Cindy Kukla's List: Digital Literacy

• Our students are  citizens of the 21^st century. They read, communicate, collaborate,  socialize, work, explore, and learn with personal technologies. They are the  Millennials, who share ideas and dreams on social networking sites, follow  streams of information from web page to web page, and use technology, reading,  writing, and critical thinking skills in almost every aspect of their  lives.  Schools can begin to capitalize on the talents and  interests of this collaborative, resourceful, and innovative generation of  thinkers by bringing them the tools that they are already familiar with and use  them for their academic achievement.

• Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, and create information using digital technology.
• Digital literacy is an important topic because technology is changing faster than society is.
• The rules of appropriate behavior in these digital contexts may be unknown or unknowable. Well-established concepts such as copyright, academic integrity, and privacy are now difficult to define, as their meanings are in flux.
• Look here to learn about Cornell’s recommendations for finding, evaluating, and citing information sources online; to learn about copyright law; to read and hear Cornell faculty viewpoints on plagiarism; and to get our best advice regarding privacy practices on the Internet.

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• Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use. 
• electronic standards of conduct or procedure
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   1. Digital Etiquette:
• We recognize inappropriate behavior when we see it, but before people use technology they do not learn digital etiquette (i.e., appropriate conduct)
• Often rules and regulations are created or the technology is simply banned to stop inappropriate use. It is not enough to create rules and policy, we must teach everyone to become responsible digital citizens in this new society.
• 2.   Digital Communication:   electronic exchange of information.
• The expanding digital communication options have changed everything because people are able to keep in constant communication with anyone else.
• Unfortunately, many users have not been taught how to make appropriate decisions
• 3.   Digital Literacy:   process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.
• New technologies are finding their way into the work place that are not being used in schools (e.g., videoconferencing, online sharing spaces such as wikis).
• Learners must be taught how to learn in a digital society. In other words, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.
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   4.   Digital Access:   full electronic participation in society.
• Digital exclusion of any kind does not enhance the growth of users in an electronic society. All people should have fair access to technology no matter who they are.
• 5.   Digital Commerce:   electronic buying and selling of goods.
• rs need to learn about how to be effective consumers in a new digital economy. 
  
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   6.   Digital Law:   electronic responsibility for actions and deed
• 7.   Digital Rights & Responsibilities:   those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world.
• Users must help define how the technology is to be used in an appropriate manner. 
• 8.   Digital Health & Wellness:   physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world.
• ye safety, repetitive stress syndrome, and sound ergonomic practices are issues that need to be addressed in a new technological world
• Internet addiction.
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   9.   Digital Security (self-protection):   electronic precautions to guarantee safety.
• We need to have virus protection, backups of data, and surge control of our equipment. As responsible citizens, we must protect our information from outside forces that might cause disruption or harm.

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• Social-networking tools aren't just for flirting on MySpace. The evolving world of Internet communication -- blogs, podcasts, tags, file swapping -- offers students radically new ways to research, create, and learn.

• Why should schools encourage all this sharing and meeting?

    

  Schools should reflect the world we live in today. And we live in a social world. We need to teach students how to be effective collaborators in that world, how to interact with people around them, how to be engaged, informed twenty-first-century citizens. We need to teach kids the powerful ways networking can change the way they look at education, not just their social lives. We don't talk enough about the incredible power of social-networking technology to be used for academic benefit. Let's change the terms. Let's not call it social networking. Let's call it academic networking.

• Act like you would in real life: Just because you’re hiding behind a computer

  

  as you type doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to connect what you say online with who you are as a real person.
• Follow the golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated, and you’ll develop a reputation for being a worthy friend and follow who other users will want to pass along to their network.
• Social media is about the personal effort behind the connection.
• Always share your best work: You never know who’s watching you on Twitter, so always promote your absolute best work, not your mediocre stuff
• Don’t make stupid mistakes: You’re not receiving an official grade from your tweets and updates, but you are being judged on your grammar mistakes.
• • Edit your work: Take a few seconds to review your messages so that you can correct any mistakes.
   
  • Avoid exclamation points: They’re warranted sometimes, but punctuation marks are annoying to read and make your writing look juvenile.
   
  • Always be honest and transparent: With so many distractions going on online, keep your messages short, clear and truthful.

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• The Virtual Classroom

   

   The class is designed to teach Web 2.0 skills, digital citizenship, personal network building, and social media responsibility and practice. The students in all three of these classes have never met in person; however, they have all connected via Skype and their class blogs. They have also had many professionals come and speak to them via Skype. This type of learning is limitless and allows students to broaden their scope of the world. "Since I have started using Skype and blogging," notes Jesse Hasenwinkel, junior at Van Meter High School, "I have been able to virtually meet the people that can help me get the answers I need for what I am searching for in school and one day, in my career." 
• hey are expanding their learning opportunities and through the efforts of the teachers and principals, engaging with vast community of learners.
• These students are speaking, writing, and collaborating with people they have never met.
• will help me use technology in a responsible way that can promote my creative ideas."
• I would create my personal learning network or PLN on ideas for college, tips and such, on swimming and diving, and other miscellaneous subjects that interest me." This type of learning is allowing students to create learning communities in which they have the ability to share common interests. Students must learn not only to be an effective communicator, but an efficient, responsible one
• They are providing them with the essential skills of what it means to be a digital citizen. They are teaching responsible use of social media and removing the taboo from Facebook and Twitter. These tools can open many doors and provide opportunities for students if used in a responsible manner.

• The fact that some schools simply block these tools and never teach responsible use is like placing locks on a fence surrounding a pool but neglecting to teach kids how to swim. 

   
• They realize that what they put on the Web will be effectively permanent and that responsible digital citizenship is necessary in all facets of social media.

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