We are in the 21st century, and there are some new skills we must learn to be good citizens.
iPhone by William Hook
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Internet etiquette, or netiquette, is important for all ages, but as teachers we are in a unique position to teach digital citizenship, copyright laws in an age of plagiarism, and protection of our digital footprint.
Inspiration for my Netiquette rules is Virginia Shea in her Netiquette book, available online by Albion.
Literary cat by SuziJane
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With my class, I need to work on my Comment Guidelines, so I have taken inspiration from two exceptional class blogs. I’m hoping to use these guidelines this semester while my students and I gain experience in commenting enough to write our own. The teachers and students at Huzzah! and Scattergood Biology have some excellent commenting guidelines. Thank you for allowing us to learn and grow from your good work.
Since we have such a large job curating all the information about new digital literacy, I’m including several links in a Diigo List of Internet Safety and Acceptable Use and another list on Copyright.
We have a big job becoming 21st century digital learners ourselves. We have an even bigger job teaching our students to be responsible, safe, and effective digital citizens. Let’s help each other, shall we?
Thanks for the thought-provoking words about netiquette. It is so important that we teach students how to be responsible in their comments, both in person and online. It is difficult, given how our culture has gone so far to the opposite extreme. Civil discourse isn’t as civil as it should be anymore. I welcome the opportunity to model and practice what we are also teaching–thanks for opening up the dialogue.
Amen, Lydia. Civil discourse is a wonderful thing to model for our students. Blogging and commenting is a beautiful opportunity to do so. What I love is that the bullies and the bullied, the shy and outgoing, the popular and invisible, the athlete and the brain, each one is on a level playing field when we speak to each other through blogging and commenting. So much opportunity for polite speaking to each other!
Wow! What a great post. It is so important that we teach the kids ‘netiquette’. As a parent of teens, I am always keeping an eye out to make sure they are commenting appropriately when on FB (doesn’t always happen unfortunately).
As educators we do have a responsibility to help our students learn about proper commenting and internet behavior. Many people feel that the kids are digital natives – that may be so but they still need guidance.
Thank you for the excellent resources!