Being good citizens can mean connecting with others, exercising empathy, and forming friendships. The concept of digital citizenship is quite similar, but it involves using modern devices like computers to form those connections.

With the world spinning toward virtual gatherings and learning more than ever before, it’s never been more important to understand the concept of digital citizenship

Generally, this can be summed up with nine elements and there are a plethora of activities to teach digital citizenship. Here, we’re providing an overview of those nine tenets to ensure you — and your tech-savvy kids or students — are mindful of how you’re exercising digital citizenship.

Be sure to download the Digital Citizenship PDF
resources found at the end of this page.

1. Digital access

Not everyone can afford modern technology. We should strive to accommodate people with less digital access by providing alternatives to classroom assignments or making required technology available.

2. Digital etiquette

Those who aren’t used to computers may take online feedback personally. Anonymous online profiles can make people feel combative and negative. However, by teaching digital etiquette, we can learn to treat digital interactions the same as real ones.

3. Digital commerce

Digital commerce has become commonplace — people of all ages buy things online. Without knowledge of digital commerce, people’s personal information can be put at risk. Teaching online safety how to properly navigate the web can help us understand how to avoid putting our personal information at risk.

4. Digital rights and responsibilities

Using anonymity to bully people on the internet takes away their right to be safe online. Teaching digital rights and responsibilities means teaching that respecting people online is just as important as respecting them in real life.

5. Digital literacy

Digital literacy involves spreading awareness of these nine elements and helping others treat the internet responsibly. It also teaches people to recognize fake information. Since so many vital social interactions happen online, staying safe and productive now includes understanding the difference between genuine and harmful content.

6. Digital law

The internet may appear abstract, but it has its own laws that everyone must follow. You can break copyright law by uploading someone else’s content or steal someone’s identity by hacking their email. And these crimes are just as severe as their real-life counterparts. We need to know and respect digital law so we can follow it and keep ourselves safe.

7. Digital communication

Everyone with access to the internet has a digital voice that they can use to express themselves. This freedom can tempt people to express anger or spread misinformation. Respectful, productive digital communication requires thinking of these communications professionally, rather than emotionally.

8. Digital health and wellness

Knowing when to unplug from a device or the internet is another element of digital citizenship. Monitoring the amount of time we’re eying screens and also our ergonomic setups all play into our health and wellness.

9. Digital security

Viruses, scams, malware, and other cyber threats exist. Being a digital citizen means understanding best practices for how to avoid them, including how to protect our devices and respond to digital security issues when they do happen.

Downloadable Resources

The nine elements of digital citizenship teach us how to treat each other and how to stay safe online. The internet can be a productive, amazing place where people make new friends, find new jobs, and learn new things.  If we all exercise these nine elements of digital citizenship, that makes for a more positive digital world for everyone.

Here are some PDF downloads provided by Norton, who has created the following digital citizen resources for students.

Choose the resources that suit the age of your students.

• • The 9 D’s of Digital Citizenship
  • Examples of Digital Citizenship
  • Computer Basics Coloring Page
  • Digital Citizenship Jeopardy Game
  • Jeopardy Questions and Answer Key
  • Digital Citizenship Bingo Game
  • Bingo Game Questions

Snapchat is currently one of the most popular apps used among teens but it’s even higher up the list of popularity when it comes to usage by tweens, kids aged 9 to 12.  This is the case even though the signup age restriction is 13 and it questionable if anyone under 16 should even be using the app. Whatever the case, parental interaction is advised.

Snapchat is based on the ability for users to send pictures and videos instantly to friends with the added twist that those pics and vids will only be seen from 1 to 10 seconds, then disappear.  The user decides how long their followers will be able to view the content.  This feature is what first attracted youngsters. It garners instant attention with friends and also has a chat feature for instant communication.   The problem is the short time limits that an image is available on the app for all to see can also give kids a false sense of security.

When Snapchat first came on the scene it mainly went unnoticed by parents because let’s face it, a few years ago we were not as savvy at keeping up on the latest craze in social media networking apps.  Facebook was king and other social media platforms were not in the forefront people’s minds when it came to protecting kids online.  Today, parents and guardians are more in the loop and aware of the due diligence needed to stay on top of evolving technologies.  We also use apps as much as kids do, just not the same ones.

Before we speak to possible solutions to either block a Snapchat app download or restrict it’s use, let’s look at the current status of Snapchat dangers and pitfalls.

