Navigating the Internet with Exceptional Students

(Digital Citizenship- Education 2020, n.d.)

Guidance is kindness. Our learners need guidance to help them navigate the various facets of the Internet. Oh, they will think they are already experts because that iPhone rarely leaves their line of sight but, social media savvy does not a netiquette expert make. 

(Goldberg 2016)

Communication is much more than the spoken word. Our students have a vernacular that is sometimes foreign to the adults around them. But the adults around them need to be tuned in to teaching learners to be smart about what they share online, how they share it, and how they protect their online reputation. There is no 'delete' once something has been shared online. 

Virginia Shea’s "Core Rules of Netiquette” was written in 1994. The internet was a baby at that point. The anchoring rule is “remember the human” and I feel that as a Learning Support Teacher, this is the most important place for me to build capacity for safe online citizenship. Shea’s rule 2 regarding acting online as you act in real life has been blurred past the point of recognition in 2023. Keyboard warriors (Ooi, Lee, Hew, & Lin 2021) are poised to strike, and cyberbullying abounds. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a middle school educator who has not had their lesson interrupted by a ding, chat, snap, TikTok, etc. So many students stare down at their laps thinking they are stealthy in their ability to hide phones:

(No Cell Phone Meme, n.d.)

The sad fact is, there is a dark side to the internet. I support learners who are exceptional in their needs. These learners need to know the If/Then with the dark side of posts and sharing. Not everyone on the internet is kind, honest, or good. It is my responsibility to work with parents/caregivers to ensure these boundaries are timely, age-appropriate, and ability respectful. 

(Grandma Finds the Internet, n.d.)

A good way to work with your students would be to have them make a video outlining what is expected of them within online usage time. A great video to model is this one from East Lab (2014): 

(East Lab, 2014)

References:

Digital Citizenship- Education 2020. (n.d.). https://k3hamilton.com/ED/digital-citizen.html

East Lab. (2014, October 8). Netiquette Only Lesson [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xlCNy37mI

Goldberg, C. (2016, July 21). 15 Rules of Netiquette for Online Discussion Boards [INFOGRAPHIC]. Online Education Blog of Touro College. https://blogs.onlineeducation.touro.edu/15-rules-netiquette-online-discussion-boards/

Grandma Finds The Internet. (n.d.). Imgflip. https://imgflip.com/i/1188yk

No Cell Phone Meme. (n.d.). TPT. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/No-Cell-Phone-Meme-4864284

Ooi, K. B., Lee, V. H., Hew, J. J., & Lin, B. (2019). Mobile Social Cyberbullying: Why are Keyboard Warriors Raging? Journal of Computer Information Systems, 61(4), 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2019.1679685

Shea, Virginia. "Core Rules of Netiquette." Educom Review 29.5 (1994): 58-62.