Redefining digital citizenship for the AI age

Laurel: Well, and welcome everyone for our next webinar in our unstoppable series here from Kami. I am Laurel Aguilar Kirchhoff. I am excited, so excited to be your host today.

This is a subject today about digital citizenship. We’re going to be diving in and taking a look at what Digit means.

As the world is changing just as rapidly as we can report on it, we know tech has completely reshaped our world already, but our conversation today is with Doctor. Kristen Matson, who is an ISTE author. She is a leading voice in digital citizenship, and we are going to talk about how we can empower our students to be active, ethical, digital citizenship digital citizens. Wow.

I can talk today. That’s right. It’s Friday. In this digital age and Kristen, doctor Matson, thank you so much for being here.

Kristen: Thanks for inviting me. So fun to see you.

Laurel: It’s fun to see you too. I know, for those of you that don’t know us, can you explain a little bit about your work in Digital Citizenship and just this whole area, because I know that you are an expert and a leading author here and we want everyone to to know a little bit more about you.

Kristen: Yeah. I have been in the digital citizenship space since about twenty twelve when I had some administrators tap me and my fellow librarians on the shoulder and say, Hey, we have to do this thing and it’s called digital citizenship. And we think you all could lead that work. And I think that’s a familiar feeling for a lot of school librarians who often are tapped with digital citizenship. And in twenty twelve, when we got that call, digital citizenship looked very, very different than it does today.

It reminded me a lot of abstinence only sex ed. It reminded me a little bit of DARE Education, we have any other fellow 90s kids in the room, where a lot of the conversation was like, don’t, don’t, don’t, and the internet is a scary place. And as a school librarian who wanted kids to be well versed in how to use the internet, it felt really counterintuitive to talk about it in such a scary, like stranger danger sort of way.

So while working on my dissertation, I decided that was going to be my area of focus and it has been a topic that has stuck with me ever since. So my goal, I guess, in making it the focus of my work was to help reshape and redefine the conversation.

And every time I think we’re making some movements in that space, the digital world changes again and we’re renegotiating the definitions which is fine. It’s going to keep me in business for a while, I think.

Laurel: Well, and I think it’s interesting that you say that because even when I started really getting involved in digital citizenship which was far aft not not far, but in the educational world and definitely in the in the digital spaces, I didn’t really get involved in Digicit until about twenty seventeen, where I was also kind of voluntold Yes.

By an administrator, that I was going to be leading this charge not as a librarian, but through our history department. And so it was very much like, you need to go through this checklist. We have to meet our e rate compliance with these lessons, and I had no idea what E Rate was. And these lessons were just these stand alone, like you mentioned, just this checklist of everything what not to do. Right.

So the idea of flipping that script and taking a look at digital citizenship instead of as this scary, like you said, I love that stranger danger, which, of course I mean, we want our students to be safe. Like, you know that. I know that. Everybody that’s on this go away. Doesn’t go away. We want our students to be safe, but the idea lends itself more. And I’d love to hear your thoughts about participatory digital citizenship and getting our students involved in this conversation rather than just this checklist of what not to do.

Kristen: Yeah, it’s weird because we’ve had pendulum swings like everything else in education. I think we went through a phase where we realized that the don’t don’t don’ts weren’t really working and that seemed to kind of follow a lot of educators like you and I were connected online before we were ever connected in real life. That’s true. But there was a phase of time there where I think a lot of educators were flocking to spaces like LinkedIn and Twitter and connecting with each other and finding a lot of community and support online.

The conversation shifted to, wow, we should really empower our kids to do this same kind of collaborating that we’re all doing. So I definitely think the pendulum swung very far over. And we started seeing messages like, teach kids how to brand themselves so that when they are searched online they have a positive digital footprint.

We saw like elementary classrooms who were creating social media accounts and kids were given the classroom job of social media manager. So we definitely saw that swing.

And now I think we’re settling back in sort of this middle space, which I always feel like is the best space to be.

The extremes are never great. But this middle space, I think helps us recognize that digital citizenship can’t be a whole bunch of don’ts, it can’t just be a whole bunch of dos. What it really needs to be is an invitation to help students think critically. The technology is going to change faster than our curriculum will ever be able to keep up with it.

And so I’m a big fan of helping students see pros and cons, helping them think critically through the decisions that they’re making, and then empowering them to make wise decisions for themselves.

Laurel: That’s a big shift.

Kristen: No, I, that’s a huge shift and you’re right. We definitely did see that pendulums being where we had, you know, you weren’t as a teacher, you weren’t fully embracing technology if you didn’t have your students Skyping with another class across the world or or or which are those are really great ways that we can make our you know, we’re our students are global citizens and how do we get them, you know, to understand that they can use technology in these really positive, empowering ways.

