Keoni Howell

CUIN 3313

August 1, 2019

Digital Citizenship “Top Ten”

Digital citizenship, many people don’t think about the little things that one should be

doing while using technology, including myself. When it comes to digital citizenship, one must

consider the rights and wrongs of technology use. This can range from being on the internet, or

something as simple as how you organize your setup. I will be covering my top 10 list for safe

and healthy use of technology within education.

First and foremost, you must make sure it is a safe environment for the students to be

around. This includes cording and wiring. Everyone knows that these two things can be

dangerous, such as exposed wiring, tripping over cording, too much cording in the way. It is best

to organize these as much as possible with wire covers and electrical tape. Even if students don’t

understand the danger, one can explain to them that they can accidently unplug something with

one wrong turn, losing any progress on their current game/assignment.

Next up is monitoring learners on computers within the classroom. Students just naturally

get distracted, especially when it’s something they aren’t as interested in. Teachers don’t want to

have to walk around the classroom and always have their back turned, luckily there are ways

teachers can go about it in better ways. One way is, “with Apple Remote Desktop, or ARD, the

Grand Island district’s classroom-management software, Hendrickson can watch students work

on lessons from her own machine, guide them through tough problems, distribute documents or
software to multiple students’ hard drives, and show slides for lectures directly on their monitors

(Quillen, 2010).” This is probably the best and most effective way to monitor students.

The ergonomics of being on the computer is just important as anything else. If you are on

the computer a lot, and your ergonomics aren’t correct, that alone can change your life

negatively. USA Today had a healthy solution that everyone should be comfortable with, “Take

frequent breaks. Get up to get a drink of water, stretch and do some minor neck, back and arm

exercises. You can also gently rub your muscles when you need a little break (Saltzman, 2019).”

Teachers can have the students do jumping jacks every 15 minutes to keep the blood flowing and

the energy going. On top of that good posture is always important, even the way you have your

keyboard and mouse setup can make a huge difference.

Everyone gets hungry, and why not eat while you’re on the computer, the desk is the

same as a table right? Well as a teacher I would not promote eating or drinking at the table, when

it comes to being responsible for that many kids and equipment, the two just don’t mix well. In

the end, just don’t allow it.

Let’s talk about BYOD policies, short for bring your own device. Of course, people may

want to bring their own things because they are more comfortable with it and have passwords

saved. I suggest against it though, and here is why. Many things that you as instructor may want

to do, it is easier to keep everyone aligned, not have to worry about damage of property, can

have your computers setup for monitoring already, and have preinstalled applications for

instructional use. Another reason is security. According to Tech Radar, “If not fully understood

and regulated, it can threaten IT security and put a company's sensitive business systems at risk

(Evans, 2015). Now if resources aren’t as available as one would like, then BYOD would be a

viable option, just be careful.

 Ethics, to each is own. When trying to achieve digital citizenship ethics, one must

consider things such as copyright laws, plagiarism, teaching students right from wrong and be

responsible. Copyright is probably the biggest thing to overcome because it is pretty complex.

The simplest way of abiding by them is to always cite/credit where you got something from.

Even if something sparked an idea, and you sort of have the same thought but not really so you

explained it in your own way, regardless, cite it. According to the New York Times, “more than

40 percent of college students admitting to copying from the Internet in 2001 (McGrath, 2007)”.

In school it doesn’t seem as bad to most, but once you get out of the realm of school, it turns into

something a lot more serious. I think that is something instructors must get through people’s

heads.

Seventh on our list is maintenance. It is extremely important to keep your technology up

to date and secure. Whenever people get an Apple update notification, they get excited, then it

immediately goes away when it is just bug fixes and such. Well those bug fixes and such are

some of the most important updates because they keep your phone secure and they refresh

everything for you with maybe a battery update or smoother animations. Maintain your

technology just as much as you maintain yourself.

Next on our list is dust. Dust is an underrated problem. People don’t know that if too

much dust gets in your computer, it can cause your computer to overheat and therefore

malfunction. The best way to help with this issue is buy pressurized air and spray your computer

occasionally. Trust me, it is worth the extra time, on top of that, spray your keyboard as well to

make sure it stays smooth and fast.

Second to last, we will go over troubleshooting. Troubleshooting is when you try and

figure out a problem when something is wrong with your device. Troubleshooting can range
from a multitude of things, some you can fix yourself, some you cannot. My best advice is if you

don’t know what you are doing, ask someone else.

Lastly, I would like to go over digital etiquette. When considering digital etiquette, it

consists of how you treat others when online. Not only should you respect others, but things you

do can affect you in other ways too. “According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70 percent of

employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and about 43 percent

of employers use social media to check on current employees (Driver, 2018). That survey alone

should tell students everything they need to know.

That is my top 10 list for things that I feel should be instructed when teaching Digital

Citizenship. With this list, every student should be able to go through the digital age with some

knowledge and wisdom to make the best decisions moving forward.`

Works Cited
Driver, S. (2018, October 7). Business News Daily. Retrieved from Keep It Clean: Social Media Screenings
Gain in Popularity: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2377-social-media-hiring.html

Evans, D. (2015, October 7). What is BYOD and why is it so important? Retrieved from Tech Radar:
https://www.techradar.com/news/computing/what-is-byod-and-why-is-it-important-1175088

Holmes, C. (2017, October 12). 3 Big Reasons You Need to Teach Digital Citizenship in CTE. Retrieved
from Applied Educational Systems: https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/teaching-digital-
citizenship-in-cte

McGrath, C. (2007, January 7). NY Times. Retrieved from Plagiarism: Everybody Into the Pool:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/education/edlife/07books.html?searchResultPosition=1
2

Quillen, I. (2010, June 14). Class Management Systems Monitor Students' Monitors. Retrieved from
edweek.org: https://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/06/16/03monitors.h03.html

Saltzman, M. (2019, February 4). Is your computer hurting you? Check out these ‘ergonomic’ tips.
Retrieved from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2019/02/04/stop-
your-computer-hurting-you-ergonomic-tips/2731545002/