What is digital citizen: Digital Citizenship | Common Sense Education

Digital citizenship: teens being responsible online

What is digital citizenship?

Digital citizenship is when a person uses the internet in a legal, safe, ethical and responsible way.

Digital citizenship means:

• behaving lawfully – for example, it’s a crime to hack, steal, illegally download or cause damage to other people’s work, identity or property online
• protecting your privacy and managing your reputation
• thinking about how your online activities affect yourself, other people you know, and the wider online community.

Responsible digital citizenship is different from the skills you need to make informed decisions about the content you use and trust. These skills are part of media or digital literacy.

What children and teenagers get out of being digital citizens

When they’re online, children and teenagers are mostly social, engaging with content and people.

For example, games like Minecraft allow children to work with others to build new worlds. And platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Messenger, Twitch and Snapchat help teenagers maintain friendships, share experiences and support peers. This culture of communicating and sharing helps children and teenagers feel connected to a larger global community.

As digital citizens, teenagers express themselves by sharing and posting comments, images and videos. They can explore who they are and take action on issues they care about. They might do this by engaging in social causes like climate change, joining or creating online communities, or creating content like videos or memes.

Sometimes the anonymity of the internet can be a bonus – for example, if teenagers want to explore aspects of their identity or get help with issues they’re worried or embarrassed about.

Finally, the internet gives teenagers access to news and information, and many turn to the internet first to understand themselves and the world.

Children and teenagers connect socially both online and offline, but they might do things online that challenge your ideas about what’s normal or OK. This is often about discovery and self-expression, which are important for your child’s development.

Key messages for safe and responsible digital citizenship

These key messages can encourage your child to be safe and responsible online, while still having fun:

• Be respectful – and expect respect.
• Protect your reputation.
• Protect your privacy.
• Think critically.

Be respectful – and expect respect

Respect for yourself and other people is important in all relationships, and it’s no different when you’re online.

You can encourage your child to treat online friends with as much respect as face-to-face friends. Part of this is not creating or forwarding nasty or humiliating emails, images or text messages about someone else. It’s also refusing to take part in mean or negative online discussions about other people.

You can encourage your child to tell you or another trusted adult if they see someone being bullied or attacked online. Young people often try to sort things out for themselves, but it’s good to encourage your child to talk with you if they’re worried about something online. It might help your child to know that things are easier to sort out when other people help.

If your child gets any nasty or bullying comments, they should block or unfriend people who don’t treat them with respect.

It’s often hard to ‘read’ emotion in posts and emails, and jokes can easily be misinterpreted. You can encourage your child to ‘stop, think, review’ before they send a message or post an online comment. Using emojis or hashtags can help, but these might have more than one meaning.

Protect your reputation

Make sure your child understands the consequences of posting photos and videos and uploading personal content,. Once this content is online, it’s very hard to get rid of and can become part of your child’s permanent online reputation. Also, photos and other content can be altered or shared without your child’s permission.

You can encourage your child to think about the online content or behaviour their future self might be comfortable with. For example, you could say, ‘Some videos or posts might seem OK to you now, but you might feel differently about them in the future and not want people to see them’.

Depending on your child’s age, you could agree that they show you posts, images and other content before they upload them.

Protect your privacy

There are several ways your child can protect their privacy:

• Share only as much personal information as necessary. For example, it’s not compulsory to enter your year of birth, mobile number, email address or city on all online forms.
• Keep privacy settings up to date on social media sites, so your child’s profile isn’t publicly available.
• Keep passwords private.
• Check the location settings and services on smartphones, tablets and apps. Turn off the location services your child doesn’t need.
• Read the terms and conditions of apps to understand what data the apps collect about your child and how the apps distribute that data.
• Don’t use public wi-fi for posting on social media or messaging, because the connection is public and can be hacked.

Think critically

There are many dodgy people, places and offers online.

Not everyone online is who they say they are. It’s important for your child to be careful about what they share with people they don’t know.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. You and your child can find out how to recognise, avoid and report scams on Scamwatch, a website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). You can also use the ABC’s Fact Check to check the accuracy of claims by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions.

If your child isn’t sure about a site’s credibility, they can ask themselves some critical questions. For example, ‘Whose interest does this site serve?’ or ‘How accurate and reliable is what I’m reading?’ The answers can help your child work out which sites and offers are dodgy and which have accurate news and content.

Your child should also be careful about clicking pop-ups on websites. Some pop-ups that seem safe can lead to porn sites or are scams that collect personal or financial information.

Having regular, relaxed and respectful conversations with your child is the best way to help your child make good decisions about online behaviour. You could talk about using social media responsibly, cyberbullying, sexting and avoiding online pornography.

