K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum
NEW! Learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship through choose-your-own-adventure interactive experiences DIGITAL COMPASS - Where are you headed? The only educational game that gives kids the freedom to explore how decisions made in their digital lives can impact their relationships and future. Bring a blended-learning approach to teaching digital citizenship DIGITAL BYTES teaches teens digital citizenship through student-directed, media-rich activities that tackle real-world dilemmas. Teens learn from peers' experiences then create collaborative projects that voice their ideas for making smart choices online. Measure Student Learning with Interactive Assessments We offer THREE WAYS to assess student learning about digital literacy and citizenship.
Digital Citizenship Week 2015
Ask your students to create their own pledges.How can your students become super digital citizens? Ask them! Begin by encouraging your kids to write their own personal pledges about being good digital citizens in their everyday lives.
8 things Twitter savvy educators do to improve learning
Lurk to learn. “Lurking is learning,” Raleigh said. “The idea of lurking is that you’re watching, but you’re not necessarily engaging in the conversation. [I] don’t encourage you to lurk all the time; we have so much to learn and everyone’s voice is important.
edutopia
When presented with new material, standards, and complicated topics, we need to be focused and calm as we approach our assignments. We can use brain breaks and focused-attention practices to positively impact our emotional states and learning. They refocus our neural circuitry with either stimulating or quieting practices that generate increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, where problem solving and emotional regulation occur.
5 Email Etiquette Tips for Students - Some for Teachers Too
One of my pet peeves is receiving an email that from someone that just launches into a request without stopping to address me by name. For years I have told students that I won't reply to emails if they don't write "Hi Mr. Byrne" or something similar to start their emails.
Plan a "Digital Family Summit" to Engage Students and Parents
I recently had an opportunity to attend the first Digital Family Summit (DFS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Presenters and summit attendees were both parents and students. The "summit" included families from as far away as Canada, Utah, California, and of course those from local states and cities that could make the trip. My Mission: Takeaways to Bring Home
8 digital skills we must teach our children
The social and economic impact of technology is widespread and accelerating. The speed and volume of information have increased exponentially. Experts are predicting that 90% of the entire population will be connected to the internet within 10 years. With the internet of things, the digital and physical worlds will soon be merged.
Keeping an eye on screen time
First there was too much TV, then computer and video-gaming addictions. Today, the proliferation of smart screens gives kids a three-in-one box, portable enough to be watched from anywhere, out of sight of watchful parents. With parents and kids in back-to-school mode, refocusing on the daily demands of homework, sports, and activities, time spent staring at a screen comes at a premium. Steven Gortmaker, professor of the practice of health sociology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been studying how we have used and sometimes abused screen time since the 1980s, when he published one of the first studies linking TV watching to obesity. He recently applied the same scrutiny to an ever-present concern for 21st-century families, publishing with Kaley Skapinsky an online parents’ guide titled “Outsmarting the Smart Screens.”
Using Quotation Marks to Web Search Specific Phrases
By Wendy Boswell Updated April 02, 2016. If you are looking for a specific phrase, just typing it into a search engine will probably not get you the results you were hoping for.
Calling All Parents and Educators of This Generation’s Digital Citizens
A few weeks ago, I was asked by a parent at my son’s school to share strategies on how to be conscious and aware of what their children were doing on the internet. This immediately brought back memories of one of my favorite webinars on digital citizenship. If you missed it, you don’t have to miss out because it’s featured in Discovery Education. Access it here. (Canadian Subscribers). Discovery Education also has additional resources about Digital Citizenship.
Five-Minute Film Festival: Copyright and Fair Use for Educators
I absolutely love it when teachers and students create, remix, and mash up media; it's a fantastic way to encourage deeper learning and media literacy. But one issue that complicates digital freedom of expression is copyright law. While many would argue that copyright law is outdated and badly in need of an overhaul, it's still critical that adults and kids alike have a basic understanding of what's legal and ethical while playing with other people's intellectual property. Here's a list of videos I collected to help you navigate the murky waters of copyright law in educational settings. Video Playlist: Understanding Copyright and Fair Use Watch the player below to see the whole playlist, or view it on YouTube.
Screen time and children — How to guide your child
Screens are everywhere. As a result, controlling a child's screen time has become much harder for parents. To complicate matters, some screen time can be educational for children as well as support their social development. So how do you manage your child's screen time? Here's a primer on guiding your child's use of screens and media. The problems with screen time
