Thing 8: Digital Citizenship

Wow!  Reviewing the 9 themes of digital citizenship was interesting.  I’m really involved in the world of technology (as my students and specialists will tell you) but I don’t think I’ve ever examined these 9 themes quite so closely.  Looking at the REP grouping (Respect, Educate & Protect) categories, I think I’m very strong in the respect and educate areas and a little not-so-strong in the protect category!  This is very disconcerting!  I think I may need to study up on this a bit…

Common Sense Media is a great source of lessons on cyberbullying and can also be a great resource for parents and teachers, too!  They have some professional development opportunities and ideas for parents to help their students get information in this area… (This wasn’t my weakness but is such a hot topic in my area that I want to share this info with everyone!) and it’s totally FREE!!!

Looking into the idea of protecting myself and others online was very interesting.  There are so many facets to digital protection!  The Federal Trade Commission has some great pointers for kids and adults alike regarding how to protect your personal information.  The most interesting part of all of it was the do not call list that is available for cell phones as well as regular house phones.  I just signed myself up and will be telling everyone else to do the same.

I did have a friend who had her identity stolen via the internet and she had a hard time putting things back together again after it happened.  The Federal Trade Commission site (mentioned above) also has some great information regarding exactly what to do if your identity has been stolen.  It also talks about different types of identity theft including child-identity, medical-identity, and tax related-identity theft!  I never knew there was so much crazy out there!  It makes me nervous to put any information online!  It even talks about how to clear your name in the event that criminal charges have been wrongfully added to your identity!

Okay, okay… so now I’ve bought my son a laptop for Christmas.  Am I nervous?  Of course! So, I’m looking into reviewing digital rights and responsibilities with him to ensure that he knows what he is doing online! (It’s a scary world out there!)

I’m going to provide him the following outline for a scavenger hunt that will lead him to an understanding and an application of his rights and responsibilities online…hopefully, he will be as freaked out as I am!

Digital R&R Scavenger Hunt (and I don’t mean rest and relaxation!)

1. Check out the 1^st Amendment to the U.S. Consititution: http://goo.gl/bHPo
2. Compare that to the Michigan Consistution (check out #7): http://goo.gl/lX1ktl
3. Answer these two questions regarding what you have read about your rights regarding free speech and information: Question 1 and Question 2
4. Define the following legal terms and e-mail them to your instructor: True Threats, Defamatory Statements, and Obscene Speech. (Please use a reliable source when searching for information – no wiki or ask.com)
5. Go to the Federal Trade Commission website and see what they say about P2P File Sharing!
6. Define Phishing and find out what the FTC says about Internet Fraud.
7. I like to download and play apps on my phone… what is so scary about that?  Find out HERE!
8. Take what you have learned and create ten-15 statements regarding your own rights and responsibilities regarding the use of the internet.  Be sure to format this into a contract ( and include all of the items we have discussed in this webquest.

While I’m not implementing this scavenger hunt into my classroom, I would recommend that teachers look into something similar so that students can gather the information they need to make educated decisions regarding their personal information on the internet.