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Create a Digital Citizenship Culture in Your District

Teaching digital citizenship is essential to help students achieve and understand digital literacy, online safety, digital responsibility, and digital health and wellness. Download this family-friendly guide to learn best practices.

Is it time to double down on digital citizenship training?

About a week ago, my 5-year-old daughter asked me a question I was not quite prepared for. As we were walking back to our house from the neighborhood park, she asked, “Daddy, when am I going to get a cell phone?”

She went on to explain the specific ways in which a cell phone would benefit her life. She even assured me that she wasn’t too young for a cell phone. In fact, other kids her age already had one! Even though it was difficult saying no to her sweet little face, I explained that she would need to wait a few more years to take on this type of responsibility. But, why?

My daughter’s question really got me thinking. With so many young people having increasing access to technology, is it time for schools to take digital citizenship training more seriously? …Read More

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Could digital citizenship be the most important pandemic lesson?

When the pandemic prompted schools to quickly shift to distance learning last spring, educators became responsible for using online technologies to teach students. This was the first time that many educators had to grapple not only with virtual classroom management, but with helping their students learn the ins and outs of staying safe online. This included a crash course in learning and behaving online.

This set of “online manners” is referred to as digital citizenship, which is how we should behave when using digital tools, interacting with others online, and becoming better stewards of technology.

As a leader of a nonprofit where young kids connect and learn online, we prioritize teaching kids these important skills that will take them well into adulthood. …Read More

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4 tips for an effective digital citizenship program

Today, students are not merely digital natives; they are voracious consumers and creators of digital content both in school and out. This increased access has also increased the risk that students will engage in riskier behaviors online or be exposed to content that’s inappropriate, or even dangerous. How to interact online in an appropriate way, and how to navigate difficult issues such as sexting and cyberbullying, often aren’t addressed in school curriculum, despite the huge impact they can have on students both emotionally and academically if things go wrong.

At the San Juan School District in Utah, we took some concrete steps in an effort to get out in front of the issue. As the district’s HR director and Title IX coordinator, I was hearing more concerns and seeing some worrying trends relating to cyberbullying, hazing, and sexual harassment, including some serious allegations involving students that occurred off of school grounds.

As a leadership team, we recognized the need to be proactive in order to ensure incidents like this would not happen in the future, and to accomplish this we needed tools to help us facilitate better communication among both students and staff about sensitive student safety and wellness topics.…Read More

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Is digital citizenship the most important takeaway from distance learning?

As a leader of a nonprofit where young kids connect and learn online, we prioritize teaching kids these important skills that will take them well into adulthood. …Read More

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Promoting digital citizenship during a pandemic

When the coronavirus pandemic forced school closures and stay-at-home orders across the country, the internet became a social and academic lifeline for young people. Students are now engaging in distance learning daily. They’re also spending more time on social media as a way to stay connected to friends and family.

This increase in the amount of time spent online also means there is greater potential for problems such as cyberbullying and other concerns. It highlights the importance now more than ever of understanding and practicing good digital citizenship.

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10 ways administrators can collaborate with librarians–even remotely

Whether a principal, superintendent, head of technology, or head of curriculum, there is likely a gem of a resource among your staff who could push your Future Ready agenda forward–school librarians.

Even now, as students are learning at home and with fall openings uncertain, school librarians play an important role in helping students develop important critical thinking and digital citizenship skills–skills they’ll need more than ever in an increasingly online world with unvetted sources of information shared far and wide.

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What are the key components of a digital classroom?

Most teachers today view edtech as an essential part of an increasingly digital classroom, and a new report from Common Sense sheds light on the role these edtech tools play in teaching and learning.

Today, edtech tools are ubiquitous, and the rise of personal devices and anytime, anywhere access have changed how we consume and create. The Common Sense Census: Inside the 21st-Century Classroom looks at how K-12 educators have adapted to these critical shifts in schools and society.

From the benefits of teaching lifelong digital citizenship skills to the challenges of preparing students to critically evaluate online information, Educators surveyed in the report share their perspectives on what it’s like to teach in a digital classroom and in the fast-changing digital world beyond.…Read More

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How to teach your students to think before they post

Let’s start with the obvious: Kids make mistakes. It’s a normal—and important—part of growing up. But today, with smartphones, cameras, and social media everywhere, anything they do can be instantly broadcast and recorded—the good, the bad, and the ugly. In our 24/7 digital world, kids come of age, learn, and make mistakes just like they always have, but the stakes are so much higher than in generations past. So what does this mean for kids’ futures?

As teachers, we know that what kids post online about themselves and others can stick with them. And believe it or not, plenty of kids already know this, even when their actions may suggest otherwise. Lots of kids and teens—maybe most of them—know what it means to make good choices for themselves. But when faced with real-world situations, actually acting on this knowledge can be a lot more challenging. As one 13-year-old we interviewed noted, “If you’re a teenager, you’re gonna make bad decisions sometimes. And you might send an inappropriate picture. I mean, I hear about that a lot.”

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6 steps to promote good digital citizenship for all students

By the time today’s digital natives enter high school, most of them have already been using devices, computers, the internet, and social media for years. They use these tools on their own terms and for their own reasons, many of which aren’t readily apparent to older adults who didn’t grow up with tablets and mobile phones in hand.

This usage presents unique challenges for educators who must not only teach a standard curriculum and help shepherd students into adulthood, but who must also help promote good digital citizenship both in and out of the classroom.

Whether this means posting on social media only content that they’d be okay with everyone seeing; not using profanity; using their devices responsibly and safely at all times; or following the rules and guidelines when using classroom forums, Instagram, or other sites; raising good digital citizens is as challenging as it is rewarding.…Read More

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