http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-native-digitial-citizen-stereotype-mary-beth-hertz
The main focus of this article is that because today's students have grown up with technology and are exposed to it all of the time some teachers tend to make the assumption that every student inherently knows how to use a computer. The author, Mary Beth Hertz, makes the point that while most students today could pick up a computer and complete some basic functions on it, skills such as reading critically, using online content responsibly, and being respectful digital citizen need to be taught. Just giving a child a device does not make them a digital native.
She stresses that because our students are blogging, online gaming, creating YouTube channels, and sharing in a variety of ways online it is dangerous to assume that they have all the skills necessary to do so in a responsible, safe manner. They need to know both their rights and responsibilities. They gain these skills through discussion and practice.
This is important because it is an assumption that I think a fair number of teachers make. Our students do tend to be very knowledgeable and familiar with technology and I do often learn things from them, but we need to remember that there is more to using technology than just being able to run the machine or program that is being used. That is an aspect where as teachers we need to make sure we are emphasizing to our students what it means to be a good digital citizen.
I agree with this that as teachers sometimes the digital citizen aspect of technology use gets overlooked. I also think that our students tend to make the same assumption about themselves. They often think they already know all of these things related to technology and don't need to have those skills taught to them which can be equally dangerous.
I don't often get into other classrooms to truly be able to speak to this regarding the high school as a whole. I think most teachers require citing sources when students turn in work, but I don't know how effectively we model that in our own presentations. I have tried to do a better job of that in the last few years as I have started incorporating more technology but there are times when I don't properly cite pictures that I use in presentations.
It is dangerous for us to assume that our students already have all of this down just because of all of their exposure to technology.
I agree with your statement that it is dangerous to assume students know how to handle technology responsibly. In my school, we are challenged by having a wide range of computer technology skills since our lower grades do not have a 1:1 technology program. It often depends on what access the student had to technology at home. I also agree that we as teachers need to model good digital citizenship and educate students on citing information correctly along with knowing what copyrighted information or images are. I would feel responsible if my students would go into higher education lacking understanding about this and getting in trouble because of it.
ReplyDeleteDigital Citizenship is something that we are all responsible for teaching. You are both correct that while students may know how to use technology that doesn't mean they know how to use it responsibly.
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