PPS Instructional Technology

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)

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...