21st Century Readiness Program Archives - Nearpod Blog https://nearpod.com/blog/tag/21st-century-readiness-program/ Latest news on Nearpod Thu, 25 Jul 2024 20:30:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.1 7 Social Emotional Learning (SEL) activities to use in the classroom https://nearpod.com/blog/social-emotional-learning-nearpod/ Thu, 25 Jul 2024 20:29:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=3629 Explore social emotional learning activities for your classroom to meet students’ SEL needs using Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program.

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What are the benefits of teaching social and emotional learning skills?

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is at the core of learning and development. Research suggests teaching social emotional learning activities to develop life skills significantly improves behavior, attitudes, employment, classroom management, and academic achievement. Consistent SEL practice results in productive habits that positively shape academic performance and student’s mental health. From early childhood to middle school to high school, it’s important to make time in the school day to teach students SEL skills such as positive self-talk, active listening, practicing mindfulness, and more.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access activities or social emotional development and create interactive lessons!

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Curriculum Program

The benefits of SEL development can be applied to any grade and subject, but not every teacher is an SEL expert or has time to become one. Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program includes over 400 SEL lessons, activities, and videos built on CASEL’s five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Each resource helps develop knowledge and skills related to one of the CASEL competencies, pushing students to learn, apply, and reflect during the learning experience. This supplemental SEL program includes lifelong learning strategies for goal setting, time management, and growth mindset lessons for persisting, thinking flexibly, and more.

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program provides an easy way to integrate SEL practices like positive interactions, gratitude, and reflective moments into daily learning to help create safe, inclusive, and effective classroom environments.

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.

7 Social Emotional Learning (SEL) activities to use in your classroom

1. Facilitate positive classroom interactions

Collaborate Board activities bring limitless possibilities to instruction. The interactive discussion board facilitates positive interactions among classmates by increasing student engagement, crowdsourcing ideas, and delivering formative feedback. Bringing an interactive discussion board to your Nearpod lessons fosters the development of social emotional learning skills and builds on core competencies such as self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship skills. These are easy SEL activities you can integrate into your daily instruction.

Students truly feel part of the conversation with Collaborate Board, which helps teachers foster classroom culture. A classroom culture of respect, happiness, security, and challenge is foundational to engaging and effective learning. Students need to feel open to honest communication about their progress for improved teaching and learning. As students participate in various SEL activities, such as Collaborate Boards that are focused on fostering open communication, teachers intentionally build effective classroom culture. Students can feel comfortable sharing thoughts and challenges and see hurdles as opportunities to learn.

Check out some of our ready-made Collaborate Board activities developed specifically for building classroom culture:

Nearpod Collaborate Board Social Emotional Learning SEL activity
Find Something: All About You

You can check in on how students are feeling by creating a Nearpod activity. Check-ins drive opportunities to build routines and create a comfortable learning environment. This can help teachers guide a rich dialogue among classmates. Students build an increased capacity to interact with others in a way that shows compassion and understanding.

2. Encourage self-reflection through drawing

Using drawing activities for self-portraits, scribble art, or providing a journaling opportunity for students to express their feelings supports self-reflection for students. Have students practice responsible decision-making, specifically analyzing situations, by completing a Draw It activity on Nearpod to share a challenge they are facing. Reflective Draw It activities help students understand their strengths and areas for growth.

Creating art is a practice of communication and empathy, a growth mindset, and self-reflection. The SEL Through Art series, part of Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, explores the connection between art and SEL skills. This powerful medium elicits social and emotional learning experiences by helping students explore more about themselves and their life experiences.

What Makes Me Special SEL drawing activity

3. Create moments of gratitude

Use Nearpod’s Drag & Drop interactive feature in your lessons to engage and connect students with social emotional learning in the classroom. Match feeling words, descriptions, and corresponding facial expressions to talk about resolving conflict and identifying different emotions. Students can discuss the importance of recognizing the good in their lives and expressing gratitude regularly. For instance, Nearpod’s interactive features, such as Collaborate Board, Open-Ended Question, and Poll, are the perfect way to start or end your day with an expression and acknowledgment of gratitude. Use Drag & Drop to create easy SEL activities for your lesson plans, like this one!

