Written by UnisonEDU member, Monica Starkweather. Connect with her at @monstar_01 on Twitter.
With all things virtual for many public schools, it is a great time to reinforce or introduce the concept of digital citizenship. October 19 - 23rd is also #DigitalCitizenshipWeek! If you have wondered what exactly digital citizenship means, ISTE emphasizes that the concept is much more than a list of Do’s and Don’ts.
“It’s about being active citizens who see possibilities instead of problems and opportunities instead of risks as they curate a positive and effective digital footprint.”
Searching for resources and lesson ideas can lead you down a rabbit hole, leaving a multitude of digital footprints! Going down that rabbit hole can be fun, albeit time consuming. If you’re not personally up for the sifting through of all things #digcit, here are a few options spanning the grade levels:
Allow students to work through this Virtual Breakout! The footer section of the site also houses links needed to ‘unlock the treasure chest.’ This particular one is also a great review for adults! I may or may not have needed another attempt with some clues!
Common Sense Media has Digital Citizenship Curriculum options for grades K-12, including a catchy, potentially annoying pledge/ song for the younger grades. Lessons can be filtered by grade level and/or topic or you can check out an overview of the curriculum for starters.
Referring to digital citizenship as ‘digital and literacy skills,’ Teaching Tolerance provides a framework for educators that is broken into 7 key areas with more specific examples of student behaviors underneath. Each skill in the framework is linked to corresponding lessons. The site also highlights “The Mind Online” podcast which explores the critical aspects of digital literacy that shape how we create and consume content online.
Timely and likely more useful for high school students, the Newseum has an EDCollection that helps students navigate today’s information universe. While daunting even for many of us, Newseum’s resources help students determine straight news pieces versus opinions and identify biases in sources. The visual provided for effective searching is helpful for students to grasp formulating questions for research.
Cyberbullying is an important component of digital citizenship and absolutely necessary given our virtual learning situations. Kids Helpline is an amazing site from Australia that has great visuals and resources for cyberbullying for both elementary and high school. It is important to note that this form of bullying can occur in chats, so monitor those as well if you are not turning this feature off.
