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Recently, Common Sense Media named Ask a Tech Teacher as one of the 2014 blogs to watch on the topic of digital citizenship. It reminded me what a massive topic this is! To my count, it includes at least 19 topics:

Cyberbullying -- Harassment that happens on the Internet.

Digital citizenship -- Live in the digital world safely, responsibly, and ethically.

Digital commerce -- Electronic buying and selling of goods.

Digital communications -- Electronic transmission of information including email, IM, SMS, chatrooms, forums and multiplayer games.

Digital footprint -- Trail left in cyberspace by the use of digital communication.

Digital law -- Legal rights and restrictions governing technology use.

Digital privacy -- Protection of citizen information, reputation, and rights while using digital mediums.

Digital rights/responsibilities -- Privileges and freedoms extended to all digital users and behavioral expectations that come with them (Ribble & Bailey, 2007).

Digital search and research -- Search and research that relies on online sources.

Effective Passwords -- Make these easy to remember but hard to guess.

Fair use -- Legal use of copyrighted materials without permission of the owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not impair the value of materials, and does not curtail profits expected by owner.

Image copyright -- Exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of an image

Internet safety -- Security of people and their information when using the Internet .

Netiquette -- Electronic "etiquette" on the net.

Online Plagiarism -- Wrongful appropriation of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions."

Online presence -- An individual's collective existence online including any activity that takes place on the Internet .

Public domain -- The realm embracing rights to online material that belong to the community at large, are unprotected by copyright or patent, and can be appropriated by anyone .

Social media -- Online platforms like Facebook and Twitter by which individuals and communities create and share content .

Stranger Danger -- Perceived danger by strangers.

In this article, I talk about the broad strokes I use teaching this topic. Condensed, it goes something like:

Start teaching digital citizenship in kindergarten and include it every year through middle school. Select age-appropriate topics and teach them in an age-appropriate way. For example, stranger danger is a great way to start kindergartners/1st graders on cyberbullying and digital privacy. But, I don't start a discussion of digital commerce until middle school -- they don't really get it until then.

Vary classroom dynamics with the student's age. In kindergarten, spend a few minutes of every class on some part of the topic, usually revolving around how to use the Internet safely. By 4th grade, spend entire classes on individual topics -- like digital search and research. By that age, they understand best practices for safe use. Now they need specific skills.

A while ago, I collected ideas from members of my personal learning network on how they teach digital citizenship in their classrooms. I think you'll get a lot of good ideas out of this feedback:

Kindergarten (and pre-K)

I briefly discussed cyber safety. I don't go into too much detail because they don't understand at that age what passwords/usernames, etc. are. So, I discuss not to use their names online or talk to strangers.

Like most things I do, I start digital citizenship as early as I can, so for my school, that means with our 3-4 year olds. I group digital citizenship in with the traditional cybersafety as well as learning about the parts of computers, network, how to treat technology, how to use technology appropriately, etc.

So our 3-4 yr. olds learn about washing hands prior to use, cleaning keyboards, mice, headphones after use, and then we do some read-alouds throughout the year - Arthur's Computer Disaster, Berenstein Bears Computer Trouble, Computer Teacher from the Black Lagoon, My First Book About the Internet, Goodnight iPad, Franklin & the Computer, Surf Sammy's New Computer.

In kindergarten is when I first start using the Common Sense Media curriculum - Going Places Safely (Internet safety), Sending Email, Sesame Street Computer Caper dvd (goes over how email works), Sites I Like (website evaluation), ABC Searching (Internet searching), My Creative Work (ownership on the internet), Find the Ad (no longer available online), and occasionally some of the other books listed above.

1st Grade

We watched Professor Garfield via Infinite Learning Labs. We answered the questions together at the end and decided if the answers were part of your "Yappy." You never give out your Yappy, which is your name, address, phone number, personal information, or your plans. There are also great posters that you can use on the site as well.

I used Router's Birthday Surprise at Netsmartz.

Most of the same lessons as kindergarten, but we also watch Smart Guy - Strangers on the Net (Internet safety), Spread the News - no longer available online - (using technology to communicate), Magic School Bus Gets Programmed (video on computer parts), correctly identifying by matching name and picture for the external parts of the computer (mouse, monitor, keyboard, jump drive, camera, printer, scanner, case, speakers/headphones).

2nd Grade

For 2nd/3rd, I tried to use Netsmartz kids but they found it sort of "corny." My 2nd/3rd graders are more mature and therefore they didn't really like Netsmartz. So, instead, I used BrainPop Jr.'s video on Cyber Safety. We did a Q&A afterwards to make sure they were paying attention. I also printed out the "Talk about it" Worksheet and had them work in partners to write down their own rules for Cyber Safety. Once I checked the worksheet for spelling/grammar errors, they were able to use Microsoft Publisher to create Cyber Safety posters using the rules they wrote down. Not only was this a great lesson on Cyber Safety, but it really jumpstarted our use of Microsoft Office for creating documents.

