The 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship

Digital Rights & Responsibilities

Digital Rights & Responsibilitiesincludes the most common aspect that most associate with Digital Citizenship. Often people are not aware that Digital Citizenship is more comprehensive than Rights & Responsibilities, as you are learning through this course there are 9 Elements that are incorporated within Digital Citizenship. Rights & Responsibilities are very important however and include topics such as:

• Rights include adhering to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada as well as Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
• Students should be aware of both right that you have and responsibilities to go along with those rights. If your actions negatively impact anther's rights then you do not have a right to act in that manner- Digitally or face-to-face.
• The moment you interact online you are becoming a citizen within that digital community. How will your actions and voice promote you in a positive light, that demonstrates that you are a knowledgeable and positive citizen within that digital community? How will your actions or what you post (including images) impact another person today, tomorrow or years in the future?

When a person infringes anther's rights or safety it is considered to be bullying. However, if you, your friends and our society are proactive in teaching each other how to engage online in a positive way, contributing to and modeling good citizenship bullying would not occur. It is important to note that although the term cyber-bullying is used a lot in our society, the majority of bullying occurs face-to-face not digitally. Some feel that the focus o cyber bullying instead of focusing on how to teach rights and responsibilities to students and adults is reactionary and not preventative. How can we prevent bullying or inappropriateness from occurring online? By knowing our Rights and Responsibilities in how to contribute to the digital society in a positive way!