Responsible teachers have to undertake to teach students not only the understanding, the
knowledge, or the skills they need but to also teach the students the means through which they
will be safe both within the school and out of the school where much of internet activities take
place. The school internet is set up in such a way that the filters implemented at the network
level give a false sense of security, yet the internet out of the school boundaries is where the
actual danger faces the students. The paper constructs on the social and cultural aspects of the
student use of the internet, the best practices for the students that will ensure that their use of the
internet is safe and ethical, and the tools and resources available for use among the students in
connecting with each other.
The cultural and social use of the internet among students has changed over the years
with the advancement of technology and the advent of a new technological age in the learning
setting. Notably, the technological imperative elated to the learning is connected to the general
development and creation of a digital society and changing needs of the societies resulting in the
need for new competencies within the society. Notably, to the student, these changes in
technology have put great demands on both the students and the teachers, with changes affecting
the nature in which the students interact with each other and the manner in which the students
and the teachers communicate with each other (Martin, Shilton, & Smith, 2019). The new
demands faced by the students due to the advancement in the use of technology and having to be
a digital citizen have prompted an improved understanding of the political and the cultural
dimensions resulting from the use of digital technology in the education sector and in other
activities within the society.
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Students must adopt safe and ethical practices to remain responsible digital citizens. Most
of the children and students in the current digital age have mastered the ability to navigate
through the web with less effort. Importantly, ethical practices are important in keeping the
students safe with the changing nature of the use of technology, as indicated by the rise of the
participatory culture, which has allowed the students to be able to connect, communicate, and
collaborate with an audience that is of global scale (Ghosn-Chelala, 2018). For this reason, a key
ethical practice that the student must use to ensure their safety include ensuring that the sites that
are explored are appropriate for the learning and research objectives of the students. With this
ethical practice, the students are able to utilize the vast number of unlimited resources on the
internet to facilitate their learning and research activities (Ghosn-Chelala, 2018). However, this
would not be attained if the process were not done in an appropriate manner through using
resources that are trusted, known, and even peer reviewed.
In addition, another ethical practice that will govern eh safe use of digital technology by
the students entails their contribution towards protecting instances of cyber-bullying perpetrated
through the use of the available social media and communication tools. This includes the use of
different tools and resources, such as blogs and social networks. Give that they can write almost
anything on social media websites, the students must strive to ensure that they stand up against
cyberbullying or sharing information and content that may bring about harm and depression to
another person (Buchholz, DeHart, & Moorman, 2020). This may take the form of publication of
private material and information of a person of publishing and sharing information that serves to
embarrass or serves to spoil the reputation of the person (Martin et al., 2019) The teacher must
also ensure that the students have access to the guidelines that will ensure that they remain
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protected against cyberbullying and was through which they can handle or react to cyberbullying
without affecting their physical and mental health.
Students to connect and share education material beyond the classroom may use
numerous tools. Two examples of such tools include the Storybird and eduClipper. The
Storybird is an application that aims to promote the learning process for the students through
storytelling sessions. This serves to sharpen the writing and the reading skills of the students
through a platform that enable storytelling (Ghosn-Chelala, 2018). By using the tool, teachers
are able to create books and interactive materials for the students with a simple interface. The
stories that are created through the Storybird can be integrated into other platforms such as blogs.
In a similar manner, the eduClipper is another tool that provides a platform for teachers and
students to be able to provide references and be able to provide and share the educational
material. With the use of the eduClioper platform, it is possible for the students to collect
information online and share them with other groups, especially those formed among the
students, in a collaborative manner (Martin et al., 2019). Lastly, the tools enable the better
organization of the education material aimed at improving the research techniques used by the
students.
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References
Buchholz, B., DeHart, J., & Moorman, G. (2020). Digital Citizenship During a Global Pandemic:
Moving Beyond Digital Literacy. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(1), 11-17.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1076
Ghosn-Chelala, M. (2018). Exploring sustainable learning and practice of digital citizenship:
Education and place-based challenges. Education, Citizenship And Social Justice, 14(1),
40-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197918759155
Martin, K., Shilton, K., & Smith, J. (2019). Business and the Ethical Implications of Technology:
Introduction to the Symposium. Journal Of Business Ethics, 160(2), 307-317.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04213-9