But I love what you said there because being back in the middle. I think, and I have conversations about this a lot as, you know, while technology changes, while things are coming at us faster than we as adults can process, how do we make this accessible to our students? I look at digital citizenship and media literacy as evergreen. This is our foundation. It doesn’t change. It’s what we build on.

But I’m curious about if if I’m a leader and and I’m an maybe a new district leader or building leader or just someone like you that you were a a librarian that was leading this charge.

What does this look like in practice? Where we start? Where do we I mean, it’s overwhelming, right?

Where do we go It’s so overwhelming.

Kristen: It’s so overwhelming. And I think post pandemic is when people kind of woke up to the overwhelm.

I was contacted by lots of different people who said, we thought we were doing this digital citizenship thing right. And then we got our kids online during the pandemic and we were like, wow, these kids don’t know what they’re doing at all on the internet.

So yeah, post pandemic, I think a lot of people were worried about not only digital safety, like you mentioned, but we had new concerns about social and emotional well-being.

Not only how are our kids readjusting to being back in schools in person, but what does that social and emotional component look like when they’re in online communities too?

We think a lot about, like you said, the social responsibility of just being part of a digital community.

Laurel: Yeah, we want you to make a positive impact. Yes, we want you to positively influence your communities, but that doesn’t happen by mistake or by accident. That’s a skill that really has to be taught.

And then of course we talk about media literacy, which for me is the language of digital citizenship. If I am a member of a community, I have to be able to speak the language of that community to fully participate in it.

So these four big umbrella areas I think are so important for people to consider.

Those things aren’t necessarily the first to come to mind when you say digital citizenship. We tend to go back to, like you said, that checklist for compliance that helps us kind of do our due diligence.

Post pandemic, I got to work with school librarians in Tacoma, Washington, and they had heard the concerns of their teachers, their administrators about just the lack of digital social skills for lack of a better way of putting it.

And they recognize like a lot of people do that these scattershot, one off kind of approaches to covering the topic just really weren’t super effective.

So that group of librarians got together and I was lucky enough to be called in to consult with them alongside of my colleague, Doctor. Leanne Lindsay. And we looked very closely at the state standards, the local standards, the curriculum that was already in place. And we figured out a way to scaffold these skills, K-twelve, all woven throughout lots of different content areas, not just library, not just social studies.

Kristen: Yes.

Laurel: Everybody has to own that work. Now, was long, arduous work to think about what that looked like but it was such good work and what came out of it was a really big K-twelve picture. They wanted their graduates to be these well rounded digital citizens, and now they had a plan to do it.

So Doctor. Lindsey and I, we were like, this work is really good. I think we should share this work with other people.

So we took about another six months after that process and tried to create a similar model that was not specific to one particular community, it was a little more global.

So is it okay if I show them our framework?

Kristen: I would love to see your framework. I think everyone would love to see this. This is because this is a great place to start. Right?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Yep. We have some research based resources that so, yes, share away. I’m excited.

Laurel: So our framework lives at teach digit dot com slash framework. It’s a free download. It’s it’s a big fat girl. It’s, like, thirty five pages long.

It’s not it’s not a small document, but it is a very Just really quickly. Yeah you said it’s free but I’m just making sure everyone understands like this is free yes that’s so exciting and I will say it’s not a silver bullet like before a silver bullet I’d be on a beach with a margarita instead of here with you laurel no offense That’s alright.

Kristen: No take it.

But it’s a really great starting point to begin doing this work. You can get it on the website and I’m going to show you just a little bit of it if that’s okay.

Laurel: Yes, please and thank you.

Kristen: You’re welcome.

I am not as great with this screen sharing as I am with other Well, while you’re pulling that up, this kind of lends me to think about, you mentioned this idea of it doesn’t live in one space.

I think that idea of building the collective efficacy of all of our teachers and staff on how and what digital citizenship is and then what part can we play in it is a huge piece of building a culture of digital citizenship instead of like you said just this one off idea, okay, we’re going to do this really quick E rate compliance lesson and get on with it. Right.

Laurel: No, I love that.

Thank you. And what was so important for not only the librarians in Tacoma, but for Doctor. Lindsey and I when we built this work was to identify places where all people could kind of own this work. As you dive through the framework, it really offers a potential scaffold of skills.

What does it look like?

We can even start with digital safety. What does it look like to understand that there are laws and rules and norms that govern our digital spaces? For a kindergartener, that’s as easy as don’t bring your iPad to the bathroom. That’s a very easy rule to follow.

