Digital Citizenship in the Music Room

In my classroom, all my students in the third grade and up can regularly bring an iPad with them to music.  Be still my heart!  The possibilities of what technology can offer for music class are numerous.  Also, the kids that are not excited about general music class, are excited about technology.  Put a lesson on an iPad and students are immediately engaged.  It's a very exciting time.  However, as we use technology more and more, a whole new level is added to what we need to teach our students:  Digital Citizenship.

Mike Ribbel from www.digitalcitizenship.net (n.d.) explains.

Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use.  Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology but not sure what to do. The issue is more than what the users do not know but what is considered appropriate technology usage.

Digital citizenship should be taught at the same time as the student is learning how to operate the technology.  When a child is small, we teach them to share their toys, be nice to others, and to stay away from a hot flame.  It is the same with digital citizenship.  We are still teaching kids how to share their devices, how to be nice when communicating with others on the internet, and how to stay away from fire (like strangers or computer viruses).   In music class, we have a unique opportunity to discuss specific digital citizenship issues that may not come up in a regular classroom.

Through discussions with my own students, I have found many of them are truly unaware of how often they or a family member are breaking copyright laws through music and video piracy.  What can a music teacher do to help?  

• Every teacher can, at the very least, be a good role model by using audio and video clips correctly.  
• By making a point to give credit to original artists and composers, etc, you can bring home the idea that these things belong to someone and that they have value.  
• As part of a composition project, make sure each student puts his or her name on their composition.  Let them know that they own the rights to their own composition.   
• Finally, incorporate an actual lesson on digital citizenship emphasizing why we have copyright laws, and what students can do to protect themselves and honor the rights of their favorite musicians.  

Copyright is a pretty complex field for a teacher, much less the student.  A great resource for all things related to digital citizenship is www.CommonSenseMedia.org.  Check out the link below for a search on their website of copyright resources from videos to lesson plans.  
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/search/copyright


Resources:

Common Sense Media. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2016, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/  

Ribble, M. (n.d.). Digital Citizenship. Retrieved October 29, 2016, from http://digitalcitizenship.net/