Participate 4.1.2 Digital Safety

Digital Safety is very important and something everyone should do their part in protecting themselves.
Please watch the following video to learn more about Digital Dossier.

• What is the most important step we can take in terms of ensuring our digital safety?

The most important step we can take to ensure our digital safety is to be proactive.  Take steps to protect yourself.  Install protection software on all electronic devices, be careful about sharing personal information, and when in doubt, check it out.

• What strategies can we take to help our students consistently keep digital safety in the forefront of their minds?

In all of my Business Education classes it is part of the curriculum to touch on digital safety and ethics, so I begin every year with a unit on just that.  We continually throughout the year discuss safety issues that come up.  Occasionally, I have them research a current event that involves some type of digital security breach or identity theft. This allows them to see how scary it can be and keeps them aware of how important it is to protect themselves.

This video was also pretty interesting.  No matter how many times I tell my students that everything they put online will remain there forever, they still post silly pictures. 

Some good sites to check out are listed below:

idtheftcenter.org
cyberbullying.us
kaspersky.com
onguardonline.gov  

Participate 4.1.1 Digital Rights and Responsibilities

With Digital citizenship comes certain rights and responsibilities.  In order for a citizen to know what rights and responsibilities he or she has, Acceptable Use Policies have to be communicated. An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a policy that a user must agree to follow in order to be provided with access to a network or to the Internet.

Digital Learning Communities can benefit greatly from having an AUP in place. If digital citizens are given their rights and responsibilities and informed of any consequences for not following the AUP, they are more likely to behave responsibly.

Distance educators are no different than brick and mortar schools in that the professor can have students read and sign an AUP digitally at the beginning of the course. A good plan of action would be to have students read the AUP, print it, sign it, and scan it back in to send back to the distance educator signed. This could be done during the orientation module, and in fact as a student I have done this before.

Click here for a sample of Troup County Schools AUP

Participate 3.1.2 Digital Resources and Netiquette

Digital Citizens must follow netiquette guidelines.  Please click the link below to view these guidelines.

http://meg9087.edu.glogster.com/netiquette-5162/

Participate 3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community

In order to be an effective digital citizen, access is a must. Whether one is a learner or an educator, understanding the levels of access can be beneficial. After completing the module on access I found the following results about my own connection:

I also discovered that Carroll County is ranked 67th out of 160 counties in the state of Georgia.
While I thought my broadband access was decent, compared to the national standard mine is much slower.  I am able to do just about anything I need to for education, so I am not complaining.
As an online educator, I would have to ask the following questions:

• What types of barriers might impede students’ opportunities to access digital learning?

Unfortunately, some students may have barriers to accessing digital learning. Some barriers could include low bandwidth, disabilities, income disparity, political constraints, and outdated equipment. Everyone that tries to access digital learning is no sitting in their living room in a big city.  There are those that are poverty stricken and can not afford new equipment or high speed internet.  They do the best they can with what they have. 

• What might we do to eliminate such barriers?

With new accessibility options there are ways to eliminate barriers for people that suffer from disabilities.  This is one of the easier barriers to overcome.  On the end of the instructor, there is not a whole lot that can be done to help students acquire better equipment or quicker internet.  However, instructors can take into consideration that some students do struggle with issues out of their control and be understanding with deadlines.

Participate 2.1.1 Collecting Reputable Digital Resources

As an educator, I am constantly looking for reputable digital resources to use in class. I also teach my students to always evaluate the website where they obtain information.  Anyone can create a website, so just because it is published does not make it reputable. As I searched for resources on the upcoming learning module that my group must create over Internet Safety, I found several great resources. The three most valuable are listed below:
Digital Citizenship Resources - LiveBinder 
goorulearning.org
Welcome | Thinkfinity - thinkfinity.org
 
Students can also be taught to safely collect tools and resources that can help them maximize their learning. Some criteria for evaluating websites suggested by the UNFCCC are listed below:
Accuracy

To determine how reliable and free from error the information contained on a website is, remember to look at who is hosting the site. Is it a University, a government, a professional association, a commercial host, an advocacy group, a publisher? What are their biases? A good website should state its purpose and intended audience. It is always a good idea to check with other web resources, journals or magazines that publish website reviews to see if the site has received a stamp of approval, and if so, by whom. Always remember to verify the information on the website with information found in other print and/or web-based sources.

Authority

To determine the authorship of a website, examine the page closely for information about the author and to see if anyone else has contributed to the site. Check information on the WebPages to see if it includes references. A good website should provide a way to contact the producers of the site.

Objectivity

To determine the objectivity of a website, check if advertising and informational content are being supplied by the same person or organization. If so, examine whether there is a bias to the informational content. Keep in mind that many websites with excellent information are sponsored by commercial entities or take advertisements to finance the website.

Currency

To determine the currency of a website, find out when the page was last updated. Also look to see if there are broken links on the site, it could be an indication of an abandoned page. You should also check to see how often new links appear on the site.

Coverage

To determine if the information is adequately covered on a website, compare the information with information found on other websites. Does one site provide more information, more references, more contacts? Also compare the information on the website with information available in print sources such as books, journals, reports, etc. (if available). 
For further information visit the site http://unfccc.int/essential_background/library/items/1420.php

As well as evaluating websites there are tools available for free such as the WOT (Web of Trust) add on that can be downloaded for Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla FoxFire, etc.  This add on can check the trustworthiness of a website you have in question.

Participate 1.1.3 Ideal Digital Learning Community

The next section in the TOOL MOOC explores the concept of the ideal DLC.  Some of the questions posed are:

• What are the DLC’s characteristics?  
• An ideal DLC would be one that engages the learner, allows the learner to work at their own pace, and offers some feedback as well. Varied learning activities will keep the learner actively engaged while moving through modules that build upon one another.

• What features of the DLC would set it apart from and above others?
• The ability to offer quick feedback would be one feature that would set it apart from others.
• Up to date information would be another feature that is important in today's ever-changing digital world.
• What qualities would potential citizens of such an enlightened online society need to possess in order to gain admittance?
• Potential citizens of an enlightened society need certain qualities in order to gain admittance in the ideal DLC.  These qualities include but are not limited to the nine elements of digital citizenship: 
• Digital Access:   full electronic participation in society.  
• Digital Commerce:   electronic buying and selling of goods. 
• Digital Communication:   electronic exchange of information.  
• Digital Literacy:   process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology. 
• Digital Etiquette:   electronic standards of conduct or procedure.
• Digital Law:   electronic responsibility for actions and deeds 
• Digital Rights & Responsibilities:   those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world.
• Digital Health & Wellness:   physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world.
• Digital Security (self-protection):   electronic precautions to guarantee safety.    

Participate 1.1.2 Joining a DLC

After reviewing several of the Digital Learning Communities that I bookmarked using Google Bookmark, I decided to join P2PU. The list below is the ones that really stood out to me.

Digital Learning Center | Jason Pinshower DigitalLearn.org FTA - Courses | FTA - Free Technology Academy P2PU | A University for the Web. Built... CosmoLearning | Your Free Online School:... Wikiversity

DigitalLearn.org is a great resource for teachers to show their students that are just learning to use the computer.  Maybe elementary or middle school age children could appreciate the content.  I really did like if for younger students.  For my use, I liked the P2PU because it contains varied content, and it is broken down into content area so you can search for topics that interest you.

Digital Learning Communities can be very beneficial, but digital citizens should look around and choose a DLC that fits them best.  That is the best advice I can give for someone wanting to join a DLC.  Finding the right fit will ensure compatibility and success.