Thank you, Vicki Davis and the Mad About Mattering team. You reframed my thinking about teaching digital citizenship. For too long, we have been teaching students what not to do, coming from a place of fear and negativity. I want students to recognize all the positive things they can do in the world, and that includes the online world. I want them to recognize the power of their voice and ideas. To quote Angela Maiers, “You are a genius and the world needs your contribution.” Citizenship is so much more than just not doing wrong things. A citizen needs to use their unique gifts to help the community move forward.
From this time forward, the essential question in my digital citizenship class work is going to be, “What can you do to contribute something uniquely yours to the world?” True citizens makes positive contributions to the communities to which they belong. Everyone can make a difference.
For more inspiration, watch the video below.
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxDesMoines-Angela-Maiers-You/player?layout=&read_more=1
makingthinkinglearning 