Digital Citizenship
& Google Information Night
Presentation for Minnechaug Students and Families
Julie B. Keefe, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning
https://sites.google.com/hwrsd.org/digitalcitizens/home
September 27, 2017
What do we mean by “digital citizenship”?
“Being a good digital citizen is more than knowing your way around the web. It's about connecting and collaborating in ways you didn't even know were possible.”- Common Sense Media, Digital Citizenship Curriculum
By teaching students in school, and supporting families about ways to continue the learning at home, we strive to create a positive school culture that supports safe and responsible technology use.
Elements of Digital Citizenship
Digital Life
Today’s freshmen have had iPhones in their lives since preschool.
It’s not just a way to consume content like music or view online items, but it’s also about creating content.
Taking photos, editing videos, and posting are all done with a few swipes.
How can we help them to make good decisions so they can take advantage of the powerful technology that fills their lives?
Using technology wisely and well
We can’t see everything that goes on in their online world, so we need to teach them how to behave responsibly in the digital world
Importance of conversations and checking in on what apps they are using, things they are seeing online and ways to access help for themselves or others.
Seven Steps to Good Digital Parenting
Being Open and Unafraid
Have your kids show you how to do something online if you don’t already know.
Don’t judge the digital world through a non-digital lens. Test out their point of view.
Values and Balance
Parenting involves how we prepare our children for face to face as well as online interactions.
Translate values into the digital world and help kids understand the implications of their actions.
If our kids are going to thrive with digital media, we must balance the negative with the positive, privacy with protection.
Your Digital Footprint
A post is never truly deleted from the online world
Before posting, think:
Digital Dilemmas- Ways to Promote Discussion
Common Sense Media has a collection of family resources to promote home discussion of digital issues. These “Digital Dilemmas” pose made up scenarios and questions to spark discussion.
Digital Drama- Impersonation
Erin was home sick from school watching a movie when she looked down at her phone and saw her screen filled with text messages written in capital letters and punctuated with exclamation points. “I HATE YOU!!! HOW COULD YOU?!” Erin panicked: she had no idea why she was receiving the flood of vicious text messages. She frantically texted two of her friends, but both were in class, and her calls went to voicemail. A few hours later, Erin pieced together what had happened. Someone had hacked into her best friend’s Facebook page, acting as her, and sent messages to her best friend’s boyfriend. Her best friend was furious and was convinced that it was Erin, since Erin was the only person who had her password. Erin hadn’t been at school to defend herself, so their other friends had already heard about the incident and were mad at Erin, too.
Digital Drama- Impersonation
What is your gut reaction to this story?
Is sharing passwords something that people who you know do? Who would you share your Facebook password with and under what circumstances?
What would you do in this situation if you were Erin?
Is impersonation something you ever see on social media? Are there ever situations when it is funny or just a joke?
Tools and Resources for Families
G Suite for Education
Creating & Collaborating with Online Tools
Today’s Students
The Massachusetts English Language Arts and Literacy Frameworks feature technology written into the standards:
Writing Standard 11-12 grade: Use technology, including current web-based communication platforms, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
The Need for a Comprehensive Tool
How can we move forward as a district to:
Calendar
A versatile solution that allows you to create multiple calendars and choose your sharing preferences.
Students will have their own calendar and can enter tests, long term projects, etc. helping them to promote time management skills.
If a teacher uses Google Classroom, then assignment due dates will load into the student’s calendar.
Drive
Drive is your online file cabinet- allowing you to create Docs, Forms, Sheets, Slides and share files on any device with internet access.
Use a desktop computer, iPad, phone, or Chromebook to access your files at school, home, or on the road.
Collaborate with peers on a document in real time or access embedded tools like “Voice Typing” to dictate orally into a document and allow Google to do the typing.
Classroom
Google Classroom is your mission control for class. Join classes, find assignments, obtain teacher feedback, and see everything in one place. Instant. Paperless.
Classroom Info for Guardians
As a guardian, you can receive email summaries showing your student’s progress in classroom.
Guardian email summaries include:
Sites
Create a website to share to those within your organization.
A site is a great way to report out on a topic by embedding a Google Doc, adding photos or videos and links to other resources.
Student Safety
The G Suite Administrator within the district can adjust permission levels to:
Privacy
Parental Permission for Google Account
Students will be sent home with a permission slip for their Google Account.
No student will be issued an account without permission from a guardian.
The student Google address and password will be supplied to the guardian(s).
Options will be provided to ensure that students do not have barriers for completing homework assignments. (Ability to access internet at school, or to use tools like Microsoft Word)