Tool # 11 Digital Citizenship

As the principal I think this is the one thing that I need to be sure we discuss deeply as we make the move into integrating more technology into our days. I'm impacted by discussion I read on Doug Belshaw's blog about productivity and technology 'ruling' our days. We need to be sure we are not using technology just to say we used it but plan thoughtfully and with intentionality as we integrate technology into our school day.

A friend recently expressed her worry about how plugged in we are and how it is taking away from our lives in so many ways - less conversation, less face to face, etc. I think an important part of digital citizenship will be helping student retain balance in their lives and ensuring that the educators retain balance as well.

Educating parents is also going to be important. I read somewhere that 87% of students have access to computers in their homes (that was a 2005 statistic). Students and their parents are using computers - phones - gaming systems daily. We need to be sure we are teaching them to use them productively and not idly.

I have a lot more thinking to do about this and know that our faculty will need to have discussions. We need to incorporate the move towards complete integration of technology into our vision - revising our vision. Lots of work to do....