But by the time our kids are in high school and they’re asking questions about, wait, can the US government actually ban TikTok? There are some deep critical thinking that has to happen there around these questions of how is our legal system handling current technology issues? Do our current laws support our current digital space? And I know you as a former social studies teacher would love to dive into some inquiries with your students around those But it takes a lot to get a kid from, don’t bring your iPad to the bathroom to, what is the government doing about TikTok?

So every enduring understanding in the framework has this potential ladder of skills that can help people think about what it looks like to build that over time as opposed to, like you said, just this one off sort of scattershot approach.

The piece that I really love about it is that every section is followed by a page of standards alignment. And so while the ISTE standards feel really natural, because there are ed tech standards and the AASL standards for school librarians also feel very natural because we do this work. We also found connections and tie ins to things like common core literacy and yes the National Social Studies Standards and the National Health Education Standards. So We Are Possible. We really wanted to show people how they can play a part in this work too.

Laurel: I love that so much. You’re speaking my standards, my digital citizenship language, but I think one of the things that you said that stood out to me when you called it a ladder Yeah.

Kristen: Yeah. Yeah.

Is is thinking of that we don’t have to do this work alone.

It’s something that we can do and help. And that’s cognitively and social emotionally appropriate at the grade level, but we can scaffold it for our students as they’re going through. That way we’re not putting out fires later when kids are doing things that kids do because they don’t have the full understanding, but we can work toward those goals. And I just love that idea of a ladder and that we’re all working together.

It’s just really From a leadership perspective, of course, it’s nice to have a plan, an approach, To move your students from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade.

But I think as a practitioner, it’s also helpful to have some sort of anchor that I can grab on to. When I ask math teachers, hey, what do you teach? They don’t list a textbook publisher. Oh, I teach you know, McMillan or whoever publishes math textbooks these days.

That’s not what they do, right? They talk about math skills. They talk about math concepts. Those are the things that they teach and yet for a very long time, when you ask people if they teach digital citizenship, they will often reference free, readily available curricular resources that they can find online.

And these aren’t bad resources. Many of them are wonderful resources, but too often those resources are taken and they’re sort of utilized in ways that are not intentional. So we’re all going to stop on a Tuesday during homeroom and handle this twenty minute lesson on password safety, and then we’re never going to talk about it again.

That approach just doesn’t stick.

We know that from a teaching and learning perspective. So I think thinking about digital citizenship in the ways that we think about reading and writing and social studies and math, we have intentionality with all those other subject areas.

What the framework does is it tries to provide a place for people to start thinking about a more intentional approach.

Laurel: And I love that. And I really I’m I I know I interrupted you earlier because I was like, wait. Wait. Wait. You said this was free? Which Yeah. Me, I just I appreciate it because I know I think clearly it’s it’s, well, I know it’s well researched because I know your body of work and the work that you’ve done writing very detailed and informative books for ISTE about digital citizenship, about digital ethics.

And you’re one of the the leading experts leading this charge, but just the fact that you’re providing it, and it’s something free and accessible that a leader could go. If nowhere else, where do you start? Yeah. Take a look at the guide.

That’s where you start. And there have been some really, really cool implementations of that framework in different places. It’s really actually kind of fun to see people grab onto it and make it their own and make it something that works for them and for their learners.

Can I shout out a couple of folks?

Kristen: Of course.

I’d love to shout out a couple of folks.

The Kentucky Department of Education, and I saw some folks from Kentucky who are here in the webinar, they have actually utilized that framework for their statewide approach to digital citizenship. And so they have created a digital driver’s license that is a free student facing resource that introduces them to these different elements of our framework and some of the skills and concepts that are inside of it.

They have created professional development approaches around that framework as well. And what I like about it is that they’ve consistified, is that the word I’m looking for? The language of digital citizenship.

They have students, teachers, administrators, families, all speaking with the same vocabulary and working toward the same skills because everything that they’re creating under that umbrella is written through the language of the framework, which I just think is important to start to consistify, that’s the word, the vocabulary and the language of whatever it is that you’re trying to roll out.

Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska has also grabbed onto our framework and has used it to create their K-twelve approach to digital citizenship education.

And while it started off in the library space, I’m going to share my screen again because they’ve done some awesome work and I should shout it out.

This started off as a project of their school librarians who have traditionally sort of owned digital citizenship, but they really wanted to make their approach more systemic so that all kids, regardless of what elementary school they were in in the district, regardless of who their middle school librarian was, all kids got the same digital citizenship lessons, concepts, and skills. So you’ll notice that they have all of their lessons aligned around these different elements of our framework. They used that to pick and pull skills that were important for them in their community.

