Teaching digital citizenship in K-12 classrooms is no longer a choice, it’s a necessity. The best way to ensure that children understand digital citizenship is to build it into their daily lessons. By practicing it every day, it becomes second nature, regardless of what age the students are. Nor does it take much extra time or effort since you are already likely working with technology every day.

When your students make presentations, you can highlight copyright and intellectual rights. For younger students, you can highlight issues like plagiarism and citing their research. As the kid’s age, you can begin to ask them how they would like to have their work discussed and used by others. Have them think about how they would feel if someone else were to profit from their hard work, especially if it was done without their consent.

To teach about the importance of being careful online, you can have your student create online accounts for people you are studying in history or in literature. The pages they create will teach them to think about the people and characters from a new perspective, as well as showing them how to be respectful of others when chatting on those pages.

One great way to utilize the internet is to have your students investigate the sources of articles or headlines found online. Teaching them how to use the internet to know whether certain information is fake or real is a great exercise. Encouraging students to locate the answer online, if they are unsure, is another basic way to improve digital literacy.

When communicating with students online address them appropriately. Additionally, expect your students to behave the same as they would in class. Correct spelling, formal greetings and closings, and polite language are all ways to be respectful online. Reward good digital etiquette much like you would good behavior in class.

Apps provide an excellent way of teaching students at any age range, although it can be difficult to find apps that will work in a school setting. A wealth of devices are also available, although they can be cost prohibitive. Things like Google Cardboard works to keep the cost to a minimum.

Ultimately, collaboration is the best way to find the best resources and ideas for your digital citizenship lessons. The more people in education that you chat with, the more ideas you will find to enhance your students’ understanding of digital citizenship.

Using technology in the classroom should be treated as a privilege. Learning with online resources and games is much more enjoyable than reading a book or listening to a lecture. Students who display inappropriate digital citizenship or misbehave in class should be suspended from participating in tech activities.

How do you include digital citizenship into your curriculum?