Digital Citizenship involves a variety of skills that should be taught as stand alone lessons and integrated into research projects from elementary school through high school. Many students, even as young as the primary elementary level, now have access to cell phones, laptops with Internet access, and individual email accounts outside of school with little or no direction or supervision from parents, so teaching kids about privacy, cyberbullying, safety issues, and digital etiquette should be a priority. Two online sites my students enjoy using to learn and practice what they know about Internet safety, netiquette, and cyberbullying is Disney's Surfswell Island and "Shrink the Cyberbully" on McGruff.org Cyberbullies site. Another site is Privacy Playground with a three pigs and a big bad wolf theme that focuses on keeping information private, safety, and avoiding spam. Even my 5th graders enjoy partnering and exploring these three sites.
From there, these topics should be integrated into student lessons and projects
- ethical use of information - Copyright for Kids; Cyberbee; Copyright-An Interactive Journey
- web site evaluation - UC Berkeley Library Evaluating Web Pages (for older students); Critical Evaluation of a Web Site (for elementary); Look What's on the Web (for primary); Cybersense and Nonsense (for elementary); Allies and Aliens: A Misson in Critical Thinking (for middle school); Jo Cool or Jo Fool?
- information literacy (searching and processing skills) - Using the Web (for elementary/middle school students)
to give students the tools they need to become informed and productive consumers of the Internet, social media, and mobile technologies.
Look what's available in BrainPop!
This site includes movies(with closed captioning), quizzes, vocabulary, and activities for each one of these topics. When integrated with the tools of an ACTIVboard, all of these topics become even more interactive for students.
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