#8 Tech Training & Digital Citizenship for Young Learners (6-10 years old)

Some people argue kids shouldn't go anywhere near the Internet, particularly YouTube. The videos watched are no good and the trash in the comments sections is appalling. And all these iPads, these phones, screen time, games - all this tech use by kids is harming them...

There is, no doubt, some truth to this. So surely in a school setting we should just ban the use of all this corrupting technology, right? Get back to basics.

Well, that is one way to look at it. However, is it not better to get students taking advantage of the benefits of being online and using technology and not just focus on the negatives? If young learners are given good guidance and practice on how to us the Internet, and how to communicate with others online, AND gain technology skills which will be invaluable to them as they progress through life, then 'technology' can be a great tool. Unfortunately, even with training, not all kids will grow up to be responsible users of the Internet. There will be trolls no matter what. But if you set up good digital citizenship literacy and tech training for your students in your school, you can hopefully instill in most of your students a sense of digital competence and responsibility.

So how, exactly, can you do this with younger learners?

At my school, once we started acquiring and using iPads back in 2018 we realized we needed to train students to be able to complete specific tech tasks at specific year levels. The youngest students needed to learn how to navigate around the basic functions of an iPad. Students at this year level also needed some indoctrination with regards to iPad etiquette: taking turns, folding the iPad when the teacher was talking etc. So we built a series of lessons to be conducted at the beginning of each school year for them. And another set of gradually more challenging task-based tech training activities for students at the P2 and P3 and P4 level. This proved to be a solid foundation for our students.

Then the pandemic arrived...

Over the past couple of years, having gone through the experience of teaching and learning online during the pandemic both teachers, students and parents became pretty efficient and competent at using various tech platforms. Using Zoom and Google Classroom became the norm. Most students were able to use both these platforms in a responsible way, but sometimes some students lapsed. As we prepare for the 2022-23 academic year, we decided to add in some more concrete Digital Citizenship steps in our start-of-year tech training for our students. This includes some year-levelled resources for online responsibility and also a new Google Classroom Student contract. 

The updated document is here. It's specific to our school and our students. But, if you are looking for ideas on tech training and Digital Citizenship for the younger learners, this may be helpful:

 iPaddling Licenses Document


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