This entire curriculum exists for all of their librarians to utilize. Now they do a really great mix of pulling in already published resources by publishers that a lot of our listeners probably utilize and also creating things themselves as a team to really get at the skills within the framework.

I love how they utilize picture books as an avenue to start to teach these topics.

They’re doing a great job of marrying their goals around literacy and reading and all those things that librarians care about and doing the digital citizenship stuff simultaneously.

Now at the high school level and the middle school level where the librarians don’t always get direct access to kids, they’ve sat down and have intentionally figured out where does this work, where does this fit, And when?

So it isn’t just the librarian will take care of it at some point in the year. It’s like, no, here’s the skill.

Here’s the skill, and we’re going to go into the health classroom during unit five, and we’re going to make sure that our kids are getting these lessons in their seventh grade health classroom during unit five. We’re going to jump into the social studies or the science classrooms, and we’re going to make sure that all kids are getting access to these lessons. So lots of work here by the Lincoln Public School librarians, but they’ve done their due diligence of making sure that all kids regardless of the building they’re in or the librarian that they have are getting a well rounded digital citizenship experience.

Laurel: These are amazing and I know this this is just showing such intentionality of building that culture. And I and I like what you said about we’re all speaking the same language because I think that that is really important. Definitions matter.

Kristen: Yes.

And when we are not clear on our definitions, that’s when confusion and, you know, misalignment to our we might have the best goal in the world, but if I say, well you know, I say this word and you’re like, oh, I think it means this. And I think yeah. You know?

We’re never gonna actually make progress towards towards those goals. Yeah.

So that’s why something like the framework can be a guide. It can be a starting place.

Laurel: That’s Yeah. Amazing. I I love it, I’m so excited.

Kristen: And another piece I want to highlight is that our framework is not just for students. I think a lot of people immediately think, oh, digital citizenship is for kids. And yes, it is, but if we don’t give adults guidance and support, we can’t expect them to model or facilitate it effectively.

Laurel: Yes, yes. Adults have to be fluent too. If they’re learning alongside kids, it’s much more authentic.

Kristen: Exactly. So we encourage professional development for teachers, librarians, administrators, and even parents. When the adults are aligned, the impact on students is much stronger.

Laurel: And I love how you’ve woven that into your work. I’ve seen districts take the framework and run with it in really creative ways. Some do parent workshops, some have ongoing teacher learning communities around these topics. It becomes a living, breathing framework rather than just a document.

Kristen: Absolutely. And I think that’s key. Digital citizenship can’t just be a one-off lesson or an isolated program. It has to be integrated into the culture of a school or district.

Laurel: That makes so much sense. And the idea of scaffolding skills over K-12 really resonates with me. You can’t expect a first grader to understand TikTok algorithms or data privacy laws, but you can start with very simple concepts that grow with them over time.

Kristen: Yes. And it’s also about giving them ownership. As students get older, they can participate in creating community norms, teaching younger students, and even leading discussions. That’s participatory digital citizenship in action.

Laurel: I love that. Ownership is key. So instead of just telling students what to do, we’re empowering them to make thoughtful choices online.

Kristen: Exactly. And we can give them tools to critically evaluate information, communicate respectfully, and manage their digital footprint responsibly. Those are lifelong skills.

Laurel: Definitely. And I think that’s where media literacy intersects, right? It’s the language of digital citizenship. If students can’t read, analyze, or evaluate the content they see online, they can’t fully participate responsibly in digital communities.

Kristen: Absolutely. Media literacy is foundational. And when we pair it with the other pillars—digital safety, ethics, and community engagement—we give students a robust toolkit.

Laurel: So, Kristen, for teachers or districts who feel overwhelmed, what’s the first practical step they should take to start implementing this framework?

Kristen: I always recommend starting with an audit. Look at what your school is already doing in terms of digital citizenship. Identify gaps. Then pick one manageable area to focus on—maybe it’s digital safety or responsible communication. Use the framework to guide your goals, then gradually expand.

Laurel: That makes sense. Start small, scale intentionally, and keep everyone involved.

Kristen: Exactly. And document it. Track progress, celebrate successes, and share stories. That encourages buy-in from all stakeholders.

Laurel: That’s a great point. Sometimes the wins aren’t big, but sharing them can inspire others.

Kristen: Definitely. And it also reinforces that digital citizenship isn’t a one-time project—it’s ongoing work.

Laurel: I love that. Ongoing work, scalable, integrated, and participatory. That’s a great way to summarize this whole conversation.

Kristen: Thanks, Laurel. And I encourage anyone watching to explore the framework at teachdigit.com/framework. It’s free, it’s research-based, and it’s a solid starting point for both teachers and administrators.

