What is media literacy?

Media literacy is the ability to critically analyze, evaluate, and interpret the vast array of media messages we encounter daily, including news, advertisements, social media content, and entertainment. It’s crucial for students in today’s digital world, as it equips them to critically analyze various media messages. It enables them to identify biases in news articles, comprehend advertiser targeting techniques, and uncover subtexts in informal messaging. By honing these media literacy skills, students can make informed choices, engage in meaningful discussions, and navigate the complex media landscape with discernment.

How do I incorporate media literacy instruction?

Media literacy is a way of teaching. Math, science, history, lunch – the subject list goes on and on! The key is to incorporate it into your existing lessons for any subject. I use Nearpod for tons of subjects, but never have I told my students, “Now, we will have our digital literacy subject time.” It’s important to create opportunities throughout your instruction for students to showcase their knowledge through media literacy resources. We should use digital resources and tools to teach and expose students to various types of news and media. For example, If you’re teaching about asteroids in your science class, have students analyze an article about NASA’s DART Mission or draft a tweet to NASA.

Too often, classrooms are filled with students typing or reading articles. Some teachers consider this digital literacy, but one important element is forgotten. Media literacy is all about analyzing various types of text. Students can cover the essentials of it through videos, blogs, interactive experiences, tweets, and web pages. This is a realistic approach to how they would face news media in their everyday life.

There are 5 key questions for media literacy education students should be able to discern:

• Who created this message?
• What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
• How might different people understand this message differently from me?
• What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in or omitted from this message?
• Why is this message being sent?

Media literacy lessons to help students analyze news media

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness K-12 Program

If you’re looking for even more resources, we’ve got you covered! Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness K-12 Program offers resources to embed 21st-century skills like digital citizenship, social emotional learning, and college and career readiness into every classroom. The Digital Citizenship Curriculum collection includes technology applications, coding essentials, and media literacy.

Nearpod’s free media literacy lessons

With Nearpod’s free digital citizenship lessons, teachers can save time searching or creating media literacy resources. In these lessons and activities, students can learn to differentiate and connect clues to fake news sources. They also learn to identify accurate news sources and other sources that do not quite fit the mold. You can use these lessons as they are or modify them. Check out some of these lessons to get started!

If you don’t have access to Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, you can still access some unlocked digital literacy resources and digital citizenship week lessons for free. To access the resources shared in this article, make sure to sign up for Nearpod for free!

Primary vs. Secondary Sources (Grades 3-8)

In the Primary vs. Secondary Sources one-minute video lesson, suitable for Grades 3-8, students gain insight into the distinction between primary and secondary sources, helping them understand how we learn about historical events. This lesson equips them with valuable skills for evaluating and sourcing information accurately.

The Role of Media (Grades 6-8)

In The Role of Media (Grades 6-8) lesson, students learn how media literacy fosters critical thinking, effective communication, and civic engagement, highlighting the media’s role in monitoring and influencing government and public opinions. This lesson equips students with essential skills to navigate the media landscape and become informed and active citizens.

Current event lesson series (Grades 3-12)

Nearpod’s current events lesson series engages students in analyzing real-world news stories, fostering critical thinking and the ability to assess news sources, biases, and information reliability. By exploring current events, students become informed consumers of news, equipping them with essential skills to navigate the complex media landscape effectively.

Trustworthy Resources: Draw It Activity (Grades 6-12)

In this 6-12 technology Draw It activity, students learn how to evaluate search results and distinguish credible links from unreliable sources using a Draw It activity. This lesson equips students with essential skills to critically assess online information, fostering their ability to make informed decisions and navigate the digital landscape effectively.

DCL: Sourcing Your Information (Grades 6-8 and 9-12)

In the DCL: Sourcing Your Information lesson, available for both Grades 6-8 and 9-12, students learn to identify online information creators, evaluate credibility, recognize conflicts of interest, and detect native advertising. This lesson equips students with vital skills for critically assessing digital content, fostering media literacy through interactive activities, and empowering them to make informed choices in the digital landscape.

Top 4 Tips to Spot Bad Science Reporting (Grades 9-12)

The Top 4 Tips to Spot Bad Science Reporting video lesson, designed for Grades 9-12, equips students with practical guidance to discern unreliable science reporting. By following the simple acronym G-L-A-D, students learn to distinguish credible scientific information from questionable sources, empowering them to navigate the media landscape with confidence and critical thinking skills.

Predictive Advertising (Grades 9-12)

In the Predictive Advertising (Grades 9-12) lesson, students are introduced to the concept of predictive advertising, which guides them in exploring its positive and negative impacts on society. Through a real-world example presented in a BBC video, students develop critical thinking skills to navigate personalized advertising effectively, making them more discerning and informed media consumers.

Start teaching media literacy activities with Nearpod

For students to be media literate, they need to have a lot of practice in mixed media lessons. With access to different types of information and various sources, they can build critical thinking skills about the media they see every day. Students will use this knowledge to spot fake news stories and make informed opinions about the world around them.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these media literacy lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Brianna Owens

Brianna Owens is a teacher and technology trainer originally from the USA currently teaching at an International school in Finland.  Brianna strives to help redefine what education looks like through use of technology in the classroom and making connections with her students through technology.  She is a certified special education teacher, general education teacher, and TESOL teacher as well as a technology trainer and awarded educator with Nearpod, Discovery Education, Microsoft and SMART Technologies.

The post Media literacy lessons to help students analyze news media appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Digital wellness for students refers to how media and technology affect their mental, physical, social, and emotional health. Multimedia is an ever-present part of students’ and our own daily lives, whether we are consuming or creating it. In today’s digital landscape, there’s a firehose of information presented via audio, text, images, and videos from different channels, platforms, and technologies. Still, we can be creators and sharers of such sticky content day in and day out. Such engagement can have a toll on our well-being, physically (e.g., eye strain and impacts on sleep) or socially and emotionally (e.g., social comparison).

The many nuances of our always-on world require us to be vigilant about understanding the opportunities as well as the pitfalls of such technology use and digital interactions. This past winter, the CDC released a report that shared startling statistics for teen girls, stating that nearly 3 in 5 teen girls (57%) said they felt “persistently sad or hopeless”‚—double that of boys. For years, many studies have looked at how social media, in particular, has affected the confidence and overall health of our youth.

On March 30, 2023, Common Sense released their research on Teens and Mental Health: How Girls Really Feel About Social Media, which included the following key finding:

“Among all girls surveyed, nearly four in 10 (38%) report symptoms of depression, and among these girls, social media has an outsize impact—for better and for worse.”

Digital wellness requires adults and kids alike to consider how to use technology to support their overall health. Developmentally, many kids are not ready to handle the barrage of information and interactions, so schools and homes need to work together to teach kids digital citizenship and media literacy skills so that they develop healthy habits of mind they can lean on. Woven throughout all disciplines is the need for social and emotional skills in order to succeed not only in school but in life. Digital health and wellness and SEL go hand in hand, so kids learn to use critical thinking skills when interacting online.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free to access these digital citizenship lessons!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Why should we infuse SEL skills with the use of technology?

It might be common for teachers and schools to teach either SEL or digital citizenship. Yet the two complement each other in addressing digital health and wellness. While digital citizenship and SEL aren’t interchangeable, infusing digital citizenship into social emotional learning instruction can help you be more responsive to the demands and opportunities that technology brings into your students’ lives on a daily basis.

Nearpod and Common Sense Education’s SEL in Digital Life collection brings both of these content areas together to highlight the specific SEL skills that students will need to navigate the challenges of digital life while building skills in SEL competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness. By combining SEL and digital citizenship, young people will have concrete ways to apply the skills to scenarios in their everyday lives.

Nearpod and Common Sense’s SEL in Digital Life lesson collection

SEL in Digital Life is a collection of educational resources developed by Common Sense Education and included in Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program. The lesson collection is designed to address the unique ways in which technology impacts the social and emotional well-being of students. Common Sense Education is the leading nonprofit that helps kids, families, and educators thrive in a digital age. Their trusted name in education speaks to the quality of materials designed for teachers, students, and their families. Common Sense Education is a long-time partner of Nearpod and offers a Digital Citizenship and Social Emotional Learning Curriculum in Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program for elementary, middle school, and high school.

This collaborative collection of 20 lessons in social emotional learning and digital literacy curriculum highlights how to build essential digital and tech habits and skills in a developmentally-appropriate manner to nurture lifelong learning. Such conversations must happen early and often, even before kids are on personal devices participating in our connected world. And then, the examples should reflect real-world, authentic dilemmas. These are quick and short activities and can be embedded into your existing lesson plans or used during homeroom, advisory, etc. The activities are rooted in digital life dilemmas to encourage discussion about and reflection on character strength, including communication, compassion, courage, empathy, gratitude, humility, perseverance, self-control, and teamwork.

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program focuses on non-core academic subjects critical for student success in and beyond the classroom. Get these interactive resources to embed digital citizenship, social-emotional learning, financial literacy, and college and career readiness into any classroom.

Why should a teacher use these lessons?

