Name: Shaun Matthew Niyo-Ramdas

Class: EDCI 516 Computers in Curriculum

Summary Week 4
In the article Digital Citizenship in Schools by Mike Ribble, the author explores nine elements which
according to him are essential in teaching students to use technology responsibly. He claims that through his
extensive research, he has come up with a lens to use to approach technology as educators. And that with this
approach, we as teachers can begin to teach our students to become more responsible users of the internet. His
nine main points that teachers should educate students are as follows:
1. Digital access: The author defines this as students being able to have access to computers. He goes on to
talk about how certain segments of society still lack access to a computer and working internet connection,
and as such educators must be especially mindful about these students when implementing the use of
technology in their teaching. He also makes mention about the special needs of students with disabilities
and that teachers must be mindful to adapt their technology accordingly to the entire spectrum of students in
their classroom
2. Digital commerce: The author defines this as using the internet to purchase items. He goes on to talk about
how it is the responsibility of educators to teach their students how to adopt safe purchasing habits when
buying items online, and to provide them with the necessary information and skills not to fall prey to the
plethora of scams that are out there on the web
3. Digital Communication: The author talks about the importance of teaching students how to use technology
to communicate both properly and responsibly. He briefly mentions the permanent nature of communicating
online, and that messages sent online have repercussions and often whatever has been posted cannot be
taken back. He feels that it is the responsibility of educators to help students understand the severity of such
posts and the long-term implications it can have on their future.
4. Digital Literacy: The author defines digital literacy along the lines of the ability to learn how to use new
technologies. Ribble goes on to say that every educator has the responsibility to allow students to learn how
to use technology, and to provide them ample opportunity to learn how to use any new technology.
5. Digital Etiquette: Ribbles spends a significant amount of time extrapolating on the importance of online
behavior and how students should remain civil and proper while online. He believes that educators should
teach kids about proper ways to conduct themselves online, that those educators should address the ills of
cyber-bullying and other misuses of technology by students.
6. Digital Law: Important especially in the realm in education and academia, the author touches on how
educators need to teach their students on the laws that govern the internet. Important foundation laws such
as how not to plagiarize are essential to students future interactions with the internet, especially in the form
of assignments that can now be easily found online and copied without much trouble. He reminds educators
to teach students to be accountable for their actions online, and that there are many consequences to
breaking online laws.
7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities: The author touches on the individual rights each user of the internet has
in protecting their own works and uploads. Similar to digital law in that is mostly teaching students the
Dos and Donts of the internets, digital rights and responsibilities tends to lean towards teaching students

how to use the internet to supplement their learning and act as a learning tool for their homework as long as
they properly cite their sources.
8. Digital Health and Wellness: Ribbles touches briefly on the real world physical problems with using
technology, such as muscle pains and straining ones eyes to see the computer screen. He encourages
educators to consider these health aspects when asking students to spend time on computers and tablets, to
promote a more healthy and holistic approach to using technology in education.
9. Digital Security: The author talks about how educators should teach our students how to protect their
information online, and how to protect their technology from malicious attacks that are becoming more and
more pervasive in our society today.
According to the author, by teaching students all these nine elements of technology, students will
become good citizens of the digital world, which will allow them to benefit greatly from technology as both an
educational tool and a daily assistive and enhancing tool.
Personally for me I was most interested to the aspect of educators being responsible in teaching our
students how to use technology to communicate responsibly. Most of our students are light-years ahead of us in
using their phones and computers to communicate with each other, but unlike physical conversations, where its
hard to keep evidence of them, digital communications leave a trace. When a student sends a mean text message
to another student online, it can be retrieved and can affect the offending student adversely. It is our job as
educators to ensure that our students understand that there are repercussions to digital communications, and that
mistakes made online can haunt you for the rest of your life. By teaching them to be mindful of what they type
and send, you are saving them a lot of trouble in the future, Digital rights and responsibilities are also very
important because students in this day and age often turn to the internet to help with their homework, and
without learning about how to provide proper citations, they not only risk breaking digital laws, they also in a
sense steal someone elses work, and stealing is always wrong in any context.
Moving forward, I would probably consider these nine elements should I decide to use technology in my
class. Teachers are often excited about implementing a new technology in the class because of all the possible
benefits it might bring to their teaching, but they often spend little or no time considering the consequences of
not teaching their students to be responsible users of such technology. Often they dont even consider that
students may misuse technology at all because they simply have never been taught of the possibilities. As a
teacher moving forward, I would spend more time considering all the possible implications of using technology
in the classroom, and not just the positive benefits but the negative ones as well.

References:
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know, International Society
for Technology in Education, 3