The Definition Of Digital Citizenship

By
Terrell Heick

/ December 13, 2021 / The Future Of Learning / Definitions, Digital Citizenship, Terry Heick

24.4k

Views

FacebookTwitterSubscribe

by Terry Heick

This post was originally published in 2013 and was updated in December of 2018

As more and more students interact digitally–with content, one another, and various communities–the concept of digital citizenship becomes increasingly important.

Which begs the question: what is digital citizenship?

Well, first citizenship, which is formally defined as “the quality of an individual’s response to membership in a community. ” This makes citizenship far more complex than a simple legal matter, but rather one that consists of self-knowledge, interaction, and intimate knowledge of a place, its people, and its cultural history.

So digital citizenship is nearly the same thing–“the quality of a response to membership in a digital community” would be a good first crack at the definition.

Revising that might more clearly articulate the differences between physical and digital communities, so a decent definition of digital citizenship then might be “Self-monitored participation that reflects conscious interdependence with all (visible and less visible) community members”

But that leaves out the idea of content itself, which leads us to a pretty good definition for educators: “The quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities.”

Still too wordy? Maybe a shorter version for students–with some moral imperatives and implied advice–could be: “the self-monitored habits that sustain and improve the digital communities you enjoy or depend on. ”

Overview

Term: Digital Citizenship

Definition: The quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities.

Examples of Digital Citizenship: Communicating with respect, respecting others’ privacy, seeing things from another perspective, adding helpful information/context to a discussion or wiki page, supporting others by offering useful feedback, encouraging them, or sharing work they’re proud of, etc.

See also Inspiring Quotes About Life

Big Idea: Treating people, places, and ‘spaces’ with respect

Related Teaching & Learning Concepts: Empathy, Social Learning, Critical Literacy, Connectivism, Communal Constructivism

Related Teaching & Learning Resources:

63 Things Every Student Should Know In A Digital World

Moving Students From Digital Citizenship To Digital Leadership

Related Cultural Trends: Adaptive algorithms, disinformation and disinformation campaigns, ubiquity of social media, political ‘discussions’ on social media platforms, Freedom of Speech, ‘Global-Local’ social norms (i. e., China/free speech), Blogging, YouTube, Sociocultural equity, Globalization, Mental health, Bullying/Trolling, Clickbait, Critical thinking

The Definition Of Digital Citizenship

Training of corporate and civil servants for digital transformation – NAFI

IT and Telecom

DIGITAL CITIZEN PLATFORM (April 2020)

Based on the platform “Digital Citizen” , the NAFI Analytical Center conducts digital literacy testing for employees of government agencies and corporations. A comprehensive study makes it possible to assess the current level of digital literacy of personnel, which is especially important in the context of the transition to a digital economy, and to form an effective strategy for improving it.

“Digital Citizen” will help managers:

• assess the readiness of your company’s employees for digital transformation

• build an effective training trajectory for personnel

• identify the level of digital literacy when assessing applicants.

>>GO TO PLATFORM<<

>>VIEW DIGITAL STAFF BROCHURE<<

Increasing the level of digital literacy of the workforce is the key to improving the productivity, safety and well-being of both the individual and the company as a whole.

Digital technologies are increasingly being introduced into business processes, requiring corporate employees and civil servants to have a certain level of readiness to work with them.

The development of digital competencies is possible only with timely diagnosis of the current level of digital literacy, as well as when determining the most effective learning path.

When testing employees, all requirements for the protection of personal data and anonymity are observed.

Did you like the material?
Share it with colleagues and partners!

Similar publications

IT and Telecom

The image of IT professions in the eyes of Russians

from March to August 2022

IT and Telecom

GAMING IN RUSSIA – 2022. Social and economic effects

July 2022

IT and Telecom

The attitude of Russians to the protection of personal data

July 2021

IT and Telecom

Digital literacy of the population of the region: one step away from the digital economy

April 2020

Testing digital literacy for everyone. Results of the first month of operation of the Digital Citizen portal – NAFI

• More than 1,000 people have taken free professional digital literacy testing since the launch of the Digital Citizen platform.

• The share of people with a high level of digital literacy among those who passed the test is 85%, among Russians in general – 27%.

• Russians are interested in improving digital competencies: 24% of working Russians are afraid of losing their jobs if they do not receive training in the digital sphere.

• NAFI is the operator of the Digital Citizen platform. NAFI has been conducting research on the level of digital literacy of Russians since 2017.

During the month more than 1000 people passed free testing on the Digital Citizen platform (it-gramota.ru) to determine their level of digital literacy*. Interest in testing was mainly shown by users who already have good knowledge and skills in the digital environment. The share of people with a high level of digital literacy among those who passed the test is 85%, among Russians in general – 27%**. The challenge for the coming months is to bring testing to the attention of users and employees of organizations that may be lagging behind in digital knowledge and skills.

