August 2004 — Features
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Monitoring Technology Misuse & Abuse
- How do I use technology?
- How does my technology behavior impact others?
- What courtesy do I extend to others when I am using technology?
- When using technology, d'es my behavior infringe on others' rights?
- How do I/we use technology to learn new ideas?
- Do I act responsible when using technology?
- Do I act in a way to keep myself safe when using technology?
Step 5: Design a digital citizenship program in your school (or district) that deals with the appropriate technology behavior. Have your technology leadership team focus on the following questions as they design the program:
Technology-infused teaching and learning has become a necessary part of the educational environment. However, that digital landscape is being littered with examples of poor and unacceptable forms of digital citizenship. Digital citizenship programs require awareness, critical analysis and well-conceived strategies in order to help eliminate this waste. Technology leaders must raise their expectations for technology-infused teaching and learning. It is time to focus equally on the effective use of technology as well as the appropriate use of technology. We cannot afford one without the other if we expect to produce productive citizens in the 21st century.
Scoring Guide: Individual (Horizontal) Score
Total the points for each individual category horizontally. This score provides a general picture of the relevancy of the specific digital citizenship issue.
4-5: Somewhat Important or Extremely Important — You have concerns about digital citizenship issues and are either working on solutions or would like to begin.
2-3: Neither Important nor Unimportant — You are not aware of digital citizenship issues or your school is not using technology.
1: Extremely Unimportant — Digital citizenship is either unimportant or you have already solved problems of technology misuse and abuse in your school.
Scoring Guide: Holistic (Vertical) Score
For the holistic score, total points in each of the vertical columns, then add up the number of points in the bottom right square. This score provides a picture of the general level of problems that you are experiencing with digital citizenship. Remember, a high score is not completely bad news; it just means that you have a high level of technology use in your school. It also means that digital citizenship is not being practiced by students.
40-50: This score shows that use of technology is high in your district. Unfortunately, technology misuse and abuse are also very high.
