“	Citizenship is a status that is bestowed on those who are full members of a community.	”
—T.H. Marshall

Before attempting to define “digital citizenship“, it is worth considering the concept of “citizenship” in its own right.

In its simplest form, citizenship refers to the rights, privileges and duties of being a national citizen. However, the concept of being a “good citizen” encompasses much more, particularly if you think about full engagement as a member of society.

Good citizenship

Reflection

If good citizenship means to fulfil your role as citizen, can you think of five things that “good” citizens do? Consider the following questions:

In a digital world is loyalty to your country a necessary component of the definition of good citizenship?
Is education a pre-requisite for good citizenship?
In a digital world, what does it mean to be a global citizen? (See for example, the Wikipedia article on Global citizenship education where learners engage in solving real world problems.)
Has the concept of good citizenship changed over time? In what ways?
Does citizenship require active community engagement? (See for example, this post by Kristen Mattson, Director of a high school Library Media Center: John Dewey Would Hate Your Digital Citizenship Curriculum.)
Why has the concept “digital” been linked with “citizenship” or should we drop the word “digital” and just talk about good citizenship?

Personal description of "Digital citizenship"

Write down a description of “digital citizenship” in your own words. (You will need this later for the learning challenge for this pathway. It doesn’t need to be a scholarly definition – just your personal thoughts on the concept.)
Optional. If you like, please share your personal description of “Digital citizenship” by posting a comment on WENotes. It will be interesting to see what members of our learning community think. For example:
For me, digital citizenship is …

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