Timur Aimaletdinov , Deputy General Director of the NAFI Analytical Center:

“The NAFI Analytical Center acts as the operator of the Digital Citizen platform. The platform has been operating for almost a month, its goal is to prepare a person for life and work in the digital economy. The system generates a unique set of questions for each user based on their current level of digital literacy. We are constantly improving our testing tool and welcome feedback from users.”

Most (85%) of the users who passed the Digital Citizen test have a high level of digital literacy, 15% received average scores. On average in Russia, according to the results of the NAFI study, the share of people with a high level of digital literacy at the beginning of 2020 was 27%. The digital literacy index of those who were tested on the Digital Citizen – 76 p.p. out of 100 possible. On average in Russia, according to the results of representative testing, the value of the Digital Literacy Index is 58 p.p.

The difference is explained by the fact that the interest in testing their level of digital literacy on the Digital Citizen was shown primarily by users who are already well versed in the digital. However, their knowledge in some areas needs to be improved.

Users received relatively low scores on questions related to the assessment of the reliability of information in the network and the protection of personal data . Worst awareness on topics related to customization software , as well as latest technological developments .

Men scored higher on digital literacy tests than women (92% versus 81%).

Russians understand the importance of competencies in the digital sphere. The majority (65%) believe that in the organization where they work, staff may be reduced due to process automation and the introduction of new technologies. One in four employees (24%) believe that they themselves may lose their job if they do not receive training in the digital sphere***. At the same time, additional training in the field of digital literacy is more often carried out by those who already have it at a fairly high level.

Digital literacy testing for everyone

Anyone can assess their level of digital literacy and receive individual recommendations for improving it. To do this, you need to register on the portal it-gramota.ru and pass the test – it will take from 30 to 45 minutes. As a result, the user will receive not only a personal strategy for improving their competencies, but also links to available training materials.

All test results, personal training recommendations and links to training courses will be stored in the Personal Account. It will also be possible to obtain a certificate confirming the current level of digital literacy (beginner, basic or advanced).

Comprehensive testing of digital literacy for employees of government agencies and corporations

The test will help the heads of executive authorities assess the readiness of Russian regions for digital transformation, track the achievement of digital competencies of the population of the region as a whole, as well as individual subgroups in order to build the most effective trajectory for their learning.

Testing will help managers and HR departments assess the current level of digital literacy of employees, which is especially important in the context of the transition to a digital economy, and form an effective corporate strategy for improving it.

How is testing done?

The portal user gets access to a test of 64 questions that test his digital competencies. Based on the results of testing, an individual trajectory for improving digital competencies is built. Total in the system more than 1000 questions; the more correct answers the user gives, the more difficult questions he is asked.

Assessment criteria: 5 digital competencies

Digital literacy is measured as an index consisting of five components (sub-indices) :

• information literacy;

• communicative literacy;

• creation of digital content;

• digital security;

• problem solving skills in the digital environment.

Each of the sub-indices is measured through a series of questions in the questionnaire. For more information on the components of digital literacy, see Appendix No. 2.

Uniqueness test

• The International Competence Framework takes into account all modern requirements for knowledge in the field of digital technologies.

• The scientific base of the test was developed by specialists from the NAFI Analytical Center, experts from the DigComp group at the European Commission (for more details, see Appendix No. 1).

• The platform algorithm creates a unique set of questions for each test taker, guided by their current level of digital literacy.

• The measurement methodology and the competency framework have been adapted for Russia, taking into account the digital infrastructure and software market of our country.

• The test is easily integrated into the certification and educational systems of educational institutions, corporations and government agencies.

• The technique is patented, passed the examination and was registered with the Federal Service for Intellectual Property.

Appendix 1. Methodology for testing the level of digital literacy

The digital literacy testing methodology is based on the DigComp international competency framework developed by experts from the European Union countries. All test questions were adapted by NAFI experts for the Russian digital agenda, taking into account domestic legislation, information infrastructure features, government digital services, etc.

The main advantage of the chosen approach is its adaptability, since it reveals digital literacy through a set of real requirements for the knowledge and skills of applicants described in vacancies posted by enterprises. This is a kind of aggregation of the current demand for “digital competencies” from the economy. The measurement methodology is based on the evaluation of five indicators:

• information literacy;
• communication literacy;
• digital content creation;
• digital security;
• digital problem solving skills.

Annex 2: Components of digital literacy

Information Literacy

This sub-index reflects the skills of Russians in searching for information on the Internet, competence in working with various types of data and evaluating the reliability of messages on the network.

Communication Literacy

The skills of communicative literacy include the ability of Russians to use various types of online services and electronic devices, compliance with the rules of communication on the network.

Digital Content Creation

This sub-index of digital literacy demonstrates a person’s competence in creating and editing digital content, skills in working with copyright on the web.

Digital security

Digital security shows the ability of Russians to assess the risks of social engineering and online fraud when working in the digital space, knowledge of measures to ensure the security of personal data, as well as an understanding of the negative impact that digital devices have on the environment, physical and mental health of a person.