The Dangers of Snapchat

One the attractive things to teens about Snapchat in the early days of the app was that kids were always told that “anything they upload online will be there forever, even after you delete”.  This is still true in many cases.  However, one of the social media safety tips kids need to know that sending an image to all your followers even for just a second doesn’t mean some of those connections will take a screen shot of that image before it disappears.  This results in that seemingly instant photo being in the possession of others for as long as they wish to keep it or share it with others.

The bottom line, Snapchat is not any more dangerous any other app where kids are connected to other kids except that is may embolden users to take greater risks with the images or videos they create and send out into cyberspace.  So, while each parent should decide how old their children should be before they go on Snapchat, an open conversation about online behavior has never been more vital.  Online security and privacy protection may be increasing in the technology but it’s often only as good as a users behavior on that technology.

It’s also important to note that while images may not be readily available online there are ways to recover images from the users computer or phone even after they have be removed from the Snapchat app.  We all need to take a lesson and pass it on to kids.  Digital footprints online and even on our own private computers, the cloud, and on phones stress the importance of being responsible with our pictures and private information.  The lesson to be learned by parents and to be taught to our kids is the same for all online activity online. “Be responsible and don’t do anything that may come back to haunt you later in life”.

Monitoring Snapchat Usage

Like any website, app or anything kids do online, the standard rules apply.  Families need to have educational conversations about what they share online and who they share it with.  Beyond that, the only way to truly have control over your child’s web surfing habits and social media usage including Snapchat, is to install parental controls.  With these controls you can monitor and have a say in all online activity.  This includes setting restrictions at various levels according to the ages of family members, while blocking the worst of the worst content at all times.

Safe Search Kids restricts the all harmful content while searching Google from the top of our website, but it doesn’t prevent users from leaving our website to search elsewhere.

Parental control means you can decide to block all app downloads or only those specific apps you may deem too young for your kids.  After a child has permission to download and use an app, parental control software allows parents to manage and monitor the usage.

It’s not just control over Snapchat, it’s any social media app including Tiktok, Instagram, Messenger, Mastodon, Facebook, Reddit, even WhatsApp… and the next big social media fad we don’t even know about yet.  New ways to connect with friends will always be attractive to that kids who want to connect with their friends online without parental supervision.  It happened to Facebook when young people left the world’s #1 social media platform for Instagram.  It’s totally natural.  The older kids get the more they want to forge their own identity.  Parents just want the internet savvy and tools to guide kids in a safe and healthy manner as they explore their world online.

Parental Controls

At the very least parents should learn how Snapchat can be monitored using the existing safety settings available within the Snapchat app.   For complete monitoring of all apps, considering installing a third part parental control app that gives parents complete monitoring within their home and everywhere else a child’s phone may roam.

Most features include:

• App usage and blocker.
• Screen time controls.
• Web content control.
• Parental alerts.
• Family locator.
• Activity reports.
• Custom settings for each individual family member on multiple devices.
• Monitor call history.
• Monitor text messages.

If you want to know more about already existing opportunities in education that you can take advantage now, join us as we look at the latest trends in EdTech.  Topics like eLearning, blockchain for education, gamification and AI are just a few sectors that are changing the education landscape.

The Next Level EdTech Trends for Your Education

Distance learning has already become just not another option but also a major rule for organizing the educational process. Recent challenges have pushed educators to adapt and respond to new opportunities and be proactive to stay ahead of the changes in education.  Many of these have become advantages not otherwise explored.

How Modern Technologies Are Used for Teaching and Learning

The main purpose of any technology recently applied in education should be for the purpose of facilitating the learning process and enhancing performance. This is achieved by applying technical means and Ed Tech tools. The use of new technologies for the most part was previously attributed to various courses and associated educational standards according to individual course activities. Now, it has become obvious that technologies can ensure the greater diversification of teaching methods. That is mainly related to arranging online classes and self-education.

The goal of applying advanced technical tools and arranging education online has been to bring at least the same results. Systems also need to be in place to ensure new types of learning can be measure results effectively. As we can now see that modern technologies can improve collaboration and performance, here are the main approaches to how this has been organized to the present.

EduTrends Enabling a Better Study Experience

Among all varieties of educational innovations, we have prepared for you a short overview of the latest ones and the most interesting, from our point of view. These are also widely-used technologies in modern education:

1. eLearning

Recent challenges that sent kids home from school have certainly opened our minds the idea that electronic learning can be effective.  For some students,  it can be even more effective than traditional classed.  This is only true if the process has been organized well.  When we speak about eLearning we usually mean any kind of education or learning process that is organized electronically.