I used Internet Safety, which is one of Brain Pop Jr.'s free videos.

New tier of lessons - still mostly from Common Sense Media. Safe Surfing with Doug (review of what was covered in K-1 about digital citizenship), Keep It Private, Staying Safe Online, Online Communities, Things for Sale, added the concept of input and output to parts of the computer, Using Keywords, Show Respect Online, Screen Out the Mean (cyberbullying), PBS Webonauts. I try to blend the lessons with other projects we are doing. For example, we talk about keywords and website evaluation right before we do our dinosaur research and PowerPoint project.

3rd Grade

I used Surf Swell Island (I like the fact that it includes netiquette as well as Internet safety), PBS Kids' Web License, and Garfield Cyberbullying. I also introduced the concept of plagiarism when we did research. One of my kids told me about a video they had watched called Francine's Pilfered Paper. This is available for $1.99 on iTunes.

As the students are more mature, we can have deeper discussions and more extensions. For example, after reviewing keeping information private, students take pictures of themselves (they learned to use digital cameras in 2nd grade) and add them to Picasa. Then we use the creative tools to make speech bubbles with rules and reminders on how to stay safe online. Other things I add include Firewall Game, Follow the Digital Trail, internal computer parts video, Walk Through Computer internal computer parts video. We learn most of the internal parts and what they do, including memory, hard drive, sound card, video card, NIC, Cd-rom, CPU, power supply and port.

I used the Netsmartz program.

4th Grade

I like because it covers some social networking. We also made sure to cite sources when we did research for our state PowerPoints. As part of that project, we downloaded music from Soundzabound and discussed the fact that we were free to use this royalty free music because we had a subscription to the site.

Throughout the year, we complete the Common Sense Media Digital Passport. Since 4th grade is the last year before middle school in my building, I tell students this is the year to prove what we have been learning together since kindergarten. Other lessons include Rings of Responsibility, Privacy Rules, Talking Safely Online, Writing Good Emails (followed by students receiving school issued email account), Power of Words, Group Think (cyberbullying), Whose Is It Anyway?, Choosing a Search Site, Right Sites, Rating Websites, and expanding on Digital Trail and computer parts from 3rd grade. At this level, students can identify and name external parts, input/output, identify and define internal parts.

I used the Netsmartz program.

5th Grade

I began my Fifth Grade lesson with the Talent Show video on Cyberbullying. I gave no introduction before the video but we had a long discussion afterwards. We watched the Brain Pop Cyberbullying video. They have a number of other Digital Citizenship videos, some of which are free. I had them take turns reading the ABCs of Cyberbullying. Again, they were required to cite their sources when they found information for our 13 Colonies HTML project. I felt very proud of my students one day that I did an online dictionary project copying and pasting definitions for a crossword puzzle and one of them reminded me that we needed to cite our source!

Rings of Responsibility, Powerful Passwords, Privacy Rules, Power of Words, Whose Is It Anyway?, Choosing a Search Site, Rating Websites (after these two lessons, students review a phony website - although I don't tell them it's phony, then they create a project explaining how to evaluate websites using the phony site as an example), What is Cyberbullying?, Trillion Dollar Footprint.

I just use the Netsmartz Teen for grades 5 and 6).

Middle School

For our school, middle school is 5-8th grade, so I handle digital citizenship a bit differently, in a more mature manner with higher expectations for responsibility on the part of my students. Starting next year, our students at this level are all BYOL - required to bring their own laptops to school for use throughout the day.

6th grade - With Power Comes Responsibility, Strong Passwords, Personal and Private Information, Digital Life 101, Ups and Downs of Digital Life, My Media Use, Creator's Rights, Creator's Responsibilities, Fair(y) Use Tale - I talk through this video and we learn about creative commons and fair use as well as how copyright law works, How to Cite a Site (after this series of lessons on copyright and creative commons, students create podcast PSA's for at least one area of copyright law), Crossing the Line, My Online Self, Oops I Broadcasted It on the Internet, Keyword Searching, High Quality Sites (right before they start their science fair project and report.

I just used the Netsmartz Teen for grades 5 and 6. I want to use something different for my first and second graders, but don't know what yet. Next year I'd like to use something different than Netsmartz for my 6th graders.

New lessons in 7th - Rework, Reuse, Remix (copyright and creative commons), Which Me Should I Be? (online profiles), Be Upstanding (standing up to cyberbullying), Secret Sharer (responsibility for keeping others' info private online), Crawling the Web (advanced web searching).

