Digital Citizenship, Ethics and Awareness
Our Perspective
In compliance with its mission and principles, Hisar School has prioritized approaches that are adaptable to any change and challenging conditions, allowing a flexible and communicative structure, without compromising on scientific approaches. These priorities require that face-to-face, online, synchronous, and asynchronous learning tools and strategies to be planned and used as a whole in order to achieve high-level learning experiences in all academic processes.
Hisar School Information Strategies Policy reflects our perspective on carrying out education in a multi-channel approach and integrating technology into educational environments, explains the relevant processes, and defines the roles and responsibilities of our teachers, students, and parents. We aim for our students to achieve the relevant skills by embracing the curriculum, approaches, and practices necessitated by the current digital age. “Digital Citizenship and Awareness” is one of our key concepts in order for our students to use technology safely, responsibly, and with awareness in addition to activities that support their productivity and creativity skills.
Global Digital Citizenship
We live in a new reality that encapsulates the digital and real world, thus digital citizenship has now become a component of global citizenship and has the capacity of impacting our identity in no small measure, us being the members of the global community. The concept of “Global Digital Citizen” addresses how we participate in and contribute to the physical and digital world and how we can take part in the digital world in this new reality.
Common Sense School
At Hisar School, our activities on digital citizenship are regularly accredited by Common Sense Education, the most important organization worldwide in this field since 2016. As a Common Sense accredited school, our students are expected to show sensitivity to digital citizenship, ethics and awareness, and the process is managed meticulously.
In line with this concept and through the Common Sense Digital Citizenship curriculum, the following topics are covered in all computer education courses at the K12 level:
- Balance in Media and Wellbeing
- Privacy and Security
- Digital Footprint and Identity
- Relationships and Communication
- Cyberbullying, Digital Drama, and Hate Speech
- News and Media Literacy
With an approach that acknowledges international educational technology policies and standards, the roles of students and educators are defined by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as shown in the table below.
| ISTE Standards for Educators | Learner | Leader | Digital Citizen | Collaborator | Designer | Facilitator | Analyst |
| ISTE Standards for Students | Empowered Learner | Digital Citizen | Knowledge Constructor | Innovative Designer | Computational Thinker | Creative Communicator | Global Collaborator |
Under ISTE Standards, educators encourage students to contribute positively to the digital world and to be digitally ethical and responsible.
- Educators provide opportunities for students to engage in relationships and community that facilitate positive experiences, be socially responsible, and demonstrate empathetic behavior online.
- Educators create a learning culture that encourages curiosity and critical examination of online resources, digital literacy, and media fluency.
- Educators share safe, legal and ethical practices with students through digital tools and provide guidance on protecting their intellectual property and rights.
- Educators model and promote personal data and digital identity management, protecting their students’ data privacy.
Under the ISTE Standards, students are aware of the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world. Accordingly, they act in safe, legal and ethical ways and become models to those around them.
- Students are aware of the permanence of their digital identity and their actions in the digital world.
- Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including in social interactions online.
- Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
- Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security and are aware of data-collection technology online.
1:1 iPad & BYOD: Bring Your Own Device programs, which have been implemented at the middle and high schools since 2011 and primary school since 2021, directly affect the academic processes. Our goal is to ensure that our academic program is implemented effectively on all platforms using the appropriate technologies. These programs are implemented in accordance with the usage rules acceptable to the entire Hisar community.
Hisar School Information Strategies Policy, acceptable usage rules are detailed under the roles and responsibilities of our students, teachers and parents. All Hisar School teachers and students are expected to comply with the Hisar School Information Strategies Policy.
Use of Technology: Roles and Responsibilities Poster / Primary School
Use of Technology: Roles and Responsibilities Poster / Middle School
Use of Technology: Roles and Responsibilities Poster / High School
iPad Usage Rules – Primary School
For Parents
Below, you can find the links for the “Social Media: Family Agreements” created by Common Sense Education in order to support the entire process carried out at our school. These agreements will guide you in topics that you may discuss with your children with regard to the concept of “Digital Citizenship and Awareness”. You can review those documents together, discuss the articles in the agreement and sign it with your child if you wish.
Social Media Family Agreement K-5
Social Media Family Agreement 6-8
Social Media Family Agreement 9-12
We also would like to share with you additional resources which might help you with “Digital Citizenship and Awareness”.
Digital Citizenship Guide for Parents
Academic integrity requires accessing and presenting information in an objective, authentic, accurate, and principled manner. Hisar School recognizes the significance of the principles of Academic Integrity to raise individuals for the community and the world who follow the scientific method in all their academic studies. Hisar School also undertakes the mission of creating this awareness and academic ethics. All Hisar School teachers and students are expected to comply with the Academic Integrity Policy.
Academic Content:
Materials opened to sharing by Hisar School are published on our website for the access of all users as part of the open source approach. All materials shared via the content management systems (Google Classroom) include the academic processes among the relevant course, teacher, and student. Presentations, videos, working sheets, documents, exams, and other course-related materials within the intellectual property rights cannot be shared with third parties. Our school cares about the process of Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL). Clarification Texts are available on our website.
Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to machine-based systems that, given a set of goals defined by humans, can make predictions, recommendations, or decisions that affect real or virtual environments. (UNICEF, 2021) Hisar School recognizes that AI technologies have the potential to support and enhance personalized and differentiated learning in educational settings, but believes it is a priority to ensure that the use of these technologies is consistent with ethical considerations.
Hisar School takes into account the “acceptable use rules” for the use of AI tools. This approach refers to the ethical, responsible and intended use of AI technologies to support learning and is based on students producing their own original work.
For this purpose, Hisar School Academic Integrity Policy has been updated with the addition of “Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence” section.
We want our students to become individuals who are able to criticize the information and communication channels they use, assess the accuracy of the information acquired, acknowledge the ethical consequences of their acts online, take personal safety measures, and respect the rights of others. Accordingly, we integrate international “digital citizenship” curricula into our courses. You can access the orientation presentations we share with our students via the links below.
Digital Citizenship and Awareness Presentation – Primary School
Digital Citizenship and Awareness Presentation – Middle School
Digital Citizenship and Awareness Presentation – High School
Please click here for references.