Such courses enable the delivery of educational materials by using various computers, tablets, laptops, or even smartphones. The major advantage of this learning process is that students no longer need to have a passive role.  You may choose what course or material to take right at the moment. This may be through various podcasts, materials for reading, videos, and other materials. Delivery can be through Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or any other similar tools.

2. Blockchain for Education

The technology of distributed ledger has changed dramatically in many industries and it has also touched education. We can say even more – that is one of the most beneficial tech trends in education students may experience. It is used for arranging the so-called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that enable not only learning, but also the assessment of the gained knowledge and skills. Even more – the approach enables students to have extra benefits during the job-hunting process as they submit results of the completed courses to prospective employees.

3. Video-Assisted Education

Besides the fact that videos are more engaging, you can easily go back and review material or skip certain pieces to arrange your time more freely. Video assisted education is an ed-tech tool already common in school classrooms and not just select online learners. This approach can be very effective for distance learning. Videos, especially animated ones, can enrich any course or lesson dramatically. The resistance for online educators to use this teaching method if often due to a lack of knowledge of how to create or find educational videos for use in their online teaching.

4. Gamification

This current and possibly one of the most exciting trends in education enables learning to interact and be more engaging. This makes real fun of any educational process and can boost engagement and productivity. By striving to get higher scores in any game, the students strive to gain more knowledge and express such on time. And all these things are made in an atmosphere of fun. That can certainly sound amazing to any parent or educator, as long as they see positive results.

5. Artificial Intelligence

This is one of the primary trends in modern innovation in education that can help keep students from being left behind as other progress. It can make basic and other study activities automatic, for instance, in terms of grading. This tool is also effective for arranging the process of delivering study help by tutors. It is also possible to assess and monitor the performance that students have. It is predicted that the role of artificial intelligence in education will increase further, for obvious reasons.

The plagiarism checker is considered to be one of the manifestations of artificial intelligence. The plagiarism calculation algorithm finds non-unique lines in the text. This type of plagiarism check is constantly being improved. Many schools have already introduced plagiarism testing with artificial intelligence.

6. Social Media Networks in Education

Since the birth of social media networks, they have always been a way for students to connect with friends outside of the classroom.  When students are unable to get together in person, which is especially true for eLearners, they can use these same networks to create study groups.  Student to student connection away from school already becoming more widely used by many educational institutions and courses. There are also ways to integrate social media as a teaching tool.  This is more than reasonable as many students spend a lot of time there anyway. Such networks are also used at the moment as communication tools between the representatives of their educational institutions.

This approach enables the sharing of various educational materials, opinions by commenting on posts and arranging discussions. The success of using social media networks in education makes us believe it is possible to build a new culture of collaboration in the area of education and improve it dramatically.

7. Learning Analytics

The existing landscape for this type of tool has been expanded dramatically. Learning analytics has become even more relevant to higher education.  This tool enables the optimizing of the educational process and measuring the result of such by educators.

Learning analytics has been also used by various online tutors and similar services for obtaining relevant feedback on various matters. When teachers or tutors review the feedback for their students, this enables you to enhance the learning process and make it more productive. For instance, educators can see exactly what type of information (infographics, images, videos) work better. This technology can also identify students that are experiencing various challenges and assist them in overcoming learning difficulties.

Will Virtual Learning Remain Continue to Grow?

We presume that the trend will remain even after coping with the challenges the world is facing. There will also be the need for it in some form and this approach has presented many benefits for students and teachers alike. Virtual learning can save time, offer more freedom, and when done properly can produce the same results as a traditionally-organized education process. Only time will tell whether or not virtual learning will continue to grow or subside to previously normal levels.

What Does the Future with EdTech Look Like?

Regardless of the specifics, we believe the application of various online technologies will remain a trend and implement new aspects of developing technologies, including automation. Firstly, Edtech trends seek to bring better accessibility, more safety for online-learning, a focus on emphasizing the correctness of online-learning, enabling less but effective supervision, and ensuring other aspects crucial for effectiveness.

Last Words

Applying various online tools instead of traditional approaches has a good probability of gaining new benefits for managing time and performance. Independence and technical awareness are crucial aspects every student should explore for success in life.  Educators can help by also learning how to offer present new EdTech innovations in their classrooms to ensure no student is left behind.

Not too long ago, children were born into this world and going on the internet as a preschooler was the last thing on any parent’s mind as a fun thing for their kids to do. If they did, it certainly was not from the palm of their hand on a smartphone or tablet, much less a gaming device connected to friends online.