Regardless of how much or how little media and tech might play a role in your classroom, they do play a prominent role in our children’s lives. From television to streaming to texting to the internet to apps, kids are consuming and creating. And their tech habits outside of the classroom can affect what happens (or doesn’t happen) in your classroom.

We understand teachers are strapped for time and are constantly tasked with “one more thing” to do in the classroom. These lessons are quick and easy to implement and will help build student engagement and create a stronger classroom culture. The SEL in Digital Life activities will help establish a positive learning environment that supports students academically, socially, and emotionally.

We know technology enhances student learning. Still, if students are not prepared to use it safely and responsibly through digital citizenship behaviors, it could negatively impact their learning environment. Our lessons help you proactively address some of the factors that contribute negatively to your classroom, which include digital distractions, responsible use, and digital drama.

View all of Common Sense Education’s SEL in Digital Life materials below!

What is covered in these lessons?

CASEL framework

The SEL in Digital Life collection follows the CASEL framework for social-emotional learning. Each SEL in Digital Life lesson was designed to focus on one of the five competencies outlined in this framework:

• Self-Awareness: Focus on helping students reflect on their relationship with media and technology
• Self-Management: Focus on developing students’ executive functioning skills to manage their use of technology
• Responsible Decision-Making: Focus on how students should evaluate the opportunities and potential risks of using technology
• Relationship Skills: Focus on helping students develop prosocial behaviors that are conducive to positive online experiences
• Social Awareness: Focus on helping students identify varying degrees of online meanness and strategies to de-escalate online conflicts

Lessons organized by grade levels

The collection is organized by grade bands, so each lesson addresses an SEL competency at a developmentally appropriate level. The activities range from whole group, small group, and individual, all through a real-world lens.

Here are some examples of lessons we recommend exploring:

• Use Your Heart When You’re Online for grades K-2 focuses on relationship skills. Students relate to one of the animated characters in the song Pause & Think Online to explore further the ways in which they can be kind and respectful when communicating online.

• My Feeling When Using Technology for grades K-2 ties to self-awareness and digital wellbeing. Students learn to define their feelings and emotions as a way to illustrate the many ups and downs of technology use.

• How Can You Be an Online Superhero for grades 3-5 ties to responsible decision-making. Students evaluate a series of scenarios to determine which are ways to be a super digital citizen. Such concrete examples support students when they face their own quandaries.

• My Media Balance for grades 3-5 has students practice self-management when it comes to the many choices they make daily around the media they watch and use.

• Dealing with Digital Drama for grades 6-8 is timely and highlights social awareness. Students react to digital drama scenarios by trying to empathize with the various players and their perspectives.

• Who Are You on Social Media? for grades 9-12 also ties self-awareness. This lesson explores how we present different sides of ourselves online through our curated posts. Students reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of such curation and how they can share the most positive online presence.

Start using the SEL in Digital Life lesson collection

Like salt and pepper, SEL and digital citizenship — affectionately known as #digcit — work together to make sure that kids are prepared to handle the challenges they will face in the digital world. These healthy habits of mind will serve students well in school, in future jobs, and in life. Such digital well-being is a cornerstone to successfully navigating our digital world in a proactive and positive manner. We all want our kids to be balanced, happy, and confident, so do dive into Nearpod’s SEL in Digital Life collection to find more quality and engaging resources for your classroom.

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post Social emotional learning lessons for students’ digital wellness appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying that leverages digital technology such as messaging, social media, gaming, and mobile devices to spread mean messages designed to anger, threaten, shame, embarrass, or scare a target. CommonSense.org defines cyberbullying as “repeated and unwanted hurtful words or behavior that occur online. It includes sharing negative or harmful content about someone on purpose. Often, this type of bullying happens over text messages, online chat, or social media.” 

When it comes to cyberbullying on social media and online in general, the intent is malicious, the frequency is repetitive, and the effects can be devastating. But how does bullying online differ from “typical” bullying? Consider it bullying wrapped in persistence, permanence, and subtleness. Some may say that “kids will be kids” and that teasing and joking are common aspects of child’s play – but whether it’s name-calling, rumors, hate speech, bullying, or online harassment, none is acceptable in any format.

Examples of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying takes multiple forms and thus can be hard to detect, monitor, or track. From trash-talking to griefing to ghosting to cyberflashing to catfishing, the terminology grows, as do the nuances of digital drama. It is pervasive. Due to its digital nature, online bullying can happen at all hours instead of “just” on the playground. It can be hard to escape, as the offender and the victim don’t have to be face to face. It can happen behind closed doors in 1-to-1 messaging. Conversely, cyberbullying can also occur in a more public space, like social media, where others can see it happening. And it can be seemingly permanent and hard for victims to erase from such public forums. It can be quite subtle, too. Imagine someone who engages in “aggressive liking” a victim’s posts as a way to show that they’re “watching” them at all times. Such debilitating interactions are hard to monitor.

More often than not, victims of cyberbullying know their bullies. However, aggressors can be wrapped in a cloak of anonymity, pretending to be someone else. Such deception can make it difficult to identify the true culprit at first and stop the bullying. It can also be seemingly baseless or unprovoked, yet for a child still developing their own sense of identity, such undermining tactics can be detrimental.

Not helping the situation is the fact that cyberbullying is sticky, meaning that it can be hard for the victim not to look at that most recent email, message, or post. It is human nature that we seek others’ opinions and approval, so this sense of belonging can be counterproductive in online bullying situations. Such cyclical abuse can be catastrophic.

The effects of cyberbullying on students

Cyberbullying can affect kids’ (and adults’) physical, emotional, and mental health. Kids’ sense of self-worth and self-esteem can suffer, and they can become overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness.

Targets of online bullying can display signs such as decreased or increased use of devices, high stress levels, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, social withdrawal, a drop in grades, abstaining from school or activities, or signs of depression (just to name a few).

In a 2022 Pew Research Center’s Report Center survey, 46% of teens ages 13 to 17 reported experiencing at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors, while 28% say that they experienced multiple types; those stats become more dire when you look at the data by sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Cyberbullying is related to low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, anger, frustration, and a variety of other emotional and psychological problems (Brighi et al., 2012; Hinduja & Patchin, 2010; Hinduja & Patchin, 2019; Kowalski & Limber, 2013; Patchin & Hinduja, 2010; Wang, Nansel, & Iannotti, 2011)

Cyberbullying.org

The role of school administrators in preventing and dealing with cyberbullying incidents

As an administrator, addressing bullying as part of your overall school ethos, whether articulated in a mission statement or a code of conduct, is key. Cyberbullying and digital drama, in general, can negatively impact a school’s culture and climate. Therefore, to be proactive versus reactive, many schools have developed explicit anti-cyberbullying policies around responsible device use. In addition to sharing policies, it is important to adopt a program to teach digital citizenship. Also, partner with parents to help them stay informed about cyberbullying and understand the warning signs. Lastly, ensure that bullying is being addressed appropriately and efficiently by establishing a shared language and process across the school. Keep reading to explore these tips in depth with actionable examples administrators and educators can use.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

8 Effective ways to prevent cyberbullying in schools

1. Establish clear policies

Developing anti-cyberbullying policies helps schools prevent it by setting clear expectations and consequences for acceptable and responsible device usage on and off campus, during and outside of school hours, and between students at different locations. These policies proactively establish a school culture of respect and responsible digital behavior.

When creating policies, here are some questions to consider:

• What does/doesn’t happen if incidents occur on school devices versus personal devices?
• What does/doesn’t happen if incidents take place on or off of the school’s campus?
• What does/doesn’t happen if incidents occur during or outside of the school day hours?
• What does/doesn’t happen if incidents occur between students at the same or different campuses or districts?

Implement Responsible Use Agreements (RUA) along with Acceptable Use Agreements (AUA), which students and their guardians sign at the beginning of the school year. One best practice is to involve students and parents in the drafting of such policies so that all stakeholders have a voice, ownership, and onus. Clearly outline the expectations and consequences around device handling, maintenance, and respectful use.

2. Adopt a digital citizenship program

Awareness and education are key. No one is immune to the threat of cyberbullying, so awareness begets prevention.

First, some norms need to be taught about the implementation and importance of digital citizenship. There are safety and security measures that all who use digital devices need to recognize. From resetting passwords to turning off location sharing, each student needs to understand the “why” behind the “what” when it comes to maintaining their account settings and protecting their privacy and personal information.

Plus, online communication can be more complex and dynamic than what we are used to in person. There are nuances, innuendos, and non-verbal communication that can be lost. Many feel a disassociation effect when they are behind a screen and not seeing the person on the other side. We need to set expectations for what kinds of online interactions are not only safe but also respectful and responsible. From the words they use to the images they share, users need to pause before they post. 

This is why it’s crucial to ensure digital citizenship is a core mindset by teaching lessons early and often. Adopting a digital citizenship program will help educators prepare and make time for teaching this type of material. The Nearpod Library and 21st Century Readiness Program include interactive digital citizenship lessons, activities, and videos about digital literacy topics such as cyberbullying, media balance, news and media literacy, communication, digital footprints, and online privacy.

We’ve unlocked some lessons for you to preview the program! Preview the unlocked program resources and digital citizenship lessons from the Nearpod Library for free.

