February

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February's Digital Citizenship Champion is Michelle Green.

Michelle is the  eLearning Development Specialist for the Indiana Department of Education. She was nominated by four different people (!) who describe her as "the best advocate for digital citizenship I know" whose "leadership at the state level has had a massive impact on digital citizenship education around Indiana."

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Michelle writes, "My drive for digital citizenship education stems from two roles: educator and parent. I have two daughters born in different centuries. My parenting mirrors my shift in how I have approached technology in the classroom. While it may not be fair according to my 23-year-old, my 16-year-old enjoys far more tech privileges because the world has changed. We are in a constant dialogue about expectations and boundaries when it comes to her use of mobile devices. Ultimately, her father and I want to nurture her independence, so that she can make responsible choices when we are no longer looking over her shoulder. To say it’s a learning process is an understatement. For this reason, I advocate for schools to demonstrate their commitment to educate faculty and students on what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. We need everyone in on the conversation!

"As an educator, I support districts across a state, where the majority of schools have implemented 1:1 programs. I’d be neglect if I did not emphasize the importance of a systemic approach to digital citizenship education as part of teaching and learning in schools today.  I believe that the skills and ethics tied to digital citizenship are foundational to implementing technology. Fortunately, Indiana has Computer Science standards for grades K-8 that cover much of ISTE’s Standard 5 for Students. The Indiana indicator is called Impact and Culture. And isn’t that what DigCit is all about in a nutshell?"