Creating+Digital+Citizens

Creating Digital Citizens What ideas do you have for helping students become good digital citizens? What problems or concerns do you have about exposing kids to new medias?

Using Technology Appropriately
 * Have your students read the district //Acceptable Use Policy//, and discuss appropriate use of technology. (is this on the district website? If so, what's the link?)
 * Using technology responsibly means using it appropriately at school, at home, or while visiting someone.
 * Share tips with parents on Back-to-School Night
 * Emphasize how important it is that students know who they are interacting with online.

Stop Bullying Before It Begins
 * Discuss what constitutes bullying with your students.
 * Review lessons on bullying which are posted on the district web site.
 * Use the lessons to educate your students.

[|B4USurf]-- Use this site for your own background information and to help students make smart choices and learn the rules and responsibilities of using copyrighted work and technology safely. You will find a wide range of materials that may be shared on your interactive whiteboard or projector or adapted to meet the needs of your class, including quizzes, games, and suggested lessons designed to teach the skills and raise awareness for the risks they face online while searching for information, blogging, or engaging in other internet activities.

[|Digital Literacy Tour]-- This site has extensive resources on internet safety for teachers to use with students. The information is upbeat, and, most importantly, current. What you will find here teaches students how to safely use all types of social media and YouTube, how to be a good digital citizen, and how to evaluate a website. There are three "workshops" with videos, lesson plans, handouts for students, and a slide show presentation to accompany the lesson.

At Back to School Night, I needed to spend some time reassuring parents that teaching Internet safety would be a priority for the Future Edge Project. I was excited to tell them that the project stretches from elementary school through high school, but a few parents were concerned about their children collaborating with older students. While I assured them that most collaboration would be within our own classroom, I hate to rule out the possibility of cross-age interaction. It will need to be carefully monitored, but I can see real potential for creating writing projects together, digging deeper into subjects that appeal to certain students in different grades, etc.