What better way to capture your student’s attention than with the videos from Common Sense Media! They quickly teach concepts about Digital Literacy that can start discussions about Oversharing, Chatting safely online, and even Digital Drama. The best part is the videos have kids talking about the things kids worry about! Common Sense Media has the videos broken down by grade level so you can even find Digital Literacy videos appropriate for K-2. Its never too early to start teaching Digital Literacy.
Help us celebrate Digital Citizenship Week by starting the conversation about the importance of this topic. All adults can be powerful role models as they explain to kids the why and how they conduct themselves online.
How do you teach Digital Citizenship to students? What tools can you use to ensure they are prepared for a world full of technology?
Before we get too far into our discussion, let’s settle on a definition of Digital Citizenship. Digital Citizenship can be defined as the appropriate and responsible behavior with regard to technology use. Most break this down into 9 Elements:
Digital Access:full electronic participation in society
Digital Commerce:electronic buying and selling of goods
Digital Communication:electronic exchange of information
Digital Literacy:process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology
Digital Etiquette: electronic standards of conduct or procedure
Digital Law:electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
Digital Rights & Responsibilities: those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
Digital Health & Wellness:physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world
Digital Security (self-protection): electronic precautions to guarantee safety
Now that’s a long list! Where do you even start? Luckily Common Sense Media has created an easy to use program that many schools are already using. The program has age appropriate lessons for Digital Citizenship in their Scope and Sequence page. It contains curriculum appropriate for Kindergarten to 12th grade. Another page on assessment has online quizzes that students can take to test their learning. Here is a screen shot of a K-2 quiz:
Finally, Common Sense Media has their own app, Digital Compass, that helps students learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship through animated, choose-your-own-adventure interactive experiences, designed for grades 6-9. Check out this promo video to learn more:
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Alejandro Escamilla), licensed under CC0 1.0
Image Cuddling with multiple devices. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
Common Sense Media released an interesting information graphic of students’ opinions about their digital lives. Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Livesis based on a survey of a little more than 1,000 U.S. students between the ages of 13 and 17. The survey addresses the following questions;
Intervals in which students text and use Facebook or Twitter
The preferred medium to communicate with friends and family
How communication tools are affecting friendships and family relations
How networking make students feel, reflective in their self concept
And so on…
Although the sample size is somewhat small, it suggests that there is a love, hate relationship building between “digital natives” and social media. Indicating that increased face time with devices does not necessarily equate to enjoyment or better relationships. Click here to download the full report.
Note: Teachers look for ways to engage students using social media in an effort to meet students where they are at, when they are there. However, this report emphasizes the importance of also maintaining face-to-face interactions. At a time when some students are on digital overload, educators can induce reflective time, “unplugged” into a student’s day; being mindful of how and when to incorporate social media in programming and/or curriculum development.
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This is the second post in our series about Digital Citzenship. Today we look at Common Sense Media’s videos.
