This is the point at which we introduce students to circles of possibilities. We ask students to consider what is possible at various levels and then take action based on what can be done. The levels start with me, and then expand to encompass family, community, country, and the world.
• Me: What can you do to solve this problem within your own life? If you never spoke about it, blamed or judged others, but only altered your own thoughts and actions, what could you do?
• Family: How do you affect the choices your family makes? Consider that once you have accomplished all you can do, you have already begun to impact your family, just through the example you set. Because your capacity to impact your family is limited by your own efforts, the greater your actions and convictions then the greater the impact on your family.
• Community: How can you and your family impact your community? Consider not just where you live, but all your communities such as school, clubs, and organizations that you belong to.
• Country: How can you, along with your family and communities, create change in your country?
• World: How can you, your family, communities, and country transform the world?
In asking students to think about these circles of possibilities, have them consider the following facts about bottled water (D’Alessandro, 2014; Pacific Institute, 2007).
• Producing the yearly bottles for American consumption requires the equivalent of more than seventeen million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation.
• Bottling water produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
• It takes three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water.
• A one-liter bottle in the ocean can break down into fragments so small that a piece could be found on every mile of beach in the world.
• We only recycle 5 percent of the plastics we produce, and virtually every piece of plastic ever made still exists in one form or another.
Ask students to consider that if the environmental havoc the bottled water industry causes is overwhelming to them, they could simply never purchase or drink from a plastic bottle again. They could carry a refillable bottle and use it instead. Likewise, they could even keep a set of cutlery in a bag rather than use the plastic cutlery found in the school cafeteria or fast food restaurants. We’re sure you and your students can think of other examples, but you get the point.
All this begs the question: Does this solve the global problem of plastics? You or your students may think that it doesn’t, but we disagree. In this scenario, an individual is doing 100 percent of what he or she can do to solve the problem. When enough people do the same, spreading from individuals, to families, to communities, and so on, the problem is solved. It is a similar question to asking, “Does your vote count?” Who would be elected if nobody voted? When students understand that they can solve a problem by taking action within their capacity, they only see possibilities of what more they can do.
Because the levels beyond me are where we tend to lay blame, many think their actions don’t matter because it’s not in their control. It’s the government’s fault, the school’s fault, the test’s fault, the media’s fault, and so on. Ask your students to consider this: When we lay blame at the feet of others, we also surrender to them our power to solve it. After all, if it’s their fault, then they are the only ones that can fix it and so we are powerless and at their mercy.
No matter at what level you work—me, family, community, country, world—you impact all other levels. Your efforts matter because without you it is not possible for everyone to change. What will you do? The answer always starts with me.
Establishing a Global Citizenship Assessment Framework
Figure 2.3 (page 36) presents a rubric for assessing the development and progression of a global digital citizen’s sense of global citizenship.
Figure 2.3: Global digital citizen assessment rubric—global citizenship.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/technology for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Digital Citizenship
To have digital citizenship is to engage in appropriate and exemplary behavior in an online environment. The essence of digital citizenship is about shifting accountability for appropriate behavior from teachers to students, which fosters independence and personal responsibility. This shifting of responsibility includes ensuring that students show respect for self, others, and property. We conclude this topic with a framework for assessing a student’s progress and growth as a digital citizen.
Showing Respect and Responsibility for Self
Having respect for yourself is about being aware of how you portray yourself with your online persona. Students must start thinking critically about the short- and long-term effects of the information and images they post, and the value of being private when necessary. Students must be able to set a positive example for others to follow.
Students must be mindful to stay away from behavior that puts them at risk, both online and offline. Acting responsibly encourages exemplary personal governance as a habit of mind and adds to a student’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem (Blitzer, Petersen, & Rodgers, 1993). It also reminds him or her of the little things like safely and effectively password-protecting information, and, when appropriate, securing property and resources.
Showing Respect and Responsibility for Others
It’s important for students to always consider the consequences of behavior, such as bullying, flaming, harassing, and online stalking—the evidence is everywhere (Chambers, 2013). When an individual attacks someone else online, his or her target is obliged to respond in kind. This perpetuates a cycle of escalation that can and has resulted in consequences in the physical world. Respecting others teaches students the value of being constructive and friendly online. It encourages them to model behavior for others, like responding to online conflicts with a sense of civility and constructive thinking.
Both teachers and students must learn to discourage and report abusive and inappropriate behavior and recognize that there is potential for great harm in forwarding or sharing potentially inappropriate or harmful information or images. This is how we come to see the value in making others feel protected, and therefore valued themselves. In our experience, people who feel valued are less likely to engage in destructive behavior.
Showing Respect and Responsibility for Property
Teachers must consistently stress the importance of asking permission to share another’s intellectual property. How we give credit to creators of intellectual property (by properly citing sources and authorship) says much about our respect for those who devote their time to creativity in the service of others. Exploring fair-use rules and copyright laws, and how they apply to sourcing and using online information, is a crucial part of respecting another’s property.
We believe that teaching students to treat their own and others’ property with care and respect, including intellectual property, is vital to preserving a sense of digital and global community. Instead of stealing images, teach students to use free or open-source resources and learn how to properly search for and recognize them. Both Google and Flickr include features that support searching for Creative Commons or royalty free images (Crockett, 2016). This reminds them that any kind of digital piracy is still theft, and that this theft is not a victimless crime. As such, they make a choice to act with integrity and to value what they