The politics of digital citizenship education

Abstract

Digital citizenship has been defined in a multitude of ways in the literature. The definitions promote a range of teaching practices spanning from protectionism to social activism. This chapter examines what the literature and research say about digital citizenship including how it is defined, the theoretical foundations at work in those definitions, and whose responsibility it is for teaching about and supporting digital citizenship. The National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) developed by the U.S. Department of Educational Technology and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) has created guidelines for digital citizenship education that incorporate a critical component. This chapter considers the political implications of those definitions and guidelines. Research is presented that examines teacher candidate preparation to provide insight about whether teacher candidates feel prepared to support the digital citizenship goals proposed by both the NETP and the ISTE.