As school districts across the country adopt e-learning, it’s critical that K–12 leaders and educators promote digital citizenship among students.

When Loudoun County Public Schools closed their school buildings and shifted to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia hosted a virtual panel discussion on digital citizenship via Zoom, Nathaniel Cline reports for the Loudoun Times-Mirror.

Featuring district school psychologist Benjamin Fernandez, high school senior class representative Havish Malladi and Common Sense Media Regional Education Program Manager Barbara Huth, the panel offered key considerations for educators, students and parents on topics such as media literacy, cyberbullying and how to monitor online activity.

“This is really important now, especially as we are all at home so much more on our devices,” Wexton said during the panel. “We need to spend a lot more time on them. We need to figure out the best way to navigate this transition.”

Why Digital Citizenship Is Essential to Remote Learning

In a previous conference, Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), defined digital citizenship as “using technology to solve problems to engage respectfully with people of different viewpoints, to make your voice heard and to understand how to recognize fact from fiction.”

Teaching students digital citizenship is not only key to protecting them online. It also helps them navigate digital spaces and use online tools wisely. According to a 2019 report by nonprofit Common Sense Education, a majority of K–12 teachers — 91 percent of 1,200 surveyed — believed that teaching digital citizenship in their classrooms was very effective in helping students “make smart, safe and ethical decisions online.”

Remote learning environments also offer opportunities for educators to show students how to be good digital citizens. In school districts that use e-learning days, students rely on devices and the internet to learn, collaborate and communicate with teachers and their peers.

But without having a proper understanding of appropriate practices around technology use, students may not know how to handle potential issues on the internet such as cyberbullying, misinformation and cyberthreats.