Teachers as digital citizens: The influence of individual backgrounds, internet use and psychological characteristics on teachers' levels of digital citizenship

The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence teachers' levels of digital citizenship, defined in terms of individuals' thinking, skills, and behaviors with regard to Internet use. Variables included: (1) teachers' individual backgrounds (age, gender, years of work experience, years of teaching experience, subject, and teaching level); (2) Internet use (where to obtain information, the main purpose of using the Internet, and use of SNSs for teaching); and (3) psychological characteristics (Internet self-efficacy and Internet anxiety). The study unfolded in four phases. First, an in-depth literature view identified a need to study classroom teachers' perception of themselves as digital citizens in relation to use of the Internet. Next, 348 in-service classroom teachers were recruited from high need, hard to staff U.S. school district and completed a validated survey. Then, descriptive, correlation, and multiple regression analyses revealed three findings: (1) teachers demonstrated relatively lower levels of two Digital Citizenship sub-factors, Internet Political Activism and Critical Perspective; (2) there was a strong relation between Internet self-efficacy and Digital Citizenship; and (3) three variables (years of work experience, use of SNSs for teaching, and Internet self-efficacy) significantly influenced teachers' perceptions of digital citizenship. Last, this study offers recommendations to equip educators with knowledge, skills, and behaviors as digital citizens in the current digital and global age.