SEL Infused Digital Citizenship and Cyber Ethics - Addressing Risks and Understanding Responsibilities

Abstract

Purpose: Right from the birth of a child parents always look for ways to teach their child to be ethical. The majority of values we have as an adult were established in us during our early years. With the advancement of technology, it has become more crucial than ever to teach our children cyber ethics in the same manner that we teach real-world ethics. The term “cyber ethics” refers to a set of guidelines for appropriate and responsible online behaviour. Children must understand that accessibility of cyberspaces or devices is their privilege as well as rights but with rights come responsibilities too. If responsibilities are not taken care of, they may lead to unethical use of cyberspace and at the time being a victim of cyber-crimes/ bullying and compromising academic integrity. Although an important part of life, teachers often struggle to fit cyber ethics into their content-rich classes. This research aims to study the relationship between digital citizenship and cyber literacy to help students evolve as digital citizens who perform ethical practices.

Research/Methodology/Approach: The study adopted the quantitative research methodology particularly survey research. The random sampling method was used. 121 respondents filled out the survey.

Findings: The result from this study provided an insight into the urgent need to address digital citizenship and cyber literacy by integrating the same in disciplinary learning too.

Originality/Value: SEL infused Digital Citizenship model has been proposed to establish a culture of cyber well-being and responsible online behaviour in an increasingly networked society

Paper Type: Empirical Research Paper