Nearpod Drag and Drop Social Emotional Learning SEL activity

4. Collect meaningful student feedback

Creating opportunities for student voice in the classroom is key to building a positive school culture and gathering meaningful student feedback. To increase student talk, provide ample opportunities for engaging interaction through activities like Think-Pair-Share questions and Open-Ended Questions. When using Nearpod’s Open-Ended Question feature, make sure audio recording is enabled to give students multiple ways to engage in student voice. Nearpod’s formative assessment features, like Polls, empower educators to provide multiple ways for students to share valuable information personally. Include a Poll at the beginning or end of your lesson to gather student feedback, collect a formative assessment of emotions, or provide a reflective moment.

Additionally, utilize the Collaborate Board feature for a quick check-in at the beginning of class, asking simple questions to engage student thinking, build background knowledge, or gauge the overall mood of the classroom. Use what you’ve learned from gathering student feedback to help inform future classroom procedures or learning changes.

5. Brain Breaks!

Exclusive to Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, Brain Breaks videos regulate the energy and focus of your classroom. Research suggests providing a quick break helps refresh the mind and makes it easier for students to focus on important tasks. Our videos help students break the patterns of fatigue, frustration, and lack of focus, and we made it easy for teachers to launch a video at any time throughout the day.

Choose between Calming or Energizing videos depending on the needs of your classroom at any moment. Use calming Brain Breaks as social and emotional learning activities to help students relax, settle their minds, and become refocused on the task.

Nearpod Brain Breaks 21st Century Learning activity Calm video Ice Pops
Brain Breaks: Ice Pops

Use energizing Brain Breaks to provide needed movement and increase the blood flow to the brain. An energizing activity helps reduce stress and anxiety and improves students’ ability to focus.

6. Choose from Nearpod’s premade activities

Choose from over 100 premade SEL activities using Nearpod’s interactive features like Draw It, Time to Climb, and Drag & Drop to incorporate into lessons, or as a bell ringer, an exit ticket, for extra practice, or homework. Nearpod’s social-emotional learning activities are built on the five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. Students use information from their own experiences and values to guide their thinking and learn from others. These are easy SEL activities you can integrate into your daily instruction.

7. Collecting real-time insights

Real-time insight into students’ learning is vital for developing SEL. This immediate feedback allows educators to address emotional and social challenges as they arise, helping students to better manage their emotions. By closely monitoring progress and providing timely support, teachers can foster a nurturing environment where students feel understood and supported.

With Nearpod, real-time insights into student thinking allow teachers to adapt their instruction. Add an Open-Ended Question, Draw It, or Collaborate Board to a lesson on the fly with Quick Launch when you see an opportunity to engage in SEL-integrated instruction intentionally.

These engagement tools ensure students have low-stakes ways to share their thinking. As a result, this simple way to gather real-time insight gives students a voice in the moment while providing you with important feedback.

Teach SEL with Nearpod

Nearpod’s social emotional learning curriculum provides instruction, reflection, and practice opportunities around CASEL-aligned social and emotional learning competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.

By implementing SEL programs, educators can show students how to manage their emotions effectively through social and emotional skills. For young children, developing these skills enhances their abilities to understand and interact with others. It’s essential that schools prioritize SEL to ensure children learn the necessary competencies for overall well-being and success.

When SEL curriculum practices are thoughtfully selected and used authentically, they have greater power to be effective. View your role as an educator through the lens of the five core competencies of SEL to enhance your teaching and enrich your classroom environment. Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program easily incorporates SEL in the classroom, helping educators meet students’ social and emotional learning needs.

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 Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Click here to learn more about Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Curriculum Program

References

CASEL.org. Social Emotional Learning competencies. (2022).

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D. & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1): 405–432.

Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen, et al. “Rest Is Not Idleness: Implications of the Brain’s Default Mode for Human Development and Education.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 7, no. 4, July 2012, pp. 352–64. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612447308.

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Media literacy lessons to help students analyze news media https://nearpod.com/blog/media-literacy-fake-news/ Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:28:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=6382 Media literacy is a crucial 21st-century skill. Use these engaging media literacy lessons and activities to teach students in your classroom.

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Media literacy is an essential skill for students, and even adults, to adopt. Common Sense Education lists it as one of the 6 core elements of digital citizenship. This is an important skill that should be taught to students year-round for their health and well-being. As a teacher, how can you find the time and resources to make media literacy a part of your instruction? Keep reading for tips and resources on how to teach students media literacy in your classroom.

