PPS Instructional Technology

Digital Citizenship is not something that can be tackled by schools on their own.  It needs to be a partnership with families and the community.  Just like the schools, parents don't always know where to start in regards to talking about digital citizenship with their kids.  In order to open the door to some great conversation, here are some resources that we can send home in order to create the bridge between what we are teaching in the classroom, and what is expected at home. Common Sense Media Family Activity Worksheets These worksheets by the amazing Common Sense Media are developed to go along with the K-12 scope and sequence curriculum.  There is a worksheet for each lesson.  Each worksheet contain the following sections: Did you know? What do you think? Family Activity Tech it Up Common Sense Says... This is a quick and easy way to continue the conversations started at school and bring the parents into the equation. DigitalED Anothe...

Sometimes you need a tool as a refresher or as a way for students to independently walk through some short lessons on Digital Citizenship.  Thankfully, Common Sense Media also has some wonderful programs for this very purpose.  My favorite one is Digital Passport , which is a self-paced, 5 "mission" activity that allows 3rd-5th graders the opportunity to explore topics like: Multi-tasking What to share and what not to share Cyberbullying Copyright Search Check out this great video from Common Sense. During these missions, students watch a video and play a game as they go through the activity.  If you can have a conversation about the videos and topic as you go along, that enhances the impact of the activity even more. If you are looking for activities for older students, check out the following activities: Digital Compass (Middle School) Digital Bytes (High School)

It is that time of year again, to bring awareness to the importance of teaching positive Digital Citizenship to our students, families and the community at large.  Digital Citizenship is one of those topics that everyone knows they need to teach, but no one knows how or when they can fit it in.  This week we will be sharing some great resources for teaching digital citizenship in order to keep all our students safe and foster common expectations. The first resource on the list is my absolute favorite resource when it comes to Digital Citizenship: Common Sense Media ! Common Sense is a wonderful resource for both families and educators.  It contains a complete K-12 scope and sequence for digital citizenship lessons, as well as app reviews, movie reviews, lesson plans, videos, 1-1 resources, and much more! Check out these great free lesson plans from the scope and sequence today to see how you can take 20 minutes to change the perspective of your students and help ke...

I have yet to meet a teacher who does not want their students to be responsible digital citizens.  Teachers inherently want to keep their students safe and help them to make smart choices.  Fitting "One more thing" in the curriculum, however, can be overwhelming at best in this age of constantly changing curriculum and standardized testing.  So, how can we make sure that we are teaching our kids to be responsible citizens, both of the digital and face-to-face worlds of which they inhabit? This was the conundrum one of our fifth grade teachers, Wendy Plew, from Moorsbridge Elementary in Portage presented me with about two months ago.  She was deeply concerned, both as a teacher and a parent, that her fifth grade kids had constant access to technology, at school and at home, but didn't really understand the power and responsibility that these devices put upon them.  She wanted help, and I was only too happy to jump in.  My wheels started turning and we sa...

Well, today marks the end of Digital Citizenship Week 2014.  I hope you all learned a lot about what you can do as educators to foster digital citizenship in your students.  Technology is an amazing tool, but as educators we know it isn't the technology that teaches the students, it is the teachers.  We need to foster digital literacy skills in our students so that they can use the tool in a manner that is safe and enhances their education. Below is a list of some great resources, curated by Edutopia , that you may want to check out in regards to Digital Citizenship. Google Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum : Produced in conjunction with iKeepSafe Search for Digital Literacy Lessons at MediaSmarts Lessons for Teaching Digital Citizenship from Cable Impacts Resources for Teaching Digital Literacy from Digizen Digital Citizenship Videos from the TeachingChannel To read a description of these resources head to http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-c...

Teaching digital citizenship is not something that we, as educators, can do alone.  We need to partner with parents and the community to help guide our students as they navigate their digital world.  With this knowledge in the front of our minds, last year we launched DigitalED .  DigitalED is a partnership with Portage Public Schools, parents, and the community to foster digital citizenship.  The DigitalED website offers resources like family contracts, family tip sheets, information on Internet filtering and lists of top social media applications and what you need to know about them.  DigitalED also offers workshops for parents and community members to help start conversations about digital citizenship with our students/children.  Our next workshop is coming up on November 18th at 7pm at Lake Center Elementary.  We topic will be: The Holiday Shoppers Guide - What you should know before you buy!  Check out the DigitalED website today to learn ...

