Our Problem

Teachers do not feel well prepared to teach their students how to properly present themselves on the Internet. While the students are fluent with the technology, many of them did not demonstrate mastery on a portion of the 21st Century Skills test that deals with self image and identity. Additionally, there has been a recent increase in the number of students who misrepresent themselves online and/or post inappropriate images via online social media and web 2.0 tools.

Our Problem Environment

The problem occurs in a suburban middle school in the metro Atlanta area (grades 6-8) in Georgia. The school has 1,000 students, and class size average is 25. Each classroom has four networked personal computers with Internet access. There are also thirty computers in the media center, and two computer labs in the school - both of which can be reserved by teachers based on availability. Students and teachers are required to sign a Responsible Use Agreement at the beginning of each school year on proper use of technology. The school follows a seven period day, and classes last 50 minutes. The year is divided into four nine week periods. BYOT has not been implemented.

A Solution
Our team researched various digital citizenship curricula. We all agree that the materials created by Common Sense Media have a great scope and sequence that covers grades K-12 with various ways to combine units and lessons. The curriculum includes pre-made lesson plans that support the ISTE NETS standards, evaluation tools, and extension activities. However, we feel that teachers, who are unfamiliar with technology, might have a hard time navigating Common Sense Medias website to find resources, live links and videos. In addition, Common Sense Medias extension activities were somewhat lacking in terms of content and accessibility. In some lesson plans, the required tools are fire-blocked by schools servers. Our team came up with a solution to supplement Common Sense Medias Digital Citizenship Curriculum with on-line resources and extension activities on a website the is easy for users to navigate and use with live links and embedded videos. Our team project focuses primarily on self image and identity within the digital citizenship framework since that is the area that needs the most attention.

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is a website that provides an Internet safety curriculum for grades k-12. The site covers a variety of topics and is designed to address the NETS-S standards. The website is free to use and is easily searchable.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum

Our Website

Our website provides resources and extension activities that supplement those created by Common Sense Media. Teachers can supplement their materials with articles, slide shows, and videos when teaching self-image and identity within the digital citizenship framework. By expanding and offering new extension activities, teachers also have freedom to choose activities and tools that most interest them or their students.

http://www.digitalcitizenship.classicalprep.com/

ISTE NETS Standard Relating to Digital Citizenship

Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology b. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity c. Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning d. Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007

The End