Page 98 - digitalliteracy

Summary & Resources

Summary & Resources

Module Summary

By joining the vast global community of Internet users, you become a digital citizen. As with
any community, digital citizens have both rights and responsibilities. These include the
following:

• Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
• Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration,
learning, and productivity.
• Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
• Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. (ISTE, 2007, p. 2)

As a digital citizen, you also respect copyright laws and refrain from practicing plagiarism.
Finally, you employ online etiquette by being polite, professional, and considerate of others
when using digital resources.

While the web is a wonderful tool for learning, sharing, and interacting with others, nearly
everything you write online is public. This is especially true when you are expressing your-
self in a blog or on social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. It is
important to familiarize yourself with the privacy settings in each platform you intend to use,
understand who will be able to read your posts, and use online etiquette when sharing your
ideas and opinions.

Having an online social life also means taking responsibility for the information you share and
ensuring that it isn’t used against you. By understanding the risks of providing personal infor-
mation through sweepstakes, surveys, free offers, and product registrations, you can avoid
being a victim of identity theft or computer viruses.

Critical-Thinking Questions

1. What are your responsibilities as a digital citizen?
2. What are the consequences of committing plagiarism, and how can you avoid it?
3. How is a blog different from a personal journal or diary?
4. What are some of the positive aspects of using social media?
5. How can you ensure that your professors or future employers won’t discover any-
thing damaging about you online?
6. Describe a situation in which you or someone you know was a victim of an online
scam or had a problem due to something he or she posted on social media.

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