How Are They Linked & Why Are They Important?

The most important aspect of understanding digital citizenship and the usage of technology is the rate of advancement.

Consider the following statement from http://www.shifthappens.wikispaces.com 

             We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.

Cyber safety and digital citizenship are joined in the curriculum under the strand 

'4.5: Use ICT Safely, Responsibly and Ethically' which is linked to the ICT General Capability by
'Apply Social and Ethical Protocols and Practices'

To use ICT safely students will be considering each and every aspect of their usage of technology, encompassing every part of their life, provided with situations such as future employment and friendships based from what they create now. 

To use ICT responsibly students will be considering how their role as a digital citizen can affect not only themselves, but others as well. Students will be able to protect themselves from situations that may arise causing distress to others. Student understanding can be assisted with knowledge of different cultures and the ways they interact with each other.

To use ICT ethically students will take a deeper look into the effects of their digital citizenship, and what it means to others. Students will become aware of differences across the globe such as time, culture, and clothing to help them understand that different countries share different views and must be respected when using technology to share an opinion.

Through those three sections of the curriculum strand, we are able to see many links to the ICT General Capability, which demonstrates the importance between the two!

By becoming a digital citizen we must apply social and ethical protocols and practices into our usage of technology, or we are losing our connection with safe and responsible usage of communication.