Digital Citizenship

In this video, ISTE CEO and author of "Digital for Good" Richard Cullata makes the case that we should focus on what students should do and not what they should not do.  

To learn more about the Student ISTE Standards for Digital Citizenship, this YouTube playlist details each of standards and shows how teachers integrate the standards in their classrooms.  

You may have heard the terms Digital Citizenship and Digital Literacy.  Sometimes these terms are used interchangeably.  However, Digital Literacy is seen as being a component of Digital Citizenship.  

Digital Literacy: individuals that are “digitally literate” can locate relevant and reliable information, evaluate the reliability of sources, interpret the meaning of information, express ideas through creation, responsibly and safely communicate with others, and navigate digital spaces.

Digital Citizenship: individuals that are “good” digital citizens have strengths in these 5 competencies (as shown in the poster here): inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced, and alert.

Plainfield 202's Digital Citizenship Curriculum addresses each of the 5 competencies of Digital Citizenship with lessons to help our students develop the skills needed to be good digital citizens.

D202 Instructional Technology Coaches are excited to support teachers throughout the district as continue to implement the Digital Citizenship Curriculum.  We will use the lessons available from Common Sense for the majority of the lessons.  Teachers will need to create an account to access all of the lesson resources.  Please see these directions if you need help doing so.  Please remember that the ITCs are ready to assist you.

In a October 2022 ISTE blog post, author Shannon McClintock Miller identified several resources in “5 Awesome Resources for Learning About Digital Citizenship.”  Here are a few resources from the article to explore:

• Common Sense Media: free lessons for K-12 classrooms.  

  • The lessons focus on 6 areas of digital citizenship: Media Balance & Well-Being, Privacy & Security, Digital Footprint & Identity, Relationships & Communication, Cyberbullying, Digital Drama & Hate Speech, and News & Media Literacy.  

  • Lessons include teacher guides, student activities, parent letters, and many resources are also available in Spanish.

  • Nearpod teamed up with Common Sense Media to create Nearpod activities ready to be used!

• Be Internet Awesome (from Google): free lessons for 2-6 classrooms

  • Lessons include 5 topics: Be Internet Smart, Be Internet Alert, Be Internet Strong, Be Internet Kind, and Be Internet Brave.

  • Lessons include teacher guides, student activities (in both Spanish and English), offline lessons, and posters.  Students can also play a game called Interland.

  • Pear Deck teamed up with Google to create Pear Deck slides ready to be used in your class!