ISTE standard for Coaches 4.7, The Digital Citizen Advocate, states: “Coaches model digital citizenship and support educators and students in recognizing the responsibilities and opportunities inherent in living in a digital world.”
Performance indicators:
4.7.a. Inspire and encourage educators and students to use technology for civic engagement and to address challenges to improve their communities.
4.7.b. Partner with educators, leaders, students and families to foster a culture of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of technology.
4.7.c. Support educators and students to critically examine the sources of online media and identify underlying assumptions.
4.7.d. Empower educators, leaders and students to make informed decisions to protect their personal data and curate the digital profile they intend to reflect.
Supporting evidence for ISTE standard 4.7:
4.7.a. Inspire and encourage educators and students to use technology for civic engagement and to address challenges to improve their communities.
When I started the Digital Education Leadership program in 2020, I crafted a Mission Statement, which explains that “As a digital citizenship advocate, it is my mission to help school leaders, educators, students, and their families recognize the opportunities and responsibilities intrinsic to digital technologies in education. For this, I need to recognize my own responsibilities, embrace ethical values, and strive to exercise and model excellent digital citizenship. The core ethical principles that will guide my journey are integrity, respect, and equity.” By following my mission statement, I have become more aware, and introspective of my own practices as a student, educator, and edtech coach. I am committed to not only practicing good digital citizenship but also supporting and empowering others to do the same.
To demonstrate my understanding and aptitude in ISTE Standard for Coaches 4.7, I present a series of blog posts where I address various elements that advocate for the professional, ethical, and civic responsibilities and opportunities that are inherent to teaching in a digital era. It is my intention that these posts inform, inspire and encourage educators, school leaders and students to use technology by following safe, legal and ethical practices to promote respectful interactions and positive civic engagement (ISTE Standard 4.7.a).
ISTE standards for coaches, educators, and students are interrelated, as are their particular performance indicators. As it is shown in the image that follows, Citizenship is addressed in all Standards, and it is approached from a different angle.
In my blog post Redefining Civic Engagement in the Digital Era, I explain the importance of service. In this post, I also present different places where schools, educators and students can find opportunities for civic engagement. There are institutes, organizations, businesses that provide support and free resources for learning opportunities. A great number of these can be found online. The Internet bypasses the geographical limitations, and through search engines, and online links, it facilitates the collaboration and engagement locally and globally.
4.7.b. Partner with educators, leaders, students and families to foster a culture of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of technology.
Scholastic Journalism, and Online Discussion Forums offer opportunities for educators, leaders and students to learn, teach, and model ISTE Standards and 21st Century Skills.
Scholastic Journalism is addressed in my blog post, Teaching ISTE standards and 21st century skills through scholastic journalism, where I explain “The process of planning, creating, supporting, publishing, and reading a school-wide newspaper has the potential of empowering learners and supporting them to become better digital citizens, knowledge constructors, innovative designers, creative communicators, and global collaborators.” After researching the topic necessary for writing this post, I felt both inspired and humbled. The path is clear but not easy. I am humbled by the dedication, passion, and hard work of those who are already making a difference, and I am inspired to do the same.
Online Discussion Forums can transform student collaboration and teach global awareness. In my blog post How can online discussion forums inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world? I describe my experience as a VEX Robotics coach where I observed students engage in robotics related discussions with students, mentors and experts from all over the world. This forum was moderated, administrators and participating students ensure the interactions are supportive and positive.
In my blog post Respect in the Digital Age, I present options on how educators, leaders, students and families can foster and maintain a culture of respectful interactions. “Therefore, we need to be open to learning about other cultural perspectives, the existence of cultural differences, and know that there are those who lack access to technology. We also need to be proactive in helping others gain cultural understanding, and do so kindly, patiently, and with grace.” (ISTE Standard 4.7.b).
While scholastic journalism, online discussions offer great opportunities, we need to be aware of those who may not have digital access so readily. As a digital leader, I also advocate for those who may need support in gaining access to digital information and tools. As we look for opportunities to engage families and support educators, we also need to be cognizant of the time it takes. In my post It just takes time… extra time! I examine ways that schools and educators can do to ensure access and promote a healthy balance in the use of technology.
4.7.c. Support educators and students to critically examine the sources of online media and identify underlying assumptions.
In my blog post Guiding students through the journey of digital curation I present research-based strategies aimed for teaching digital curation. In this post I propose the use of learning rubrics as a tool for teaching searching skills, curation strategies, and to foster self-reflection on one’s own digital citizenship skills. “Teaching digital curation is a journey. It is important to remember that teachers serve as guides that help students continue their journey from where they are.” To support educators and students to critically examine digital sources, I propose to teach searching skills first, and help students reflect on the connections between strategic searches and the quality of the resources they find. This post also presents an overview of the five Cs of Digital Curation from Deschaine, and Sharma (2015), and a Guide to Digital Curation. (ISTE Standard 4.7.c). The following searching behavior list from Morrison, R. Surfing Blind: a study into the effects of exposing young adolescents to explicit search engine skills serves as a good place to start.
4.7.d. Empower educators, leaders and students to make informed decisions to protect their personal data and curate the digital profile they intend to reflect.
In the blog post Building relationships, a reason to act with integrity, I present research-based recommendations for educators and students on how to protect their personal data and how to create their digital profile with the information they want to intentionally share (ISTE Standard 4.7.d). It is important to help educators, and especially students to make informed decisions on what they post and share online. In this blog, I elaborate on the possible repercussions of thoughtless posts and cyberbullying. However, there are also benefits to creating a digital profile; one that includes information that has been intentionally selected.
The information and resources packet that my students receive at the beginning of school includes information on Online Safety. I use the Tips for Student Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety from KathleenMorris.com. The resource also includes information on Netiquette where digital citizenship strategies are taught explicitly.
