When I think about my own childhood, I recall the cutting edge computer lab our school was so fortunate to have - 20 boxy computers with a roller ball style mouse that was embedded into the keyboard. Being computer literate meant that I could download 10 songs from Napster in under three hours to make my very own mix CD, that is assuming that no one in my house picked up the house phone during this process, severing my dial-up internet connection. My extensive photo editing experience all came from MS Paint, where I painstakingly drew over photos, pixel by pixel, in an effort to create my own filters. Later, when I got my first ICQ account, I never had to concern myself with unsolicited message bots because only those who I had given my ICQ number to could reach me. I can’t remember my credit card pin, but I can tell you my ICQ number was 951015487.
Looking back, I never could have anticipated the digital world that is available to us today. It’s an incredible landscape of opportunity, but it's certainly not without its obvious and hidden challenges.
As I fast forward to my role as an educator, I am constantly thinking about how we can prepare our students for a future that is evolving at an unprecedented pace. It’s impossible to predict exactly what types of digital experiences our children will have even one to two years from now. It’s not surprising the many Ministry of Education expectations related to digital learning are already outdated.
For this reason, Bialik has created our own comprehensive approach to teaching digital citizenship, starting as early as Grade 1. In addition to knowledge and skills, we aim to teach our students how to think critically and meaningfully about the digital world around us and their role within it.
When developing our program, it was important to us to help students develop important habits and skills in the following areas, as recommended by Common Sense Media:
- Media balance and well-being
- Privacy and security
- Digital footprint and identity
- Relationships and communication
- Cyberbullying, digital drama and hate speech
- News and media literacy
Our Bialik Librarians at both branches have been instrumental in developing and delivering explicit lessons that focus on these key areas. Our libraries offer students a digital education that focuses on developing technical skills to do such activities as performing efficient online searches and finding information and evaluating it critically. They also learn about engaging responsibility in online communities, how to practise online safety, and how to identify misinformation, bias or unethical digital content.
Our formal library lessons have already started to provide students with essential skills to navigate the digital world responsibly and thoughtfully. While our students may be digital natives, the digital world is not without its challenges or unknowns. We don’t want them to fear the digital world, but rather to use good judgment and critical thinking. The internet offers incredible opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection. Our goal is to empower children with the knowledge and skills they need to embrace technology confidently, while understanding its potential risks and shortcomings.
I hope that your children come home and share their learning with you. In a recent Grade 1 lesson on the importance of keeping passwords private, a student shared with the class that her mom keeps all of her passwords in a document labelled “Passwords” on her desktop. Yikes! Perhaps we need to extend these lessons to the parent community as well.
These lessons are just the beginning.
Digital citizenship is not a standalone topic, but an ongoing conversation that continues in classrooms across subject areas in General and Jewish Studies. Our teachers are working to integrate these discussions and lessons in their classrooms daily, reinforcing digital literacy in meaningful and authentic ways. Whether students are researching a science topic, collaborating on a group project or exploring creative digital tools, they are continually applying the principles of responsible and ethical online behaviour.
By taking a proactive approach to digital citizenship, we are ensuring that our students are not just passive consumers of technology, but thoughtful and responsible digital participants.