Leaders use technology to increase equity, inclusion, and digital citizenship practices.
In the 21st Century, it has been increased the importance of implementing technology in education to meet student’s needs in their social and community life. For many decades, the use of technology has been used globally. It claims to the crucial necessity to redesign the teaching and learning process and bring to the classroom digital citizenship. According to The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), technology allows creating thoughtful and empathetic digital citizens who can deal ethically at the intersection between technology and humanity. Digital citizenship should include technology to improve their community, engage respectfully online, use technology to be active in communicating with public leaders and shape public policy, and determine the validity of online sources of information. It is more than bring students their responsibilities. It creates opportunities to be active citizens who build possibilities, opportunities, and an effective digital footprint.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, when the education had to move to remote and hybrid learning, it urges the better implementation of Digital citizenship in the lesson plans. Teachers should not just focus on safety, security, and legality but also ensure students feel empowered to use digital tools and platforms to do good and responsibly in the world. Toward this necessity, the DigCitCommit movement was created to focus on the opportunities of the digital world rather than the dangers of this. Its focus is in the areas of inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced and alert. The thoughtful site is the balanced focus, reinforcing the need to prioritize time and activities online and promote mental and physical health. It fits with the reality lived during the pandemic, which brought this concern. The inclusive means open to multiple viewpoints and being respectful in digital interactions; informed: evaluating the accuracy, perspective and validity of digital media and social posts; engaged: using technology for civic engagement, problem-solving and being a force for good; alert: being aware of online actions and their consequences and knowing how to be safe and ensuring others are safe online.
Education leaders must make sure all students have skilled teachers who actively use technology to meet those student learning needs. According to Armfield & Blocher (2019), many teachers have been found struggling with the notion of digital citizenship (Shadow & Blocher 2019). Most teachers were aware of the impact of bullying via social media and other digital media and plagiarism. Therefore, most teachers had difficulty comprehending the depths of copyright, equitable access, global awareness, and cultural understanding (Armfield & Blocher 2019).
Finally, equity is another crucial aspect to be worked on in the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how still are substantial inequities in education. It is not just about lack of devices, but also multiple aspects such as the need for professional learning and providing support for teachers, students and families (Fingal 2021).
References
Armfield, S. W., & Blocher, J. M. (2019). Global Digital Citizenship: Providing Context. TechTrends, 63(4), 470–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00381-7
Digital Citizenship in Education. ISTE. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/areas-of-focus/digital-citizenship.
Fingal, D. (2021, January 29). The Hottest Topics in Edtech in 2021. ISTE. https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-development/hottest-topics-edtech-2021.
Home. DigCitCommit. (n.d.). https://digcitcommit.org/.