Top 3 Challenges of Teaching Digital Citizenship


By Nicole Krueger

To effectively teach with technology, educators must be able to set boundaries for appropriate use and help students take responsibility for their actions in the digital realm.

But in a world where technology changes faster than teachers can keep up, and students face different expectations for technology use at home than at school, many educators are struggling to develop a cohesive digital citizenship curriculum.

“It's like having a teacher education program without teaching teachers how to manage a classroom,” said technology infusion and professional development coordinator LeeAnn Lindsey. “You can't do all the pedagogical things in a classroom that you want to be able to do if you don't know how to manage a classroom.

“Well, similarly with technology, we can teach teachers how to make learning engaging and effective using devices, but we really can only do that if the teachers and students have a foundation for using that technology responsibly so that we're keeping kids safe and we're keeping teachers safe.”

Below, Lindsey explains the three biggest challenges of teaching digital citizenship.




Nicole Krueger is ISTE's inbound content strategist and lead blogger for the ISTE Connects blog. A former journalist, she has more than a decade of experience as a news reporter and professional blogger.

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