3. Name the roles

When it comes to cyberbullying, educate everyone on the roles we play, from offender to victim to upstander. We want to empower all ages not to be bystanders who simply watch the digital drama unfold; instead, we want to encourage all to say something when they see something.

There are key roles for everyone to understand:

• A bully (offender or perpetrator): the person responsible for the attacks
• A victim: the person who is targeted in such attacks
• A bystander: a person who sees what’s happening but does not partake
• An upstander: a person who reports the incident(s) or addresses the bully

4. Form partnerships with parents

Consider hosting information sessions for parents and caregivers so that they are informed about the threat of online bullying and know the warning signs to watch for. Remember, not all caregivers grew up in a digital world, so they may not have prior experiences to lean on. Arm them with common language and proactive tips so that they are echoing the same valuable life lessons. Find tips, articles, and resources for every age and stage to share throughout the year. Explain school-based politics, encourage them to set family-based guidelines when at home, and underscore the shared responsibility in preventing cyberbullying.

Check out Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program to equip students with the skills they need for success in today’s schools and in tomorrow’s society.

in the honor of the #onlinesafety and #cyberbullying #BullyingPreventionMonth @nearpod has a great great interactive lesson, our ss took it to a whole different level @mrsjeagon @mjvitaleqp @DeborahRLucas2 @lindsayrothfeld pic.twitter.com/BwG3xxoNpS

— Aggie Salter (@AggieSalterITS) October 19, 2022

5. Emphasize the first step to dealing with bullying: Shut it down

We also want to emphasize to all, before they are victims, what to do if they feel targeted. These are crucial ways to prevent cyberbullying. To start, as sticky as the messages can be, tell young people that when they get that “ick” feeling in their stomachs, to shut down all technology: Close the laptop, log out of the social media platform, and turn off the phone. Developmentally, this decision can actually be quite hard for kids, so underscore that this is the first step to dealing with cyberbullying. While shutting down technology or blocking a harasser doesn’t stop the hurt or prevent further harm, it is an action-oriented step the victim can take to hold onto a bit of power. Shutting down the tech can thwart any impulses to respond or react, and sometimes (albeit not always), ignoring a bully can stop the abuse.

The rest of the tips are steps that schools can take to address and respond to cyberbullying properly.

6. Encourage students to tell an adult

Next, always tell a trusted adult. This tip is probably the most important. Many young poeple don’t want to “tattle,” yet the effects of cyberbullying are too great to shoulder on one’s own (no matter the age!). Encourage kids to think of at least two trusted adults – parents, caregivers, teachers, or coaches – whom they can turn to in tough times. Let them know that no one should ever carry the burden of cyberbullying alone, and a trustworthy adult can listen and help them problem-solve the situation.

7. Gather evidence

There is no eraser button online. Therefore, it’s important to teach students and staff how to leverage functions like print, copy, and screenshot to gather evidence of hurtful words and statements. Lean on timestamps to show the repetitive nature of cyberbullying. And reassure kids that there is always a digital footprint left when it comes to digital communication; most cyberbullies don’t realize that it is a matter of time before their actions are revealed.

8. Underscore the permanence of digital footprints

There is no eraser button online. Therefore, it’s important to teach students and staff how to leverage functions like print, copy, and screenshot to gather evidence of hurtful words and statements. Lean on timestamps to show the repetitive nature of cyberbullying. And reassure students that there is always a digital footprint left when it comes to digital communication; most cyberbullies don’t realize that it is a matter of time before their actions are revealed.

Part of your digital citizenship program should address how all of our online interactions leave a digital footprint, no matter what we share or where we post it. By highlighting the permanence of our digital footprints, you may deter would-be bullies and educate victims about the breadcrumbs bullies leave behind. Most children grow wide-eyed when they hear that although disappearing messages on Snapchat may be inaccessible after a time, they still reside on the company’s servers somewhere in the world.

Here are some lessons to teach about digital footprints:

• DCL: Who’s Looking at Your Digital Footprint?: This Common Sense Education lesson on digital footprints and responsible online behavior can impact students because it equips them with essential knowledge about the long-term consequences of their online actions. It promotes responsible and ethical technology use and encourages students to take ownership of their digital footprints, enabling them to navigate the digital world more thoughtfully and safely. (Free on Nearpod’s Library)
• Digital Trails: This Common Sense Education lesson teaches students what a digital footprint is, instilling a critical awareness of their online actions and how they contribute to their own digital footprint, and emphasizing the lasting implications it can have on their lives. (Only available on The 21st Century Readiness Program)
• The Power of Digital Footprints: This Common Sense Education lesson provides students with a foundational understanding of the concept of a digital footprint, helping them recognize how their online actions can have a lasting impact. It helps encourage students to make responsible choices online and contribute positively to their digital communities. (Only available on The 21st Century Readiness Program)

Help prevent and address cyberbullying with Nearpod’s support

The issues around online bullying change as quickly as the digital landscape itself. It affects the online reputation and digital footprints of everyone involved while also crushing school culture. All educators, administrators, and classroom teachers need to stay on top of the ways to stop bullying online and share out to make sure the rest of the stakeholders – such as parents, caregivers, and students themselves – are similarly educated. Children will misstep, so staying proactive versus reactive is essential to mitigating the impact. Community-wide, schools can weave tips and resources for preventing cyberbullying into their instruction, training, and regular communications. Staying alert and avoiding the assumption that “it won’t happen here” will be an important step in keeping your community free from bullying.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!
Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to explore the 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post 8 Effective ways to prevent cyberbullying in schools appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Every year, the third week of October is coined Digital Citizenship Week. Teachers use this time to teach about digital citizenship and support students in developing the skills they need to use devices safely, ethically, and effectively. Now more than ever, it’s important to empower students to think critically and participate responsibly in the digital world through media literacy and social and emotional learning skills.

Digital Citizenship Week free lessons and activities

Nearpod has curated free lessons for Digital Citizenship Week you can use to teach about online safety, cyberbullying, digital literacy, and more. We compiled our most popular and recommended lessons to help you plan your Digital Citizenship Month or Week.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these digital citizenship activities and lessons!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

The Nearpod Library and 21st Century Readiness Program include interactive digital citizenship activities, lessons, assessments, and videos covering topics like digital literacy, cyberbullying, media balance, news, and media literacy, communication, digital footprint identity, and online privacy. Check out our curated list of the most popular and staff favorite lessons from each library!

How Adirondack Central School District uses Nearpod for teaching digital literacy

Discover how the Adirondack Central School District, a rural public school district in upstate New York, embraced the challenge of aligning with New York State’s Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards. Leveraging Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, educators navigated these standards with purpose, empowering both teachers and students for a digitally fluent future.

Digital Citizenship lessons for Grades K-5

• Safe Online Behavior (Grades K-5) Most Used
  • In this Nearpod Time to Climb, students demonstrate their understanding of safe online behavior and examples of digital citizenship.

• Digital Trails (Grade 2) Staff Favorite
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn what their digital footprint is and how it is created.

• We the Digital Citizens (Grade 2) Most Used
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how to be a good digital citizen.

• Computer Vocabulary (Grades 3-5) Most Used 
  • In this Nearpod digital literacy lesson, students investigate how technology can be used to make their lives simpler, more productive, and more expansive.

• Rings of Responsibility (Grade 3) Most Used
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students examine their in-person and online responsibilities.

• The Power of Words (Grade 3) Most Used
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students decide what kinds of statements are OK to say online and which are not.

• My Media Choices (Grade 4) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn the “What? When? How Much?” framework for describing their media choices.

• Private and Personal Information (Grade 4) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students identify why people share information about themselves online and investigate the difference between private and personal information.

• Super Digital Citizen (Grade 4) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students will be able to reflect on the characteristics that make someone an upstanding digital citizen, recognize what cyberbullying is, and show ways to be an upstander.

• Finding My Media Balance (Grade 5) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students reflect on how balanced they are in their daily lives.

• What’s Cyberbullying? (Grade 5) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how to recognize similarities and differences between in-person bullying, cyberbullying, and being mean.

Digital Citizenship activities for Grades 6-8

• Digital Life 101 (Grade 6) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students are introduced to the 24/7, socially progressive nature of digital media and technologies.

• Digital Citizenship & Responsibility (Grade 6-8) Staff Favorite 
  • In this 6-8 activity, students will review what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to take responsibility on social media with Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.

• Don’t Feed the Phish (Grade 6) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn about how they can protect themselves from identity theft using examples of digital citizenship.

• Finding Balance in a Digital World (Grade 6-8) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn about the benefits of balancing digital media use in their lives.

• Sourcing Your Information (Grades 6-8) Staff Favorite 
  • In this Nearpod digital literacy lesson, students identify strategies for determining who creates information online. Students learn about credibility, conflict of interest, and native advertising.

• Tik Tok (Grades 6-12) Staff Favorite 
  • In this Nearpod lesson, students investigate Tik Tok and its user base. Students consider how certain aspects can affect users’ behavior.

• Tik Tok Bans (Grade 6-12) Staff Favorite  
  • In this Current Events lesson, students learn about the recent wave of restrictions on TikTok in the US. They learn about the platform in general and analyze the arguments for banning or restricting TikTok.

