Digital+Citizenship

__Digital Citizenship__
Digital citizenship is an important part of a technology-centered learning community. I consider our 8th grade Computer Applications class to be a technology-centered learning community. Therefore, each student must learn how to behave in this situation. As technology becomes more and more prevalent in the classroom, students must not only know how to navigate the cyber world, but they must also know what is and is not acceptable in that world. See my Jing "Cyberbullying" lecture-->Cyberbullying by C. Cunningham

At the beginning of each semester (new group of students), we spend a class period watching selected videos from NetSmartz Workshop (a program from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). This "Online Safety Education Kit" is available both online and in hard copy (for free!) by request at [|www.NetSmartz.org]. I previewed all the videos and showed only the ones I believe to be the most relevant/appropriate for the age level I teach. They videos/cartoons we watch cover everything from Web Safety to Cyberbullying. When we are finished, I have the students fill out my "Web Safety Videos" worksheet (see PDF below). The last three questions deal with cyberbullying and unwanted online attention. The lessons pretty much end there. Next year, I plan on expanding the topic of cyberbullying into a week long project in which the students complete the "Terrible Text" activity from the NetSmatrz kit. Below, in PDF form, you can see the pages we will complete. I will be following the directions on the PDF entitled, "TerribleText TEACH1." First, we will discuss the various types of cyberbullying (see TerribeTextExamples PDF below). Next, we will watch the "Terrible tEXt" video included with the kit (available online at [|www.NetSmartz.org/resources]). Then, I will have small groups of students make a Power Point presentation using the"Real Life Cyberbullying Cases" worksheets and the "Group Presentation Guidelines" worksheet as their starting point (see TerribleTextPresent and TerribleTextCase 1 & 2 PDFs below). The "Real Life Cyberbullying Cases" are pretty powerful. They share the terrifying journey of being the target of cyberbullying. In some cases, issues are resolved and life goes on, but in others the outcome is tragic. The groups will present their findings to the class. Lastly, I will assign them, as homework, the "What Does Your School Do To Help Prevent Cyberbullying" worksheet (see TerribleTextPrevent PDF below). I am hoping that through this activity the students will not only become more sensitive to the damage that can be done in the cyber world, but if there are problems currently occurring, they will feel safe enough to let me know what is going on, so that it may be dealt with appropriately.