Digital Citizenship

Each one of you was born into a world where devices and internet access are an integrated part of your everyday lives. To help you understand what that means, consider that when I was a freshman in high school, the internet was brand new to our school. We had to go to a computer lab, and it took several minutes to connect to the internet. Access was limited, and so was the information we could retrieve. The only other place for me to access the internet was at the public library. 

Just four years later, in 1999, when I was a freshman in college, my family got internet access in our house. From that year on, the world exploded with computers and devices that could access the internet. 

By 2012, most of the developed world could access the internet from just about anywhere. According to a Pew Research Study, by 2012, 78% of folks aged 12-17 owned a cell phone. About 58% of those owned a smartphone, a 36% increase from the previous year. 2012 was a pivotal year when basic cell phone ownership became nearly universal, and smartphones were flooding the market. As a teacher, I also remember this was the year that administrators and teachers went bonkers trying to ban mobile devices from schools (sound familiar?!). In short, some of you were lil' pipsqueaks when this shift occurred, but most of you reading this were born into the age of devices. 

Why does this history matter? Whether you were born into this era or you migrated in like me, we have moved from a world of limited information to one of information overload. Whether you plan to go to college or settle down and work in your hometown, a key skill for every modern human is learning how to access, analyze, and decipher what information to trust. These skills are commonly referred to as Digital Citizenship. 

The overall objective of these Digital Citizenship pages is to demonstrate responsible digital citizenship by evaluating sources, using AI tools ethically, and properly attributing information.