Final Thoughts About Information and Communication Technology in Education

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I believe that the role of Information and Communication Technology in education is of paramount importance in this digital age.  From teaching students to become good digital citizens to helping them establish an effective and positive digital footprint, it must be the responsibility of all divisions within the school system.  Teaching students information and communication technology needs to be ongoing, and delivered at age appropriate stages throughout a student's time in the school system.                          

In the primary grades, teachers could begin by focusing on introducing the internet as an opportunity to visit exciting places, but they need to follow certain rules to stay safe.  Students need to be shown that many websites ask information that is private and should be avoided.  The concept of ownership can be taught by having students put their names and date on their creative work online.  Also, online communication could be introduced through the use of email to other kids within their school or with a penpal class in the community or beyond.

At the junior level, students' online responsibility can be expanded.  Students could learn how to protect their private information using strong passwords.  Online safety should be a major focus at this stage, and that students should not reveal personal information to people they don't know online.  Students can be taught that online messages can be hurtful, and that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated.  Don't forget there is a person behind the screen.  This would lead nicely into cyberbullying.  At this stage, provide students with an introduction to cyberbullying and how it feels, as well as strategies to handle it if it occurs.

In the intermediate grades, the issues really expand and become much more complex.  Not only should there be further education on conducting effective online searches, privacy issues, and the awareness of cyberbullying, but this is where the whole world of social media takes over their lives.  Thus students could be taught appropriate internet behaviour and etiquette.  The whole concept of building your own personal brand online needs to be addressed.  Employers will check the social media profiles of potential job candidates.  Protecting online reputations should be a central theme.  Also, learning how to properly cite online sources as part of respecting digital ownership needs to be a focus of teaching effective digital citizenship in the intermediate grades.

Students in the senior division should begin to evolve their online social activity into more of a career oriented focus.  This would continue to take the form of students working to develop their online presence and establish a positive digital footprint.   An important step in accomplishing this, would involve the creation and development of a Personal Learning Network.  Students could direct their online energy towards what they are passionate about and what they would like to do for the rest of their lives and seek to make connections with experts in that particular field to learn from them and interact with them.  This would serve to inspire and motivate them as well as move them towards fully becoming an active and productive digital citizen.