school work with the wider community to explore and discuss the appropriate use of technologies, digital citizenship, and cybersafety?
• What are some of the key issues or trends that concern your learning community?
• Are these reflected in your current strategy?

• How do you and your students model safe and responsible attitudes, dispositions, behaviours, and practices when working online? What might this look like?
• How can you involve your wider community in discussions regarding cybersafety and responsible online behaviour?

• Gather data to find out how confident teachers and students feel when fostering and managing digital citizenship and cybersafety.
• Find out what your wider learning community understands and is concerned about in regards to digital citizenship and cybersafety.
• Develop school-wide policies, curriculum design, and classroom practices that deliberately integrate digital citizenship (cybersafety, digital literacy, and key competencies). Ask all stakeholders to be involved in developing these policies.
• Provide professional learning opportunities to enhance teacher understanding of digital citizenship and cybersafety.
• Talk about how staff and students can model desirable, safe, responsible behaviours and practices as successful digital citizens.
• Extend messages of cybersafety and digital citizenship to the wider community to encourage greater understanding of their roles in mentoring and managing cybersafety and digital citizenship at home.
• Look at how you might use Netsafe’s guidance on developing the whole school approach to digital citizenship.

Download

For more information on ways to engage and involve your community in your digital citizenship strategy, see our section on Digital citizenship and online safety in the community

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  Find out what your students know about responsible online behaviour.
• Provide clear guidelines to support appropriate activity in online spaces.
• Provide regular learning opportunities for students to work and collaborate online.  
• Actively participate with students online and model appropriate behaviour.
• Ensure responsible in-school practice aligns with planning documents and school-wide policy, for example having an "Acceptable uses" policy.
• Involve the wider community so they become more informed about cybersafety and responsible online behaviour.

Kete by Netsafe

Kete is a resource hub with a range of policy guides, school tools, classroom resources and other materials to support teachers and school leadership.

Netsafe's Research

Netsafe's research team regularly publishes their findings to better understand how NZ young people are using the internet and digital technology and how we can reduce online harm.

Free, self-paced learning modules for personal or staff professional development. The modules are designed to be flexible, so you can select the content that is relevant to you and your school from each of them. Each module should take approximately four weeks to complete.

Digital citizenship modules

The modules cover:

• Understanding digital citizenship
• Exploring cybersafety
• Understanding copyright and applying Creative Commons
• Digital citizenship at home