Critical Education to Leave a Positive Impact

Throughout this course I have learned that there is a lot more to digital citizenship than I ever realized. To be honest, at the start of this course, I didn’t really know much about what digital citizenship was. Anytime I ever heard the term I always related it to interactions conducted through social media. After countless hours of reading, watching, and researching, I have a much better understanding of what digital citizenship is and what I can do as an educator to help my students become better digital citizens in the online world.

The biggest lesson learned from this course has been how much we need to continue educating ourselves and our students about what it means to be a positive, contributing digital citizen in our society. Having a five year old daughter that has just started public school this year has made this subject matter affect me more personally than expected. Specifically as an educator, I have learned about how important it is to instill a sense of responsibility into our younger online generations and to teach them the importance of thinking critically about how they want to represent themselves online. I have learned that everyone needs to realize that the digital footprint that they leave is extremely important and that as educators, we must make sure that our students realize how their digital footprint will affect their future education and career opportunities. I have also learned that we all must be aware that we cannot just “copy” and “paste” whatever we want without asking or giving credit to the creators of the content that we may be referencing or using.

The most meaningful lesson that I learned is that I have a responsibility not only as an educator, but as a parent, to better prepare my students and my own young children, how to protect themselves against the negativity that breeds in the online world and what to do if they encounter bullying issues. The internet has connected us in ways that are unimaginable and can be used to bring us together, however, it has many negative components that we need to be sure to protect ourselves and our children from. We need to be sure that they understand how to deal with cyber bullies, thieves, and the other terrible people that are trolling the net waiting for their chance to take advantage of those that will let them.

I hope that I will be able to help lead and teach others how we can help continue our own journey towards being better digital citizens. I have learned from this course that it is imperative that I do my best to help other educators realize this importance so that they are able to help their students grow to become positive digital citizens so they are able to leave a positive impact on our world. We need to teach them how to use this powerful tool to connect with others, to expand upon their knowledge, and to share what they have learned from their experiences with others.

My favorite part of this course has been the weekly reflection process. We don’t often get chances to reflect upon what we are learning or how we will use what we have learned and I can say that I have enjoyed taking the time to really think about the topics for this week and write down what they have personally meant to me personally and as an educator. I have been able to explore the importance of the subject matter in relation to my own circumstances and figure out ways that I can use all of this information to help myself and the others around me in an effective and positive way.