The digital world is something that we interact with multiple times a day. Being a teacher will mean that you are interacting more online when you are looking for resources, making/buying worksheets, keeping your e-portfolio up to date, emailing colleagues/parents, and keeping up on social media. With being online so much there is a strong need to be cautious of what you post and where you venture off to in cyber land.

Digital citizenship is the appropriate and responsible use of all digital devices. Teachers need to have this digital citizenship because they are dealing with the public daily. Interacting with students in class is one thing but then interacting with them online socially is not acceptable. Emails to parents need to be concise and allow for maybe a personal meeting at school should the issue not be resolved. As we learned in the BCTF workshop Professional Boundary Issues: Teacher/Student Relationships, teachers hold a position of trust with students and they will be held accountable if any of their actions are inappropriate. Always being professional in the classroom and online are important. As well as keeping copies of all forms of communication with students, parents and colleagues. We as teachers are here to be role models for our students and if we want our students to be good citizens of society, then we need to lead by example.

We as teachers need to behave professionally, appropriately, responsibly and safely when we are using digital technology. When there are boundaries set, these will allow for a safe relationship between the teacher, students and parents. We can be good digital citizens by not sharing passwords with students/parents/colleagues, leaving our work computer unattended/open, do not allow photos of ourselves to be posted with permission, do not take photos of our students and post them on our own social media pages, do not post images or information about yourself on social media that could be conflicting and do not share private information about students/parents/colleagues on your own social media pages.

We have to remember that nothing is truly private when it comes to the digital world. Once something is posted/sent it is out on the web for the whole world to see. By being good digital citizens, teachers can have successful careers. We work in public relations and have many more responsibilities than most people. Why not make digital citizenship something that can be incorporated into the classroom as lessons? These lessons would allow for students to start building on being good digital citizens themselves.