How to Model and Explain Digital Security to K-12 Students
In her book Reinventing Writing, Vicki Davis outlines the fundamentals of responsible digital citizenship through the “9 key Ps.” Putting these practices into daily use in your classroom is a great way to model digital citizenship for your students.
- Passwords
Students need to be shown how to create secure passwords and taught basic password etiquette. Educators need to adhere to password rules by not sharing their passwords or asking students to share online access.
- Privacy
Teachers should make sure their classes understand how to protect their personal information. To be safe online, we must know how we can keep our addresses, emails, and phone numbers from hurting us.
- Personal Information
Other personal information like your family makeup or favorite food should not be public domain. Model this behavior by keeping an appropriate distance from students. Remind them not to post anything publicly which they wouldn’t want to be shared with the entire world.
- Photographs
Your pupils need to know which photos are safe to post. Are they aware of the dangers of geotagging, facial recognition, and accidental background identifiers?
- Property
It’s important to teach your students the rules of copyrights and Creative Commons. They should know how to check if an image can be used freely and how to cite their sources properly.
- Permission
Along with copyright rules, students should learn how to request authorization to use others’ work. They also need to know how to cite items appropriately.
- Protection
Your students should understand the dangers of operating online. Make sure they are aware of the risk posed by viruses, scams, phishing, and malware. Children need to be cognizant of the danger of identity theft online.
- Professionalism
Educators should explain the difference between professional and personal communication online. While you should only use proper digital etiquette in the classroom setting, make sure students understand the distinction. Teaching your pupils proper ‘netiquette’ is fundamental to digital citizenship.
- Personal Brand
Explain and display how anything we share online travels across the globe and lives forever. Your students need to decide on what they want the world to see and understand that nothing online can ever be erased entirely. Do your students understand their digital footprints?
