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What is your Digital Footprint? What trails are you leaving online? Have you Googled yourself lately? Or checked other search engines like Pipl and FamilyTreeNow? What is public about you on Facebook? Things you share online are permanent, just like a tattoo!

What does your Digital Tattoo look like?

This is a huge topic, covering topics like online reputation, privacy, bullying, responsibility, safety, fair-use, sharing, opportunities, courtesy, citizenship. Our students (and many of us!) are living huge portions of their lives online, and as educators we need to understand this world and help them navigate it.

“Digital citizenship is a messy subject, and schools should be a safe place to explore it.” Sarah Ludwig, Skills We Can’t Teach: Facilitating Authentic Experiences with Digital Citizenship

Digital Opportunities: Richard Culatta, the CEO of ISTE, notes an important shift in the scope of Digital Citizenship:  “While online safety is critical, it’s only a small subset of digital citizenship. This school year we think we’ll see a shift in the conversation around digital citizenship to focus on encouraging students to harness tech tools to do good in the world and incite change. When students take a positive view of using online tools, they become more active citizens and community members. The ISTE Standards define digital citizenship as recognizing both the responsibilities and opportunities of an interconnected digital world.” This shift is definitely happening!

TWO VIDEOS

Amazing mind reader reveals his ‘gift’

CEOP safety video

EXPLORE

• Be Internet Awesome – Google’s new digital citizenship and safety program to help kids make smart decisions online.
• UBC Digital Tattoo Project – Lots of rich content, learning materials, badging. “The goal of this site and the Digital Tattoo project is to raise questions, provide examples and links to resources to encourage you to think about your presence online, navigate the issues involved in forming and re-forming your digital identity and learn about your rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen.”
• Teens Are Being Bullied ‘Constantly’ on Instagram – “Harassment on the platform can be uniquely cruel, and for many it feels like there’s no escape.” Not meant to scare you or your students off Instagram, but useful to understand what some teens are going through.
• American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers – Book recommended by workshop participants.
• What Your Students Really Need to Know About Digital Citizenship – “9 Key Ps” of digital citizenship from Vicki Davis
• Teacher’s Guide to Digital Citizenship – Overview of major issues from Edudemic.
• 8 digital skills we must teach our children – “how can we, as parents, educators and leaders, prepare our children for the digital age? Without a doubt, it is critical for us to equip them with digital intelligence.”
• It’s Complicated: the Social Lives of Networked Teens. by danah boyd An important read about how teens use technology. “What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ lives? In this eye-opening book, youth culture and technology expert danah boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens’ use of social media.” (Look for option to download a free copy of the ebook.)

Webinars for Educators

• Ideas for Jump-Starting Digital Citizenship at Your School -An EdWeb webinar. These webinars can also award you NYS CTLE credits.
• More EdWeb webinars on this topic
• Social Networking, Technology, and Safety: Engaging your Community (webinar recording available to ALA/AASL members – ask your School Librarian or School Library System admin if they have access)

Students Rights, Online Privacy, College and Jobs? What’s your point of view?

• They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets – Should colleges be checking social media profiles of applicants for admission?
• Memo HR staff: a social profile is not a CV: Young people need to be protected from cyber-spying by prospective employers. A student’s point of view on employers checking applicants’ social media profiles.
• ZeeMee – Free app for creating a multimedia portfolio for college applications. Used by over 200 colleges. What happens when a portfolio like this is totally at odds with how students have presented themselves on social media?
• Harvard Rescinds Acceptances for At Least Ten Students for Obscene Memes

Ideas for Classroom Activities

• Digital Citizenship Week – Resources for parents and teachers from Common Sense Media, organized nicely for different ages groups.
• Don’t teach digital citizenship — embed it!
• Common Sense Education – Ready to teach Digital Citizenship lessons.
• See Why This English Teacher Says Digital Citizenship Must Begin With Pen and Paper
• A New Resource for Educators: Digital Literacy Library – Facebook recently launched a digital literacy initiative with lessons on a variety of topics.
• Digital Citizenship Education – Lessons on Cyber Safety, Bullying and more. Suitable for younger grades, adaptable for older.
• The Product Being Sold – Blog post about a lesson for 7th grade students.
• Analog Twitter Wall to Build Relationships and Digital Citizenship
• Digital Citizenship Week: 6 Resources for Educators – links to lesson plans, games and more.

MORE IDEAS & RESOURCES TO EXPLORE

• Picture Books for Digital Citizenship Discussions – Wonderful collection of picture books selected by Kristen Mattson, EdD.
• Digital Citizenship Books for Middle & High School – Another collection by Kristen Mattson, EdD.
• A Student’s Guide to Personal Publishing– 2 page PDF with tips for what to consider before publishing something.
• Social Media Is A Big Part Of Your Digital Tattoo – Geared towards students, quick read article from The Smart Girl Society.
• How to Avoid Spreading Myths and Misinformation Online – (written in 2014, but just as relevant today)
• 17 Sites and Apps Kids Are Heading to After Facebook If Facebook is for now just for “old folks”, what services ARE teens using?
• Edutopia’s Digital Citizenship Pinterest board Lots of graphics, articles and more.
• Connect Safely For parents, teens, educators, advocates – everyone engaged in and interested in the impact of the social Web and mobile technology. Here you’ll find tips, safety advice, articles, news, analysis, video and other resources to promote safe and productive use of connected technology.

MORE TO EXPLORE

• ADDITIONAL RESOURCES – Ongoing list of additional resources on this topic.

THINKING POINTS

• What does it mean to be a good digital citizen?
• What skills do students need? What should be taught at different ages?
• What are the challenges?
• What privacy rights do students have? Should employers and colleges be looking at Facebook and Twitter?
• What are the consequences of over-sharing?
• How might educators partner with parents to educate the community?
• What activities would align with the ISTE Standards and the new AASL standards related to this topic?

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Like many of our other topics, focus on something that interests you, explore it and share your thoughts and ideas in your blog posts. Some ideas include:

• Read & explore some of the resources above. Share your thoughts.
• Share student activities that you have already tried, how did it go, what else could you do?
• Did you find any interesting activities or ideas that you might implement?
• Share additional resources that you’ve found.

*TURNING IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT

• Write & publish your blog post.
• Copy the URL (webpage address) for your post.
• Return to your Google Classroom, find the assignment page for the lesson you just completed and follow the directions for turning in and sharing your work.

*Only for students participating in the workshop for PD credit hours through the Google Classroom.

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