Today's great Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety resource comes to us thanks to a tip past on from Jeanna Walker, Teacher Media Specialist at PNHS.  Thanks Jeanna! The FBI has put together a wonderful interactive website, FBI Cyber Surf Islands , to help teach students in grades 3-8 about Internet safety.  The goal of the website is to promote cyber citizenship and help students learn about online safety while engaging in fun, interactive games.  The program was designed to address current Internet safety threats while keeping each grade level's Internet usage and knowledge in mind. Check out this fun resource today and get your class set up and ready to play and learn about Internet safety and digital citizenship!

Video, Poster and Teacher Resources: Oversharing - Think Before you Post! Brought to you by the fabulous people at Flocabulary and Common Sense Media , this great video/song teaches our students the 10 things to think about before they post something on social media or the Internet in general.  They include: Remember the Golden Rule Don't Brag Avoid TMI Think about the reader Keep relationship details to yourself Don't be cryptic Quit complaining Curate your photos Change your settings Post smart Check out the video (3:35 min), download the posters and learn more at:  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/oversharing-think-before-you-post Oversharing Lyrics Poster Top Ten Things to Think About Before you Post Poster

It's time for Digital Citizenship Week! October 19-25, 2014 Every day, your students are tested with each post, search, chat, text message, file download, and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations? Let's all get on board for Digital Citizenship Week and engage students, our fellow teachers, and families in our community in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. Dive into the suggested activities and these helpful resources provided by Common Sense Media  and start helping your students become digital citizens you and their family will be proud of. Get connected: Be sure to post what you’re doing to the Connected Educator Month calendar and tag your plans as “DigitalCitizenshipWeek” to inspire others to get involved.

Would you like to learn more about helping students blend their digital and non-digital lives into a healthy, inspired appoach to living?  Then this may be the MOOC (massive, open, online course) for you. When does the course occur? Spring semester, 2014 (January 12 to May 4). Taught by? Myself (Jason Ohler), President’s Professor and Professor Emeritus, Educational Technology, University of Alaska; Professor, Fielding Graduate University, Media Psychology PhD program. Through? The University of Alaska Southeast, School of Education How to register? Professional Development Course, ED 593. Contact: Cathie Thomas (cathy.thomas@uas.alaska.edu) from the Professional Education Center. She will give you directions about how to sign up. The free MOOC. As mentioned above, come to this website for the course materials. To join the discussion, join the Google+ Community Digital Citizenship MOOC 2014 . To learn more: http://www.jasonohler.com/wordpressii/

Kids asking for electronics for the holidays? At a recent parent workshop, hosted by the PPS DigitalEd team, parents asked for advice on how to manage electronic gifts.  Visit our page below for helpful tips. http://digitaled.site.portageps.org/electronic-gifts

All too often our tweens and teens do not realize how easy it is for someone to find out about them online.  They think because they only share things with their facebook "friends" or use apps like SnapChat that supposedly delete photos after only a few seconds they are safe and aren't leaving a digital footprint behind.  This great video from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America really helps to illustrate how easy it is to find out a wealth of information about others in just 6 simple clicks.

Going along with our celebration of Digital Citizenship Week, here is another great resource.  Check out Edutopia's collection of articles, videos, and other resources on internet safety, cyberbullying, digital responsibility, and media and digital literacy. (Updated 10/2013) Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the  "Additional Resources on the Web" section that is in yellow.  There are some great resources here.

Many of you may not know, but this week is Digital Citizenship week.  A week highlighted on the calendar to promote the increasingly important topic of Digital Citizenship with our students.  Digital Citizenship can no longer be a topic taught solely in the computer lab by a keyboarding teacher.  As students live and share more of their lives online, Digital Citizenship and creating a positive Digital Footprint becomes an imperative topic of discussion.  As you can probably tell, this is a topic I am very passionate about.  In that vein, I will be sharing some wonderful resources with you all this week on Digital Citizenship.  Many of these resources will come from one of my favorite resources, Common Sense Media . Today's resource is a wonderful self guided curriculum for third through fifth graders called Digital Passport . Here is a screen-shot of the site: Summary of Tool: This program provides five engaging lessons to hep students become bette...