Challenge
Our students are living in a world that as adults, we only read about in science fiction novels: grocery shopping can be done online, games can be played with people in other countries, and even doctor's visits can be done while sitting on a couch at home. Our students seamlessly flow from in-person learning to sharing via digital platforms without seeing the differences between the two. They see the Internet as a warm, welcoming environment where they can meet friends, meet new people, play games, and relax. They do not fully grasp what it means to talk to strangers online, how to keep themselves safe, what things are safe to share and what things should not be posted online. The challenge that I am facing is how to help teachers blend digital citizenship into their daily curriculum without it seeming like "just another thing to do". Many teachers barely have time to teach their core content and asking them to add lessons about digital citizenship would be negatively viewed and seen as time away from other instruction. In my role, I seek to support teachers by helping them integrate technology into their lessons in a way that blends with existing curriculum. Teachers do not see digital citizenship as "their" content and our students are negatively impacted by the lack of content connections.