Laurel: Amazing. Thank you so much, Kristen, for sharing your expertise and your framework with us today. This has been incredibly valuable.

Kristen: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.

Laurel: And thanks to everyone who joined the webinar. We hope you feel inspired to take the first steps in building a strong digital citizenship culture in your schools.

Laurel: I do want to bring up the elephant in the room, which is actually the elephant in every single room that we walk into, or virtual room—AI.

Kristen: Oh, yes.

Laurel: It’s something that is on everyone’s mind. I want to just touch on it, and we don’t have to—this could be a whole another webinar—but the terminology, speaking of these terms and definitions. We have so many different literacies now. We have digital literacy, we have AI literacy. We just tack the word “literacy” onto an initiative to give it some legitimacy. And perhaps with me being a little more of a veteran teacher…

Kristen: Yes, we’re both there, Laurel. We’ve seen our fair share of literacies come and go.

Laurel: Yes, exactly. And when I think about AI and everything evolving so fast, I want to know your thoughts on how this will impact the future of digital citizenship. Should it? How should we approach it?

Kristen: Yes, it absolutely needs to be part of the conversation. Doctor Lindsey and I started working on an update to our framework. You know how that goes—you get a little busy, but you want to pull the relevant pieces and point them out to people, like, “Hey, we’ve got to be talking about AI too.”

Laurel: I love that.

Kristen: I’m not sure that AI is an entirely separate literacy. I do think there are elements we need to address and teach. First and foremost, vocabulary. We’ve been talking about this already. When I talk to teachers and administrators, I ask, “Are you all talking about AI in the same way?” Because I’m not sure that you are.

Starting with very basic questions: What are we talking about here? What do we want kids to know and be able to do? Then we layer it into what we’re already teaching. For example, in our Illinois school libraries, we use ISAIL standards. The letters “AI” appear nowhere in the standards, but librarians still need guidance on approaching the topic.

So instead of treating AI as a separate beast, I integrate it into existing objectives—like teaching students to seek information from diverse sources or teaching citation skills. AI is just one more tool layered in.

Laurel: I love that approach. That’s exactly how teachers and leaders can manage it without feeling overwhelmed. Slow and steady, integrate it into what they’re already doing.

Kristen: Exactly. Some aspects of digital safety still need direct teaching—like certain tools aren’t for a ten-year-old—but we don’t have to create a whole new curriculum just for AI.

Laurel: And it connects back to media literacy and critical thinking. Even if a student can identify AI content, they still need to evaluate purpose, messaging, and reliability.

Kristen: Exactly. Critical thinking is the foundation. Is this AI-generated post from the White House treated differently than a historical poster? Not really—analyzing intent, audience, and message is the same process.

Laurel: Yes, and it’s funny how people keep talking about “21st-century skills,” but we’re already living them! Critical thinking and digital participation are timeless.

Kristen: Absolutely. And students need to recognize when participation isn’t for them too—that’s an important skill.

Laurel: Can you share an example of students applying these skills?

Kristen: Sure! Last month, I worked with students in Nebraska at a digital citizenship symposium. Teams of high school and middle school students, guided by adults, came together to learn about AI chatbots and AI companions. We discussed elder care AI, relationship impacts, and ethical considerations.

By the end, some students decided their job wasn’t to teach about AI but to explore why some peers felt disconnected and were turning to AI for companionship. That shows empathy, critical thinking, and participatory digital citizenship in action.

Laurel: That is amazing. It really highlights the social-emotional aspect of digital citizenship—humanity, empathy, community.

Kristen: Exactly. The humanities are more important than ever, even in a digitally motivated world.

Laurel: So, in wrapping up, for leaders who are new or overwhelmed, what’s the first thing they can do tomorrow to start?

Kristen: Two things. First, know your community. The needs of Lincoln Public Schools may differ from another district. Second, start small. Pick a few key enduring understandings from the framework. Prioritize and scaffold them K-12.

Laurel: That’s practical. Start small, scale, and involve your community.

Kristen: And leverage existing resources, like Marty Park and Mike Ribble’s work. Also, involve your tech folks for safe practice spaces and ensure teachers have training.

Laurel: Great advice. Self-assessment for adults too, so everyone grows alongside students.

Kristen: Yes, better adults = better student support.

Laurel: Thank you so much, Kristen, for sharing your expertise, framework, and resources. This has been incredible.

Kristen: Thank you, Laurel. It’s been a pleasure.

Laurel: And thank you to everyone who tuned in! Explore the framework, lead boldly, and keep building strong digital citizenship in your schools.

Kristen: Thank you all!

Laurel: Bye!

Kristen: Bye!