In today’s world, there are a number of organizations and agencies putting out information, tutorials and activities on digital citizenship.  Based on my experience and in my opinion, Common Sense Media sets the standard.  In our district, the teacher-librarian staff has vetted the curriculum that Common Sense Media created and organized it in such a way that any classroom teacher can utilize these activities.  We’ve heard the phrase…”We’re all teachers of reading.”  The same holds true for Digital Citizenship.  All students in our district are using technology in some shape or form every day.  For this reason, having an organized approach to this area is important if we expect students to behave properly online.  The challenge as we know is how to find time to incorporate these concepts into our curriculum.

If you’re unfamiliar with Common Sense Media, I encourage to visit their website.  On the site, you will find a full scope and sequence curriculum for K-12. You will find student games and interactives as well as family engagement resources.

I teach computer applications in a middle school setting.  I have found the Digital Compass activity to be an excellent way for students to make decisions in a simulated environment that helps them understand the consequences of poor choices and the benefits of good ones.  Students select a character they are interested in or can relate to.  They go through a series of videos and prompts that challenge them to make decisions on what to do.  Students are able to try other decisions to see what happens.  In the end, I simply have students reflect on their experience and make connections between the characters in the story and themselves.

For elementary students, Common Sense Media has a game called Digital Passport and for older students, they have created an activity called Digital Bytes.  Again, these are excellent tools for use in your classroom if you choose to integrate sound digital citizenship concepts into your curricular area.