And last but not least, 8th grade lessons - , . Honestly, by this stage, I expect them to regularly apply lessons we have covered from the very beginning. And they actually do use the knowledge regularly. In fact, just today I had a student working on a science video say aloud, "Dang, I can only use 30 seconds of this song ..." -- something we covered two years ago with his class.

All Grades

All grades used the Netsmartz games when they finished.

Gosh, where to start? Years back I used the cybersmart curriculum before it merged with Common Sense Media. After the merge, there were still cybersmart lessons that I felt had value, so I kept them, added Common Sense, a bit of other activities on my own, so it's an organic merge of various things. I also believe it is important that students understand technology itself, the equipment, so I mesh digital citizenship with learning the workings of technology and the Internet too.

Now that Common Sense Media has revised its curriculum -- in the middle of the year no less -- I am working even more piecemeal, but it works for me and my students. As for a grade by grade listing of what I do/teach, I see another lengthy response (like my keyboarding one yesterday) in my future.

_________________________

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor of a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and creator of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, a columnist for Examiner.com, tech expert, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. Currently, she's editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer.

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Recently, Common Sense Media named Ask a Tech Teacher as one of the 2014 blogs to watch on the topic of digital citizenship. It reminded me what a massive topic this is! To my count, it includes at least 19 topics: Cyberbullying -- Harassment that happens on the Internet.

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Many teachers ask what does digital citizenship mean? Digital citizenship for kids and digital citizenship for students is important element of learning.

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Early childhood education is getting some well-deserved attention in political circles this month after President Obama called for making "high-quality preschool available to every single child in America " in his State of the Union address.

Whether or not his plan becomes a reality, learning in the early years is vitally important, and we get lots of questions from parents and educators about whether digital media should be a part of that learning.

Parents and early childhood educators are often skeptical of using media tools with kids as young as age 2.

Preschool teachers worry that these tools take time away from the hands-on experiential learning, or time with adult caregivers that we know is the primary way kids of this age learn and grow.

Parents say they need the short breaks media provides so they can make dinner or a phone call. But they want to make sure their toddlers don't spend so much time plugged in that they miss out on backyard dirt-digging or fingerpainting.

There's been an explosion of apps targeted to the preschool set, but parents are wondering: Can these new apps really be considered learning tools? Which apps will exercise kids' creative muscles? Can iPads help prepare them for kindergarten?

There are obviously no simple answers, and we're grateful to have experts like those at the Fred Rogers Center to help us give advice to parents and teachers about developmentally appropriate media use.

Michael Robb, the center's director of education and research, says healthy, age-appropriate use of media and technology, even with the youngest children, is possible. It all depends on content and context.

Robb and his colleagues are building on Fred Rogers' pioneering legacy and his belief in the positive potential of media to support the healthy social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of young children.

They've developed the Early Learning Environment (Ele), an online space where adults can find high-quality digital resources to support early literacy and other learning and development for children from birth to age 5.

Teachers and parents can browse free materials from around the web, including videos, games, ebooks, music, and other interactive tools from national organizations in early childhood development and early literacy.

The challenge for parents and teachers, Robb says, "is to select the videos, games, and devices that have a real, positive developmental impact-and use them in ways that promote growth."

He offers these practical tips:

Keep it interactive. The way a digital tool is used is as important as the tool itself; adult-child interaction should be emphasized. Rather than putting on a television show or handing over your smartphone and walking away, create a dialogue. Sit and discuss what you are seeing, ask questions, encourage imaginative ways to explore similar subjects in the outside world.

Match use with age. Children's needs change as they develop. Any media use with infants and toddlers should be an interactive experience with adults, such as reading an ebook together; older preschool children may enjoy exploring a touch screen or using video to record and view their play.

Have fun, stay engaged. Children's media and technology are best when they support active, hands-on, creative, and authentic engagement with the people and world around them. Look for games, websites, and apps that encourage outdoor activity, healthy eating, critical thinking, and other real-world skills.

Promote digital literacy. By modeling appropriate use of digital media, adults can help children learn to use the wealth of tools at their disposal in smart, healthy ways that complement their growth and give them greater access to the opportunities of the digital age.

Our learning ratings are also designed to help parents and educators make informed decisions about the educational value of new technologies. Our trained team of experts rates and reviews the latest apps, games, and websites using research-based criteria. Parent and teachers can search for games, apps, and websites by title or category to see which ones are appropriate by age group. We also give details on the subjects and skills your child can learn by playing it, as well as its overall learning potential. Start searching here.

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Can Technology Be a Teaching Tool for Toddlers, Preschoolers?

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Early childhood education is getting some well-deserved attention in political circles this month after President Obama called for making "high-quality preschool available to every single child in America " in his State of the Union address.