Digital+Citizenship

Digital Citizenship and Online Communication Guidelines
1. Online communication through wikis, shared documents, and blogs is considered an extension of our classroom. Therefore, any speech that is considered inappropriate in the classroom is inappropriate online. This includes, but is not limited to, profanity; racist, sexist or discriminatory remarks; personal attacks.

2. Please be respectful of others - agree or disagree with the idea, not the person. Freedom of speech does not give you the right to be uncivil. Use constructive criticism and use evidence to support your position. Read others’ online work carefully – often in the heat of the moment you may think that a person is saying one thing, when really they are not.

3. Try not to generalize. Sentences that start with words like “All” (e.g., “All teachers,” “All administrators,” “All liberals,” “All conservatives”) are typically going to be too general.

4. Your collaborative work will eventually be made public. Please do not post anything that you wouldn’t want your parents, your best friend, your worst enemy, or a future employer to read.

5. Use online communication safely. NEVER post personal information on the web (including, but not limited to, last names and personal details including address or phone numbers). (This is for your protection. Teachers may choose to use their last names for their posts/comments.) Do not, under any circumstances, agree to meet someone you have met over the Internet.

6. Linking to web sites in support of your argument is an excellent idea. Never link to something without reading the entire article to make sure it is appropriate for a school setting.

7. Your online work may include text references to support your opinions. Adding quotes or links to other works strengthens your response. Make sure that you follow the proper formatting and cite the source of the quote.

8. Comments should be well written. This includes not only good content, but – because these are school-related blogs – also follows writing conventions including spelling, grammar and punctuation. You may want to create the text of your post in a word processing document. You can spell check it there, then copy and paste your comment into the wiki, shared document, or blog.

9. Comments should be responsive. They respond to other people’s ideas – whether it is a post by a teacher, a comment by a student, or an idea elsewhere on the Internet. The power of online communication is its connectedness – we are connected to a larger community of ideas. Participate in that community.

// Adapted from Arapahoe High School Blogging Policy //

By participating in this project and activity, you grant permission for your image and ideas shared as text, audio, and/or video to be shared online under a Creative Commons Attribution-Only License. As a participant, you are responsible for obtaining permission from individuals you interview to share their ideas, images, audio and video recordings. After explaining the project, be sure to ask each person explicitly, "Do I have your permission to publish this interview on the Internet?" If you are interviewing or photographing a minor (someone under age 18) be sure to also obtain permission from their parent or guardian. Source: http://playingwithmedia.com/pages/workshop
 * Permissions Guidelines **