• Tik Tok Challenges (Grade 6-12) Most Used  
  • In this Nearpod Current Events lesson, students will explore the potential impact of Tik Tok challenges in schools and communities.

• How Retailers Stalk You Online (Grade 6-12) Staff Favorite  
  • In this Two Cents video, students learn about how retailers track their activity online to personalize ads and convince them to make purchases. They also receive some tips about how to be more mindful and deliberate with online shopping.

• Upstanders and Allies: Taking Action Against Cyberbullying (Grade 7) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn about cyberbullying and how they should respond to it. Students reflect on the importance of showing empathy before commenting online.

• The Power of Digital Footprints (Grade 7) Staff Favorite 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn what a digital footprint is and what it conveys.

• Digital Media and Your Brain (Grade 8) Most Used  
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how digital media is designed to hook users and what can be done about it.

• Social Media Behaviors and Cyberbullying (Grade 8) Most Used 
  •  In this Classroom Complete Press lesson, students learn the importance of responsible use of online platforms and how to spot and stop cyberbullying.

Digital Citizenship lessons for Grades 9-12

• Challenging Confirmation Bias (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn to change their own confirmation bias to help them leverage technology safely, responsibly, and ethically.

• Sourcing Your Information (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
  • In this Nearpod lesson, students explore why it is important to know where information online comes from by analyzing websites and articles using examples of digital citizenship.

• Teen Voces: Hate Speech Online (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
  • In this interactive video from Common Sense Education, students listen to other teens’ thoughts about online hate speech.

• Teen Voices: Who Are You on Social Media? (Grade 9-12) Staff Favorite 
  • In this interactive video from Common Sense Education, students listen to teens reflect on how they curate their social media lives.

• Who’s Looking at Your Digital Footprint? (Grade 11) Most Used 
  • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how any information they post online can help or hurt their future opportunities.

What to do when the week is over:

Digital Citizenship is becoming a fundamental literacy that shouldn’t be confined to exploring for just one week. Continue the conversation about digital citizenship throughout the entire year Nearpod has a Digital Citizenship and Literacy supplemental curriculum available in the 21st Century Readiness Program. Our lessons support instruction in digital citizenship, computer science,  coding, applications of technology, and media literacy.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Explore Nearpod’s free digital citizenship week activities and lessons here!

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post Digital Citizenship Week: Free lessons and activities for K-12 appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Ray Kurzweil’s theory, the Law of Accelerating Returns, illustrates how and why progress seems to be escalating exponentially. Kurzweil claims that the rate of change is such that in the next 100 years, we won’t progress 100 years, but we will progress 20,000 years. The tension comes in that he believes humans to be linear by nature, while technology is exponential.

According to the 2021 Common Sense Census, media use in tweens and teens has grown faster since the start of the pandemic than it has over the four years prior to the pandemic. Additionally, teens 13- to 18-year-olds spend nearly an hour and a half a day using social media but have conflicted feelings about the medium.

No longer are students referred to as digital natives — those who were brought up with digital technology, never not knowing a world without the Internet. Post GenZ is Generation Alpha (born 2010-2025), born completely in the 21st century. This generation does not differentiate between what is online versus offline. Their world is digital. It is a world full of media consumption, rich with multimedia, and full of pings, dings, and buzzes. In this Age of Information, many use the analogy that we are bombarded with a firehose of content. So how can we teach what is a digital citizen and model it while encouraging our students to develop such foundational skills?

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod and the 21st Century Readiness Program for schools and districts.

What is digital citizenship?

Common Sense Education, leaders in digital citizenship, define the field as empowering students to take control of their digital lives. What are the appropriate behaviors and accepted norms for using digital devices and participating in digital spaces? In short, how can we all be safe, responsible, and respectful online?

Many of these ideals are fundamental to being a good citizen in general. However, the digital landscape is riddled with more opportunities to misstep, and the fall is much greater since our digital footprint is public, pervasive, and often permanent. So while kids may not be online at an early age, these conversations must start as early as kindergarten (or even earlier) to form good habits of mind, including a clear understanding of the digital citizenship definition for students, that they can lean on when they do encounter devices and the Internet, whether at home, at school, or at a friend’s house.

Elements of digital citizenship

While the field of digital citizenship is evolving as rapidly as the tech landscape itself, we know that we want students (and adults) to be fluent in the opportunities and pitfalls around:

• Privacy & Security
• Cyberbullying, Digital Drama, & Hate Speech
• Digital Footprint & Identity
• Relationships & Communication
• News & Media Literacy
• Media Balance & Well-Being

These topics can all be bucketed in the overlapping notions of safety, respect, and responsibility.

Why is digital citizenship important for 21st-century students?

Digital citizenship is important for 21st-century students because it ensures their safety online, promotes respect in digital interactions, and teaches responsibility in managing personal information and media consumption.

Safety

Digital is all about data, so it can be difficult to know where to draw the line on how, where, and when to share information. When it comes to safety, posting a photo of one’s first day of school in front of a school sign is one of those innocent missteps — now anyone can find where you go to school. We all need to be diligent about not oversharing the personal ins and outs of our daily lives as well as safeguarding our personally identifying information (PII) to avoid identity theft. Today’s digital systems are designed to track and target, so we need to teach students how to be savvy consumers. Especially when it comes to app settings. Knowing what apps are capable of makes it easier to understand how to use settings on apps to limit their reach.

Respect

Respect is one of those ideals that deserves some extra TLC and effort when it comes to any actions online. While hopefully, the students you know won’t be the targets of cyberbullying and hate speech, we all need to be aware of the subtle signs. The worst is when a young child tries to shoulder the devastating effects on their own. Likewise, we need to encourage our students to stand up and help others who they think are being cyberbullied. And don’t forget about all the nuanced shades of gray when it comes to digital drama. While bullying and drama are not new, the 24/7 access perpetrators have to subversively taunt others takes the devastating effects to a whole new level.

Responsibility

This sense of respect segues into responsibility as students learn how to form open and trusting relationships with one another. One of the upsides of the Internet is how students can explore and pursue diverse interests. They can meet others who share these passions and begin to form an independent sense of self. Yet they need to understand how anyone can curate an unrealistic or even fake identity online. Students need to understand the perils of oversharing and that there is no erase button online, so it is best to pause and think before hitting a send or share button.

Spiderman’s uncle said it best when he said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Students need to hone their critical eye when it comes to media literacy and cross-reference what they are reading or watching before believing it is true. And all of this use culminates in taking a balanced approach to media consumption. As with any diet, one wants to consume quality media in a balanced manner to stay on top of their overall well-being.

How can schools teach digital citizenship?

School communities need to commit to weaving digital citizenship throughout the curriculum to build a strong school culture. School leaders can begin by outlining clear policies around acceptable policy use, which may address device handling, student accounts, cyberbullying, social media, and cheating. Many schools have parents, and the students themselves sign contracts or agreements at the beginning of the school year to make sure that all parties understand the expectations (and repercussions). Schools and districts play a pivotal role in equipping today’s students with vital 21st-century skills they need, such as technology literacy, to foster responsible behavior in the digital community and emphasize the importance of digital citizenship.

Digital Citizenship Week Exclusive Webinar

October 16-20 is Digital Citizenship Week. Watch this webinar recording to explore K-12 lessons and activities that help students use technology responsibly and cultivate a balanced digital life. Walk away with resources and a solid plan for incorporating Digital Citizenship Week into your classroom, school, and community.

Receive a recording to watch the webinar by clicking below!

Fostering proactive digital citizenship across the curriculum

Then the educators can focus on being proactive with digital citizenship lessons. With many cross-curricular ties, the learning objectives can be hit upon in core disciplines like ELA or Social Studies. This proactive approach again emphasizes habits of mind versus a reactive, one-time plug. Remember, with many of the obstacles students face online, they are not developmentally ready to tackle them. In this modern age, the importance of digital citizenship cannot be overstated. Children’s prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls impulsivity, decision-making, and compulsivity, isn’t fully developed until one turns 25. So it is completely natural that students will misstep, experiment, and explore as they form their own identities and relationships — but the repercussions of posting an inappropriate photo, making a crass comment, or sharing private information can haunt one for decades to come.

Cultivating digital citizenship skills through engagement

As with any muscle, students need to exercise these skill sets to develop such habits of mind. Adults and students alike need repeated and consistent instances of practice in learning about digital citizenship. Schools can be that needed safe environment to explore the concepts under the guidance of an adult who may have more foresight (developmentally at least!). Teachers can share the challenges and opportunities they have experienced to better personalize the twists and turns within our digital world. Students can engage in rich discussions and role-playing to share their experiences, which will vary greatly depending on their access to devices and the Internet.

In this modern age, the importance of digital citizenship should not be overstated. These skills ought to be woven school-wide throughout the curriculum, spiraling in a developmentally appropriate way in order to take a dedicated year-long approach to digital citizenship.

