4/14/22
In the last few years students have been using technology more than ever before. With this increased use of technology in the classroom comes a whole new set of management considerations. Not only must teachers consider what do's and don't they need to put in place for using technology, but we also must consider what type of digital citizenship we need to be teaching students as we put devices in their hands and ask them to use these tools on a daily basis.
One would think that these digital citizenship lessons being so relevant would be enough to engage students, but that isn't always the case. Students' somewhat lackluster attitude towards the topic definitely doesn't make it any less important, but it does add a bit of a challenge for teachers working to make these lessons meaningful. There are many ways to engage students throughout a digital citizenship unit, but an engaging summative is also important. One of my favorite things to do at the end of our digital citizenship unit is have students develop a lesson to share what they have learned about digital citizenship with the first through third graders at our school.
For this project:
1. First small groups identify their top 5 tips for great digital citizenship.
2. Next they create a short presentation using Google Slides.
3. Then each group creates a Canva poster with their top 5 digital citizenship tips.
4. After that they develop a short follow up activity, each group comes up with a few different scenarios to present, each an example of a common crossroad students will encounter while using technology. They scaffold the activity depending on the grade level they plan to work with.
- First graders turn and talk to a partner and then a few students share their ideas during a class discussion.
- Second graders write a response before sharing with a table partner and a few students share their ideas during a class discussion.
- Third graders discuss their ideas in small groups, decide on their best answer as a group, then each group shares their idea during a class discussion.
5. After ample practice presenting their slide decks, introducing their poster, and running the follow up activity, my students are deployed to the first through third grade classrooms to teach.
6. When the lesson is over, each group leaves a copy of their digital citizenship Canva poster with the teacher to hang in the classroom.
This project is incredibly meaningful to students as they take on leadership roles in the school community and solidify their learning.
Below are some resources for teaching digital citizenship to students in an elementary classroom:
- Common Sense Education: Free Slide Decks, Resources, Videos, and Lesson Plans
- Nearpod: Digital Citizenship Week Lesson Plans
- Cable Impact: Digital Citizenship Lesson Materials