With the emphasis on digital medias as sources of information, entertainment,  communication and commerce, it has become increasingly important to understand digital citizenship. In order to do so, we have to understand exactly what digital citizenship entails. Technically, it is defined as “as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.” But, that’s a pretty broad definition – so it’s been broken up into 9 components that cover everything from digital access to digital health and wellness. The link above details each component that contributes to digital citizenship, giving explanations and offering some suggestions.

But what does all this mean? It’s referring to the way we utilize technology in order to participate in society. Digital citizens must have the knowledge, skills and access to engage in both consuming and producing information online. Even knowing how to buy and sell products online is part of digital citizenship – it has to be done safely, efficiently and legally!

These technologies aren’t going away so we need to learn how to use them in an effective and responsible way. I found this video about digital citizenship in regards to personal information. I thought was a video was definitely could be used as a classroom resource in order to teach students about this concept… and I’m sure there are many more videos animating the other components of digital citizenship!