Resources to build digital citizenship skills year-round

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program

Most agree that digital citizenship is a vital set of skills we need to develop. However, it is becoming harder and harder to dedicate time during the school day to these skills. Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program makes it easy to find a year’s worth of digital citizenship content that any educator can embed into their class as the content is aligned to cross-curricular standards. The 21st Century Readiness Program contains engaging learning experiences by leveraging Nearpod’s features making lessons interactive and collaborative. The digital citizenship portion of the program is broken down into topics with assessments and activities such as:

• Digital Citizenship Curriculum from Common Sense Education
• Evaluating Media
• Social Media
• Technology Applications
• Keyboarding featuring content from Typesy
• Coding featuring content from CodeMonkey

Free Nearpod digital citizenship lessons

Digital Citizenship Week is the most popular time for schools and educators to focus on developing these skills. We’ve curated a list of our most popular digital citizenship lessons to help teachers celebrate the week and be inspired to keep the conversation going.

Leverage the upsides of our digital world

And while we hear the scary and disturbing stories around cyberbullying, phishing, cheating, and screen time, the opportunities are so great for our 21st-century learners. Students today have access to literally a worldwide web of information. This is why teaching young people why digital citizenship is important for their present and future is vital. How can they apply, analyze, evaluate, and create with this newfound information? Students can become published writers, musicians, designers, and makers in an hour’s time while having the flexibility to iterate, redesign, and republish immediately afterward. This cyclical process illustrates the Hero’s Journey, but nowadays, students can be the heroes of their own learning journeys. 

Start cultivating good digital citizens today

Schools can proactively work in tandem with families to establish clear expectations and provide instances of practice to help establish these habits of mind from a young age. From protecting their private information to exploring age-appropriate sites to curating a positive digital footprint for participating thoughtfully online, these digital citizenship skills set a foundation to continue to grow and thrive. Digital citizenship is no longer a nice to have but an essential part of education to ensure their success today and in their future.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod and the 21st Century Readiness Program for schools and districts.

Explore Nearpod’s free digital citizenship week lessons here!

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post Why is digital citizenship important for 21st-century students? appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Building digital literacy skills for students is important because it empowers them to thrive in an era of rapid technological advancement by safely and effectively utilizing technology. Digital literacy fosters global connectivity, enabling students to connect and collaborate responsibly online. Teaching these topics enhances their information literacy by equipping them to navigate the digital landscape, evaluate sources, and conduct effective online research. Proficiency in digital tools and platforms also opens up diverse career opportunities, which will prepare students for their future.

We’ve given kids across the country access to devices and digital technology without teaching them how to use them safely, responsibly, and effectively. The same incredible capacity of devices to make our lives easier and amplify our voices can also have pitfalls. With the click of a button, one mistake can be accidentally broadcast to your entire social circle and strangers all over the world in a matter of seconds. Your inability to create or understand a spreadsheet can be the difference between a job offer and a denial. We often get our news online, but one Stanford study demonstrated young people dramatically overestimated their ability to evaluate the credibility of information online.

What is digital literacy in education?

The American Library Association (ALA) defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.”

Teenage hubris is nothing new, but in the digital age, teenage mistakes stay with you. Digital literacy topics instill the principles of digital citizenship, ensuring that students practice ethical online behavior and navigate the internet safely and respectfully. It is our shared responsibility to develop a digital literacy curriculum that can teach them these skills. While digital citizenship skills are typically emphasized during Digital Citizenship Week, they are essential year-round. We recognize the challenges educators face in finding time to incorporate digital citizenship into their busy schedules. Fortunately, Nearpod offers a solution with ready-made, impactful lessons that you can easily integrate into your curriculum today to teach these important topics.

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program provides educators with the essential tools and curriculum needed to confidently teach their students across all grade levels to use technology safely, ethically, and effectively. Teachers don’t need to be experts in digital citizenship, social and emotional learning, or college and career readiness to facilitate them. Partnered with Common Sense Education, the program contains engaging learning experiences by leveraging Nearpod’s features to make lessons engaging, interactive, collaborative, and easy for teachers to facilitate.

Digital literacy examples

• Digital Citizenship: How to safely, ethically, and effectively navigate the internet/devices
• Media literacy: How to read the news/social media with a critical lens, decipher fake news, manage your media diet, and evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility, and relevance of informational sources.
• Social Media: Encourage awareness and reflectiveness of the impact that students’ interaction with social media has and create a deeper understanding of how these platforms work.
• Technology Applications: How to navigate computers, learn tech skills applied to schools, and speak the language of technology
• Coding: Teach students of any age how to code and understand algorithms

The digital citizenship portion of the program is broken down into four series that address unique aspects and the importance of digital citizenship: Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy, Technology Applications, and Coding. Each series includes pre and post-assessments, behaviorally-driven objectives with respective activities to match, PBL Design challenges, social emotional learning, and digital skills that are connected to each topic.

If you don’t have access to Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, you can still access some unlocked digital literacy resources and digital citizenship week lessons for free. To access the resources shared in this article, make sure to sign up for Nearpod for free!

Essential lessons and examples to build students’ digital literacy skills

Digital citizenship

• In this K-5 technology Draw It activity, students will explore what a digital citizen is using a Frayer model.
• In this Common Sense Education lesson on Digital Citizenship and Literacy for grade 4, students reflect on the characteristics that make someone an upstanding digital citizen. They also learn how to recognize what cyberbullying is.
• In this Common Sense Education lesson on Digital Citizenship for grade 11, students learn how any information they post online can help or hurt their future opportunities; in order to help them leverage technology safely, responsibly, and ethically.

Media literacy

• In these Nearpod Digital Citizenship and Literacy lessons for grades 6-8 and grades 9-12, students identify strategies for determining who creates information online. Students learn about credibility, conflict of interest, and native advertising.
• In this 6-12 technology Draw It activity, students review search results to identify a trustworthy link.

Social media

• In this video lesson from Common Sense Education for grades 9-12, students listen to teens reflect on how they curate their social media lives and think about the self they’re presenting on social media.
• In this current events Tik Tok Challenge lesson for grades 6-12, students will explore the potential impact of TikTok challenges in schools and communities.

Technology applications

• In this Nearpod Digital Citizenship and Literacy lesson, students identify healthy habits when using a computer. Students learn to model and apply good posture when using a computer. (Only available on The 21st Century Readiness Program)
• In this K-5 Technology Time to Climb activity, students practice their internet terminology using Nearpod’s interactive game quiz.

Coding

• In this STEM lesson partnered with Code Monkey, students will start to learn a programming language. Your students will define coding and computer programming.
• In this 25-30 minute Nearpod featuring Flocabulary topic spark, students are introduced to coding through a hip-hop video and Nearpod’s signature interactive features. This lesson features the Flocabulary video Coding.

Start teaching digital literacy curriculum with Nearpod

Start using these resources to teach your students digital literacy skills! The 21st Century Readiness Program takes abstract concepts and grounds them in real-world applications, making concepts less foreign and pushing students to see themselves in all topics. As we prepare young people for the future, it is our shared responsibility to make sure we are teaching students to be authentically digital and media literate. Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program does just that!

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post Essential lessons and examples to build students’ digital literacy skills appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, a digital native is a person who is very familiar with digital technology, computers, etc., because they have grown up with them. As of right now, this group includes Generation Z and Millennials. For these current and future generations, learning digital citizenship skills is significant in this growing digital world.

Today’s students are digital natives

Today’s students are digital natives, and technology is their first language. Regardless of what kinds of limits and parameters adults set, our students are going to be online a lot throughout their lives. Students as young as 3 are using tablets, and students as young as middle school are enrolled in online classes.

In a world where platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are integral parts of daily life, responsible digital citizenship is crucial. These platforms are filled with various content, including dramatic posts, negative comments, product advertisements, photoshopped images, and fake news articles. For children and teenagers trying to navigate this digital landscape, it can be overwhelming.

So rather than only filtering or limiting things online (which we still need to do!), it’s essential that we also teach students to be productive members of the online community and how to process their emotions for all those times when we aren’t watching.

What is a responsible digital citizen?

A responsible digital citizen, as described by Common Sense Education, encompasses all of the following traits through their online presence:

• Identity: Digital citizens are mindful of how they represent themselves online, maintaining a positive and authentic online identity.
• Privacy & Security: They take measures to protect their personal information and online accounts, ensuring their online activities are secure from potential threats.
• Relationships & Cyberbullying: Responsible digital citizenship fosters healthy online relationships and are vigilant against cyberbullying, treating others with respect and empathy.
• Copyright & Fair Use: They respect intellectual property rights, acknowledging and following copyright laws when using and sharing digital content.
• Information Literacy: Digital citizens possess the skills to critically evaluate and discern credible information from misinformation and fake news, promoting digital literacy.
• Digital Footprint: They are aware that their online actions leave a trace, and they manage their digital footprint by making responsible choices and being mindful of the consequences.

Understanding how to be a good digital citizen is crucial for the younger generation, as it helps them navigate the online world effectively. It helps them navigate the internet with awareness and responsibility. When adults set a positive example by commenting respectfully and critically evaluating information, it sets a standard for students to follow, promoting a safer and more constructive online environment for all.

