Are You a Digital Citizen? An Analysis of How Digital Citizenship Education Can Improve Online Behavior in Schools

Overview

Objectives/Goals When you apply for a job, you probably had to turn a paper or email resume. But when I grow up and apply for a job, employers will probably google me or look me up on social media to see what I am doing. Social media has led to major problems such as cyberbullying. Technology is rapidly changing and is becoming more important in our lives. Adults did not grow in this kind of environment and so many struggle with how to teach effective use of technology. School is a place where we learn the skills we need to be successful both in our jobs and as physical and digital citizens. If schools don#t teach us to use it effectively, we can use it in a good or bad way. And if we use it in a bad way, then tomorrow when our employers google us, we might regret what we posted on social media. If schools teach students how to use technology properly, will it affect their habits online and make them good digital citizens? Methods/Materials I tested students from third to sixth grade. I made consent forms that were signed by the principle and computer teacher. Then, I had students fill out a Pre-Test and a Digital Citizenship Survey form that I created. I taught the presentation using a program called Nearpod to all the students and had them fill out an Activity form while I was presenting. After the presentation, I had the students fill out a Post-Test. After two months, I had the students fill out a Post-Post Test (pre-test,post-test,and post-post test have the same questions). Results The average score of the Pre-Test was 42.50%. The average score of the Post-Test was 84.50%. The average score of the Post-Post Test was 57.00%. Conclusions/Discussion Technology is on the rise and it is important for us to use it #safely, responsibly, and respectfully.# The students were taught in just twenty minutes and they learned so much. This shows that if we teach students for a longer period of time, imagine what they can learn if this would be part of our academic curriculum? However, schools are ignoring this problem. They are not teaching this and we are having a generation where students are not learning about how to use the Internet effectively. We don#t know how to use social media because we do not know how to communicate online. In conclusion, if schools teach students how to use technology properly, it will affect their habits online and make them good digital citizens.

Awards (1)

• Second Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2016 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0423

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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