Children nowadays access the internet daily for school or pastime starting from a very young age. And since they might be too young to understand potential threats and consequences of their actions, parents, educators, and online service providers are obligated to step in and promote safe internet for children.

If you’re a parent, you already know that keeping children safe in the ‘Internet of Things’ era is an uphill task. However, technological advancement doesn’t only mean more risks or dangers for children online or in an educational setting at school.

Here are some technological trends that are making the internet a safer place for children.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things or IoT, in short, enables a seamless connection between multiple devices. In a broader sense, everyday devices contain sensors and stream data to and from the internet.

Ironically, many IoT devices like baby monitors and smart toys have gone from a way to protect children to devices that could put them at significant risk.

Regulatory bodies are continuously making efforts to impose safety standards on manufacturers of such devices and toys. These regulations call for stronger protocols and encryption and more options available in parental controls so that parents can filter out questionable content and the amount or nature of data being collected.

Using apps that sync across devices, parents can access and control many of these devices from a distance. This is greatly beneficial for monitoring which data is being exchanged, through which channels, and ensuring that sensitive data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands (or ears). It makes it easy for parents and educators to keep an eye on children’s activities both online and offline.

User and Entity Behavior Analytics

Online parenting forums are awash with hacking incidents where passwords and usernames fall into the wrong hands. Once a hacker gains access to your account or device, they can waltz in and do as they please.

Unfortunately, not all breaches are detected fast enough to prevent damage or data leaks. This is especially problematic if personal data of children are involved.

In the future, such incidents should create less worry for parents, though.

One of the latest advancements in cybersecurity is User Behavior Analytics (UBA). The technology uses data analytics to identify anomalous user behavior and alerts administrators about suspicious activities.

UBA uses machine learning technologies to “learn” about a user’s normal and regular activity pattern. It can then differentiate between a legitimate user’s activity and an attacker who has gained entry by compromising log-in credentials if these activities don’t fit the norm of the legitimate user.

While UBA is still only in the realm of large organizations, its ability to quickly detect and respond to unusual activities in places that children frequently visit makes it a viable solution for minimizing future data breaches and leaks.

Multifactor Authentication

Many applications, websites, and devices use Multifactor Authentication or MFA in short, to improve account security and protect against identity theft. Technically, MFA refers to any system where a user must use at least two authentication forms to access a device, an application, or a website.

If your children use devices or applications, you’ll find MFA handy. Immediately after you log into a device with your username and password, the account server will prompt you to provide a second and independent authentication form.

It’s more or less what happens when bank security asks to see your social security card even though your funds are already secure.

MFA’s concept is that it’s difficult to pretend you’re someone you’re not when you have to prove who you are in different ways repeatedly.

If you’re monitoring how often your child uses a device, MFA will make it hard for your child to use the device even after getting their hands on the device without your approval. Most importantly, it will help keep out those that shouldn’t have access to it in the first place.

AI and ML

AI, along with IoT and other emerging technologies like ML, are continuing to change how we use the internet. Nearly all modern devices that enter the market are IoT enabled. This includes not only smartphones but also TVs and gaming consoles, as well as almost all Virtual Reality gaming setups.

Together, these technologies are shaping a safer internet environment for children. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning come complete with advanced language processing abilities. That means that unsafe content can easily be filtered out.

As an example, such technology enables fast image processing that analyses the content of the image and then interferes before a child can see it.

Recently, Instagram updated its filters to remove comments intended to upset or harass its users automatically. The new filter hides negative comments about a person’s character, appearance, and any other content that poses a threat to a user’s physical health and well-being.

Wrap Up

The internet is an exciting place, but is it really safe? Can you, as a parent, allow your children to use it unsupervised? The answer is probably a resounding no. There are apps available to monitor internet activity in your home and on your child’s phone. 

Online safety is a continuous battle that never ends. Malicious attacks, inappropriate content, and data theft methods continue to evolve along with the technologies intended to prevent them.

So what can a busy parent do? The answer lies in taking advantage of tech trends designed to prevent malicious content from showing up in searches. Teachers can also incorporate the use of social media in the classroom while teaching internet safety.

Using safe environments such as Safe Search for Kids, YouTube Kids, and implementing all available mechanisms to filter out inappropriate content on devices is a start. Tech progress and trends like some of these mentioned here will contribute to making the internet a safer place for kids.

About the author:

Ashley Wilson is a digital nomad and writer for hire, specialized in business and tech topics. In her self-care time, she practices yoga via Youtube. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys trying out new food. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.