How to turn digital natives into responsible digital citizens

1. Teach foundational digital literacy skills

In the digital age, teaching foundational digital literacy skills to digital natives is essential. Digital literacy empowers students to navigate technology safely and effectively, fostering global connectivity and enhancing their information literacy. Proficiency in digital tools also opens doors to diverse career opportunities. Moreover, digital literacy is crucial for discerning credible information from misinformation, promoting ethical online behavior, and responsible digital citizenship. It’s a shared effort to ensure students are authentically digital and media literate, preparing them for the challenges of the digital world.

2. Promote healthy digital habits year-round

There’s a lot that we can teach about digital literacy, but these are a few big points I always try to hit with my students to teach what is a good digital citizen:

• Limit personal information shared online
• Think before you post! Your online presence is like a digital Sharpie, it can never truly be erased
• Understand where your information is coming from and cite it correctly
• Know when to trust a source and when to check your facts (#fakenews)
• Respect the person behind the screen

Every time technology is integrated into a lesson, remind them of these healthy online habits.

3. Educate on responsible content creation and awareness of privacy and security

Empower digital natives to create content responsibly by sharing about copyright laws, fair use, and why it’s essential to give credit when using others’ work. Encourage their creativity while emphasizing ethical practices when making and sharing digital content.

Alongside these skills, help students understand the importance of privacy and online security through real life examples. This means teaching them how to manage passwords effectively, explaining the benefits of two-factor authentication, and discussing the risks of sharing personal information online. Use this as a chance to highlight the dangers of oversharing and stress the role of privacy settings on social media in protecting their online identity.

4. Encourage a growth mindset

Encouraging a growth mindset is crucial in helping students become responsible digital citizens. Just as in any skill, digital citizenship requires practice and continuous learning. As educators, we hold a unique position to instill this mindset in our students. By emphasizing that responsible online behavior is a skill that can evolve and improve over time, we empower them to embrace challenges and learn from their mistakes. In doing so, we inspire students to continually develop their digital citizenship skills and become confident in their online presence.

5. Lead by example

Educators should lead by example on ways to be a good digital citizen. Keep an empathetic and considerate online presence. Show students how to have meaningful and respectful online interactions and why it’s essential to fact-check information before sharing. Most importantly, create an open and welcoming atmosphere for digital natives to come to you with questions and seek guidance whenever they need it.

Curriculum resources to teach responsible digital citizens

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness K-12 Program offers resources to embed 21st-century skills like social emotional learning, digital citizenship, and college and career readiness into every classroom. The Digital Citizenship Curriculum collection includes technology applications, coding essentials, media literacy, and more. We’ve teamed up with experts like Common Sense Education to create these resources that are sure to put your students on the right path.

Below you’ll see a preview of our digital citizenship resources included in the 21st Century Readiness Program. There’s something for every grade level and topic included. Every lesson includes interactive videos and activities that you can launch to extend or re-teach.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access standards-aligned lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Explore Nearpod’s unlocked free digital citizenship lessons here!

Kali Guinn

Kali is a tech-savvy elementary teacher whose passion for all things STEM fuels her innovation in the classroom and inspires other teachers to begin their own #edtech adventures.

elementarygeek.com

The post How to turn digital natives into responsible digital citizens appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

New to Nearpod? Schedule a quick call with one of our experts to learn more about Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program!

The positive impact of digital citizenship instruction in K-12

Julia Maynard: 6th-grade teacher, Willie Brown Middle School, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, CA

Julia Maynard is a sixth-grade teacher at Willie Brown Middle School in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. She has been teaching middle school for 10 years as an English, history, and humanities teacher. She currently teaches history and a technology class.

Keep reading to learn from Julia how digital citizenship impacted her classroom.

Overcoming challenges with online behavior

“Most adults don’t know how to protect themselves online, and we’re expected to teach the principles of online safety and responsibility to our students. It’s not something most teachers grew up with, and it’s also something that parents oftentimes don’t know how to talk to kids about. My kids posted inappropriate things on Instagram, students made fake accounts, and, unfortunately, students shared inappropriate pictures and texts with each other. They don’t realize that what they send can’t be taken back and can be hurtful to their classmates. It was a big problem in the school last year, and this year the digital citizenship curriculum has helped our students think about these issues in a new way. 

Additionally, as many middle school teachers know, students can sometimes be mean to each other. They’re not sure how to relate to each other, and when they don’t have face-to-face interaction, it’s a lot easier to be mean. Kids don’t really think about their actions online the same way they think about their actions in person, and this curriculum has helped bridge that gap. 

In general, the most challenging part of my job is finding ways to get kids engaged and keep them motivated to learn. Finding things that pique their interest while trying to compete with cell phones and video games is a challenging task. Most of my students come to school with devices that are unlocked and interconnected, yet we (school staff) expect them to do exactly what we want them to do, not what they normally do when they have those devices.”

How Julia used Nearpod to teach digital citizenship

“I’ve used Nearpod for a long time and was excited when we found out that we had access to extra features and curriculum through the SFUSD license. Nearpod is awesome because it delivers the lesson to the student’s hands. I don’t have to worry about the kids who are sitting in the back or kids who are shy, everyone is on the same playing field. There’s instant engagement when kids can share their work, I can share their answers back to the class, and I can poll the class to see how they’re feeling. All of the kids answer all of the questions, and I get to see what they know and how they’re progressing with new information in real-time.

Digital citizenship is such an important topic to cover with students, and with Nearpod, it’s easy to teach. The Nearpod and Common Sense Digital Citizenship lessons that come with the 21st Century Readiness Program are high-quality resources. There are a lot of topics that I wouldn’t have thought to discuss with my students, but the curriculum is comprehensive. On Nearpod, the lessons are great because I can download, review, and teach immediately! There’s minimal prep work, I don’t have to spend a lot of time researching and curating resources, and the lessons are easy to use with students. Additionally, kids have multiple ways to answer questions and demonstrate an understanding of key concepts.”

Building a positive community through digital citizenship

“One of the things that surprised me about this curriculum was the strong community-building aspect. Not simply building a digital community but building community in the classroom, too. We continue to teach even more digital citizenship lessons because it’s a great way to build a positive community. We have a brand-new school, so at the same time, we’re building a curriculum for the year, and we’re building school culture and community, too. Finding ways to facilitate serious conversations has made a noticeable difference in how my kids talk to and interact with each other.”

“We continue to teach even more digital citizenship lessons because it’s a great way to build a positive community.”

Julia Maynard

Alex Springer-Post: K-5 Instructional Technology Coach, Seldens Landing Elementary School, Loudoun County, Virginia

Alex is a K-5 instructional technology coach in Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. She previously taught in North Carolina and West Virginia, where she was the first teacher in a computer lab at her school.

Keep reading to learn what Alex has to say about teaching digital citizenship.

Teaching students the importance of digital citizenship

“Our students are on the Internet every day. When I talk to younger students, even my K-2 students, they’re playing games, and a lot of games have the ability to chat. I asked my second graders, “Have you seen anyone write a mean comment to someone else online?” Unfortunately, I’ve started to skip over that question because the answer is nearly 100% yes. Some of them were scared, some of them didn’t know what to do in that situation, and they didn’t want to tell their parents because oftentimes they’d lose their devices.

The concept of a “digital footprint” is great to introduce younger students to because many of them already share their words online and are leaving a footprint behind. It may not be attached to them because they usually don’t share their private information, but they have to know that future employers, colleagues, friends, and loved ones have the ability to find things you said or did when you were younger, and what they do or say now has the ability to impact their future.”

How I use Nearpod to teach digital citizenship

“Before I used the Nearpod Digital Citizenship curriculum, I had students sit in a circle on the floor to complete pencil and paper digital citizenship activities, and a few students raised their hands to add to the discussion. With Nearpod, more kids participate, and more of them feel comfortable contributing to the lesson.

There’s safety in Nearpod, and my class has been impacted in a positive way. I have a student with selective mutism who can now participate and share his thoughts in the lesson! I share student responses, but I keep the responses anonymous so we’re able to stay on topic and keep the discussion focused. Lots of students are excited when I share their answers, so they aren’t afraid to take credit. In my classroom, I set the expectation that students don’t call each other out, and Nearpod helps to encourage that expectation.

When we’re dealing with topics like media literacy, digital drama, self-identity, and cyberbullying, Nearpod is especially helpful because students are more comfortable sharing answers that are personal or scary to them. My students don’t have to raise their hands and broadcast their answers to everybody, but they also don’t have to search for me afterward if they need to explain something. They can share their thoughts and feelings without feeling self-conscious. Some of the topics are especially sensitive because kids don’t want to seem “uncool,” admit that they were hurt, or that someone made fun of them.”

The impactful results

“In my 5th-grade class, we completed a “Power of Words” lesson, and it was interesting to see the way students reacted to cyberbullying and the difference between each class. I had one class last year that was a challenging group. In one of the Digital Citizenship lessons, students were asked to agree or disagree with the statement, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt me.” 65% of the class thought that this was a true statement, and many of these kids had no idea the impact their words could have on others!”

“It sparked an interesting and productive conversation and also enlightened the rest of my colleagues about the importance of being attentive and intentional regarding students’ choice of language. Our class discussion about the impact words can have on others hit home with many students, who realized that they have been hurt by the words of others, and then made the connection to what they were saying and posting online. The connections they were making between in-person and online interactions were so productive for how they treated each other moving forward.

No one wanted the lesson to end. When it was over, many questioned, “Class is over already!?” How often does that happen as a teacher? After my students left class, they treated each other with a higher level of respect, and they were more likely to take each other’s feelings into consideration when choosing what to say online or off.”

“No one wanted the lesson to end. When it was over, many questioned “class is over already!?” How often does that happen as a teacher?”

Alex Springer-Post

Harmony Cano: Educational technology coach. Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena, CA

Harmony is one of two education technology coaches in Pasadena Unified School District, serving 30 school sites and 1000+ teachers across the district. She previously taught middle school social studies and ELA in Pasadena.

Keep reading to learn about the impact digital citizenship instruction had on Harmony’s students.

District-wide benefits of using Nearpod’s 21st Century Program

“I’m one of two education technology coaches in Pasadena Unified School District. My colleague and I help 1000+ teachers at 30 school sites with classroom technology integration. Since we have so many school sites and there are only two of us in the district, it’s challenging to get out to all the sites to create a curriculum and assist with hands-on technology integration. We used the Common Sense Digital Citizenship curriculum before we used the Nearpod & Common Sense curriculum. Before the Nearpod curriculum launched, it was overwhelming for teachers to use the curriculum and challenging for us to coordinate. Common Sense & Nearpod’s partnership has been a huge asset to our district.

The curriculum is delivered in a way that’s student and teacher-friendly. There is minimal prep time for teachers, the lesson plans are easy to follow, teachers can preview the lessons, and there are interactive activities and links to other resources that teachers can use.”

The Nearpod platform has helped our small technology team deploy digital citizenship lessons to teachers around the district, whereas beforehand, distributing the lessons to 1000+ teachers every year was a difficult task! With this curriculum, it was easy to build a library of digital citizenship lessons in our district Nearpod account, where teachers accessed and downloaded the lessons in a ready-to-teach format. Additionally, we now have reports in Nearpod that we can send to the state, and Nearpod has helped tremendously with the paperwork we have to complete for e-rate compliance.

It has made life easier for everyone, and the digital citizenship roll-out in our district has been a success. The way this curriculum is built makes it easy for everyone involved.

Harmony Cano

Efficient lesson prep

“The teachers’ favorite aspect of the lessons is how age-appropriate they are. Teachers don’t have to plan the lessons and consider how to approach the principles of digital citizenship for different age groups. The students are really engaged, and developmentally the lessons catch the students’ attention. They can easily access and interact with the curriculum, and they feel like they’re learning from their peers because there are videos from kids their age, and teachers can easily share responses from their classmates. We love the curriculum, and we’re excited and blessed to have it. I look forward to continuing to use this great resource from Nearpod & Common Sense!”

Amy Klabunde: School technology lead & computer lab teacher, Baltimore City Public Schools

Amy is a 15-year veteran educator in Baltimore City Public Schools. She is currently a school technology leader and a computer lab teacher for a Title 1 school in Baltimore.

Keep reading to learn how Amy used Nearpod to teach digital citizenship.

How I use Nearpod to teach digital citizenship

“With the digital citizenship curriculum, I rarely need to supplement or modify the lessons. Even my eighth graders, who often think they’re “too cool for school,” get excited about the next activity in the lesson. They look forward to learning the key concepts, and they’re excited about how much they get to participate and voice their opinions. Before I found the Nearpod & Common Sense digital citizenship curriculum, it took me at least an hour to plan for each digital citizenship lesson because I had to make sure every website worked, think through the flow and timing of the lesson, and build in procedural time for directing students to online resources. But with the Nearpod and Common Sense curriculum, everything is packaged together, and it’s easy for my kids to understand. The curriculum developers definitely understand how to be age-appropriate and sensitive to the developmental stages of my students.“

Leveraging student-paced Nearpod digital citizenship lessons

A lot of the curriculum in my technology class is related to digital citizenship. My district wants our kids to understand that the Internet can be very helpful, but it’s a place where they have to be thoughtful, careful, and responsible. Nearpod’s student-paced option for teaching digital citizenship lessons is amazing, especially because I teach students who have vastly different reading levels and writing skills. Initially, with the live participation option, it was challenging to keep everyone on the same page. Now students can complete activities at a pace where they feel comfortable. Other students can take extra time and ask clarifying questions, while the rest of the class can progress without frustration or too much idle time. The student-paced option has made this school year so much better because my kids feel more in control of their learning.

Digital Footprint lessons

“With the Nearpod and Common Sense digital citizenship curriculum, I’ve seen a lot of changes in my students. The curriculum itself encourages students to think about their presence on the internet. I recently completed the “Who’s Looking at Your Digital Footprint?” lesson with my 8th graders. We started the lesson with the prompt, “Google your name and see what appears.” Some of the students were very upset about what they found publicly available about themselves. They asked, “Why did my Facebook page pop up? Why did my Twitter profile pop up? Anyone can see this?!” Many were not aware of privacy settings or what data could be accessed by billions of people around the world on the internet.

Before I led the digital footprint lesson, a lot of my students didn’t understand what it meant to have a digital footprint. They didn’t grasp that their comments, posts, and pictures on the Internet could last forever. The curriculum is great because it makes kids think and reflect on their actions online and offline. During the digital footprint lesson, students reflected on the question, “Am I the person I see on the Internet when I Google my name? Is this how I want to present myself to the world?”

After the lesson, my students began to understand that there’s a difference between making themselves look “cool” and purposefully sharing what they post on the internet. That made me happy because a lot of kids think that the purpose of Facebook and Instagram is to show off and put on a facade, but that’s not necessarily the best representation of themselves.

The next step for my class was to create a “digital footprint,” where we each made a physical footprint that doubled as an infographic to hang outside of my classroom. The footprint included how my kids wanted to represent themselves to others online.”

Reducing cyberbullying

“We had cyberbullying occur a lot last year. Kids wrote negative comments about other students online and thought it was private or that teachers and parents wouldn’t discover it. The cyberbullying spilled into the school building, causing fights in the hallway after school. When we investigated what caused the problems, it often stemmed from comments or posts on social media.

Once we discussed the specifics of cyberbullying, digital identity, and digital footprint, my students realized that their words online could have a negative impact on their classmates. They understood the permanence of their comments and built up empathy for what it would be like on the other side of the bullying situation. Having these conversations as a class has made a big difference in how the kids think and act when they’re online.”

“A lot of our social media drama has declined since we made an effort to teach digital citizenship.”

Amy Klabunde

Impact on school culture

“Discussing digital citizenship makes our lives as teachers a lot less complicated as we’re not trying to mediate issues that we don’t even know about. We’re not friends with our kids on Facebook or Snapchat, so we don’t know about problems that start online, and we’re taken by surprise when the problems enter the building.

Since we’re now proactive about these topics, kids can identify and solve problems online before they escalate. Now, it’s impossible to know if all of the students are behaving appropriately online all the time, but online issues have not spilled over into the school building this year, which creates a safer environment for our kids. Teaching digital citizenship on Nearpod makes my students feel like they can express themselves honestly and not feel embarrassed or scared of the reactions of others. That makes Nearpod lessons much more powerful than paper-based lessons because the kids have an added sense of security to be themselves because their answers will be shared anonymously.”

Start teaching digital citizenship with Nearpod

As these educators have highlighted, Nearpod’s interactive curriculum has not only made teaching digital citizenship more effective but has also empowered students to think critically about their online presence and interactions. In a world where technology is an integral part of daily life, nurturing responsible digital citizens is not just an educational imperative but a societal one. Through innovative tools like Nearpod and dedicated teachers, we can pave the way for a safer, more respectful, and ethically sound digital future for our students.

New to Nearpod? Schedule a quick call with one of our experts to learn more about Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program!

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post The positive impact of digital citizenship instruction in K-12 using Nearpod appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

What is coding in digital literacy?

There are many ways to teach students digital literacy skills to build strong digital citizens, including coding. Coding, or computer programming, can be described as a language to communicate with computers. To be understood in any language, certain grammatical rules have to be followed, such as subject then verb and ending with punctuation. In coding, the student is the writer, and the computer is the reader. For example, for your message to be understood by the computer, you must be specific in your commands. Syntax matters. No <>tag, “”quote or ;semicolon can be out of place. Understanding and being able to write these rules is a form of digital literacy.

Interested in exploring a digital literacy, coding, and computer science curriculum for your school? Nearpod’s 21st Century Program includes interactive computer science lessons, activities, assessments, and videos covering topics like coding, applications of technology, digital literacy, and more.

Keep reading to explore Nearpod lessons you can use in your classroom to teach coding.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How does coding support social and emotional learning skills?

Teaching students to code can help build SEL skills by practicing a growth mindset, handling their emotions, fostering collaboration, and allowing them to express themselves creatively. The attention to detail required to write code reveals and shapes characters successfully. Will a “run” error message due to a missing forward slash cause your student to give up or go back line by line to find the mistake? The revisioning and editing process teaches grit and stresses the importance of having a growth mindset, which is an important social and emotional learning skill for students.

Additionally, when working in groups, coding fosters collaboration! My students simultaneously learn the hard skill, coding, and soft skills involved with working in teams, both of which prepare them for careers in STEM. Relying on each other to be successful builds an appreciation for the strengths others bring to the table.

Coding can also be used as a form of self-expression and empowerment for students. It allows the student to take a blank page and treat it as a canvas. Who wouldn’t feel like a superhero knowing you took something from being void and without form to life? Block-based coding sites like Code.org, Scratch, Minecraft, and Nearpod allow students to create their own games and projects to no end!

Computer Science: Coding lessons for teaching K-12 students

All of these lessons and activities can be found in Nearpod’s lesson library. With Nearpod, you can make slides-based lessons interactive with activities and formative assessments. Click on the lessons below to preview their content and the activities.

Computer Science Education (CSEd) Week and Hour of Code

This Computer Science Education Week inspires your students to become the next generation of leaders in STEM using free and ready-to-run computer science lessons, activities, and videos. You can save time planning an Hour of Code activity with our collection of prebuilt coding and computer science lessons. Use these lessons to teach CS and coding to your students during this week and beyond.

Coding lessons

• Virtual Career Fair: STEM (Career Exploration: 3-5)
  • In this College and Career Exploration lesson, students learn what STEM careers are, consider which STEM roles would match their skill set, and take virtual field trips to STEM job sites, including a replica of a space station.
• Coding (Flocabulary: Grades 3-12)
  • In this 25-30 minute Nearpod featuring Flocabulary topic spark, students are introduced to coding through a hip-hop video and interactive features.
• Katherine Johnson & the Human Computers (Flocabulary: Grades 5-12)
  • In this 25-30 minute Nearpod featuring Flocabulary topic spark, students are introduced to coding through a hip-hop video and interactive features.
• Women in Computer Science (Perspective Analysis: Grades 6-12)
  • In this Windows & Mirrors mini-lesson, students watch a video about women in computer science and consider how the video is a window, a mirror, or both for them.
• AI in Schools (Current Events: Grades 6-12)
  • In this Windows & Mirrors mini-lesson, students watch a video about women in computer science and consider how the video is a window, a mirror, or both for them.

Computer Science games

• Computer Terminology (Grades K-5)
  • In this technology activity, teach computer terminology to students by using Nearpod’s interactive game quiz, Time to Climb.
• History of the Computer (Grades K-5)
  • In this gamified activity, students demonstrate their understanding of the history of computers using Time to Climb.
• Coding (Time to Climb: Grades 6-12)
  • In this interactive activity, students demonstrate their understanding of HTML coding concepts using Nearpod’s Time to Climb.
• Artificial Intelligence (Time to Climb: Grades 6-12)
  • In this coding game, students demonstrate their understanding of artificial intelligence concepts using Time to Climb.

Computer science activities

• Computer Vocabulary (Grades K-5)
  • Students practice their computer vocabulary by pairing terms with definitions in this Matching Pairs activity on Technology Applications.
• Internet Vocabulary (Grades K-5)
  • In this Matching Pairs activity, empower kids to learn about the internet by practicing their internet vocabulary and pairing terms with definitions.
• Artificial Intelligence Frayer Model (Grades 6-8)
  • In this Draw It activity, students complete a Frayer model for the term “Artificial Intelligence”.
• Keyboard Shortcuts Scenarios (Grades 6-12)
  • In this Matching Pairs activity on Technology Applications, students strengthen their understanding of keyboard shortcuts by applying their vocabulary skills to practice problems.

Coding interactive videos

• It’s the Internet! (PBS Kids: Grades K-5)
  • In this video, students discover if we can weigh the internet, we hear what life was like before technology, and we are tempted by pie.
• Explore Technology (Netflix Jr: Grades K-5)
  • Use this engaging and musical video for teaching kids about computers, cell phones, electricity, and more in a fun and informative way.
• Career Spotlight: Software Engineer (KQED: 6-12)
  • This video introduces students to Jessica Mong, a software engineer who works in a tech company and writes code to ensure that customers can access and pay for surveys.
• Let’s Make an AI that destroys video games (Crash Course: 9-12)
  • In this video, high school students learn to develop games. They also learn coding and programming.
• Inside Your Computer (TED-Ed: Grades 9-12)
  • In this video, students learn how a computer works. They also learn the different components of a computer responsible for executing an instruction.
• Introduction to Programs Data Types & Variables (Khan Academy: Grades 9-12)
  • In this video, students are introduced to data types and variables in programming.
• How Will AI Change the World? (TED-Ed: Grades 6-Higher Ed)
  • In this video, students are introduced to data types and variables in programming.

Get started teaching coding with Nearpod

I work as a K-12 Instructional Technology Specialist. Prior, I spent 10 years as a classroom Social Studies teacher and department chair. I regret not doing more to introduce any of these concepts in my class. While proficiency in the basics is important, as digital natives, I could have taken my students to a higher level by exposing them to the principles of designing technology. A skill sought by every industry today. Don’t miss your chance to open a world of opportunity for your students.

Let’s continue the conversation about the importance of coding and computer science education. Nearpod has a Digital Citizenship and Literacy supplemental curriculum available in the 21st Century Readiness Program. Include these resources in your lesson plans to support instruction in digital citizenship, computer science, coding, applications of technology, and media literacy.

If you’re interested in accessing the lessons mentioned in this blog post, sign up for Nearpod for free by clicking below!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Danica M. Botts

Danica is a K-12 Instructional Technology Specialists in Lamar CISD, Rosenberg, TX. She geeks out over helping teachers find innovate ways to connect with their students.

The post Computer Science: Coding lessons for teaching K-12 students appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Poor typing skills slow students down, preventing them from completing work on time and understanding lesson material. In this post, we’ll cover the top four reasons why schools need to teach keyboarding. At the end you’ll see how easy it is to get started with Keyboarding on Nearpod, thanks to an exciting new partnership with Typesy. 

Teaching keyboarding is essential in schools. Begin setting your students up for success.  Click To Tweet

1. Keyboarding is Part of the Common Core Standards

The Common Core is a national standards initiative that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know. Several of the Common Core Standards require keyboarding. This is part of a trend of computer literacy becoming an essential element in K-12 education. The Common Core clearly states a typing requirement for each grade. For example, in grade 6, students should be able to type three pages in a single sitting. This equates approximately to typing at 25 words per minute with 95% accuracy.

2. Keyboarding Helps Students in Computer-Based Assessment

Many schools, states, and districts now rely on a range of computer-based assessment technologies. So it stands to reason that if a student is typing answers on a keyboard, fast and effortless typing will help them score higher. Instead of struggling to find letters and “hunting and pecking”, students who know keyboarding can type quickly and automatically, allowing them to focus their attention on what matters – doing their best in the test.

3. Keyboarding Builds Classroom Success

As technology continues to grow, so does the need for proper typing skills. Classrooms are becoming technologically inclusive, integrating online collaboration and discussion into lesson plans. Since a huge amount of class and assignment work is completed on a computer with a keyboard, when students type well, it makes everything else faster, easier, and more enjoyable. 

4. Keyboarding for Real-World Success

While phones and iPads have become popular for watching Netflix, texting friends, and surfing the web, you still need a keyboard in order to do “real work”. If you type fast, you are more productive at work, process information faster, and are less likely to develop painful RSI (which is caused by incorrect typing). This is why typing is an essential skill for almost any job, especially for high paying jobs. Proper keyboarding sets students up for success in the high-tech future, where many jobs will involve using computers, coding, and analyzing large amounts of data. 

It’s Easy to Teach Keyboarding in Schools With Nearpod and Typesy

Teaching keyboarding has come a long way since the days of “Mavis Beacon” in the 90s, or when teachers used to let their students play basic online games in the early 2000s. These methods did not provide effective pedagogy, guided learning, or structure. Rather than teaching correct keyboarding technique, they tended to reinforce bad habits.

Typesy – the leading premium keyboarding program for education – has solved these problems using a two-pronged approach. First, Typesy utilizes modern technologies such as the cloud, online video, and the latest software platforms to enhance learning. Second, Typesy has been developed in collaboration with a range of leading experts such as psychologists, curriculum experts, and neuroscientists. Typesy focuses on a modern evidence-based approach to teaching keyboarding, to ensure an effective pedagogy, a structured curriculum, and great learning outcomes. 

Thanks to a new partnership between Nearpod and Typesy, the Typesy keyboarding courses are now available in Nearpod. It’s easy to teach keyboarding if you already use Nearpod. If your school or district has access to Nearpod Digital Citizenship, you can find all 65 lessons in the DCL library. If not, check out some unlocked, FREE Typesy lessons here. 

Typesy

Typesy is the industry-leading typing tutor software. Typesy is the only program to combine exercises and video — it’s just like being in a room with the world’s best typing instructor.

www.typesy.com/

The post Why it’s Essential to Teach Keyboarding in Schools – The 4 Top Reasons appeared first on Nearpod Blog.