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 21st Century Learning digital citizenship lesson library to teach why media literacy is important
Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson about finding balance in a digital world

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)

Primary vs. Secondary Sources interactive video for 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)

Media literacy Draw It activity from the The Role of Media iCivics lesson

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)

AI in schools current event lesson for students

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)

Trustworthy Resources Draw It Activity for 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)

Draw It activity from the DCL: Sourcing Your Information (Grades 6-8 and 9-12) media literacy lesson

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)

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

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)

Time Square VR Field Trip experience from the Predictive Advertising (Grades 9-12) BBC lesson

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.

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Social emotional learning lessons for students’ digital wellness https://nearpod.com/blog/digital-wellness-21st-century-curriculum-program-common-sense/ Thu, 11 Apr 2024 11:07:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=29212 Digital wellness for students is important for SEL growth. Explore digital literacy lessons from our social emotional learning curriculum.

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What is digital wellness for students?

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.

SEL in Digital Life Nearpod and Common Sense lesson collection

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:

CASEL 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:

Drag and drop digital health and wellness activity for students
  • 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.
Draw it activity from My Media Balance lesson for grades 3-5
  • 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.
Collaborate Board discussion activity from Who Are You on Social Media? lesson for grades 9-12
  • 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.

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8 Engaging social emotional learning (SEL) activities for high school https://nearpod.com/blog/social-emotional-learning-high-school/ Mon, 29 Jan 2024 22:37:17 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=33143 It's important to use relevant and authentic social emotional learning activities for high school students. Explore 8 SEL activities for the high school classroom.

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Social emotional learning (SEL) is a lifelong endeavor through which we challenge ourselves to find success in life, whether that be personally or professionally. While an actual definition of SEL can vary, research has shown that SEL supports academic performance, healthy relationships, career preparedness, and mental health, just to name a few of the benefits. CASEL, a leading nonprofit in the SEL space, offers a framework that centers on five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

SEL can help all young people and adults thrive personally and academically, develop and maintain positive relationships, become lifelong learners, and contribute to a more caring, just world.

CASEL.org

Despite recent backlash, states and schools continue to adopt SEL policies and programs; in fact, all 50 states now address SEL in some manner within their frameworks or standards, according to EdWeek. While SEL should begin early—as Robert Fulghum wrote, “Everything I need to know … I learned in kindergarten”—such skills and attitudes need to be practiced throughout school and beyond into adulthood. But how does one weave SEL activities for high school into the curriculum?

How to make social emotional learning engaging for high school students

It can also be hard to find time during the day to teach social emotional learning in high schools. Plus, high schoolers can be a tough audience to reach and engage as they constantly strive to become more and more independent. So, SEL activities for high schoolers must be authentic and relevant to their everyday lives. High schoolers will want to see the direct connections to their real world, whether that be inside or outside of school. They will want the elbow space to express themselves, at times assert themselves, and challenge the “norm” as they form their own perspectives on the world around them. Social and emotional learning can provide high school students with the skills and attitudes to support goal setting, a growth mindset, grit, critical thinking, and healthy relationships.

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program provides an easy way to integrate SEL practices like positive interactions, gratitude, and reflective moments into daily learning to help create safe, inclusive, and effective classroom environments. It has over 400 lessons, videos, and activities, including high school SEL activities.

This program equips students with the skills and knowledge for success in and beyond the classroom. It includes premade quality lessons that follow scope and sequence for topics related to social emotional learning, digital citizenship, college and career readiness, and financial literacy.

Nearpod's 21st Century Program SEL high school lessons

If you don’t have access to the program, you can still use Nearpod’s interactive features for free to weave SEL skills across the curriculum. These tools promote active learning strategies, which in turn promote social and emotional wellness within and among students. These SEL activities for high school students, plus the interactive tools, provide you with many ways to support your instruction.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

8 Engaging social emotional learning (SEL) activities for high school

1. Ask questions

In fact, ask lots of questions! High schoolers often are figuring out their place and purpose in the world. They are forming their opinions and looking at society from different perspectives. To help gauge students’ moods, check out activities like Share Your Mood. In this Collaborate Board activity, students “like” a color based on their feelings and share how they feel. They can comment on posts as well. Start each morning with a quick check-in to assess their readiness to learn.

Consider using Nearpod’s Poll to identify commonalities and differences in their perspectives on a current event to kick off meaningful morning discussions. These social emotional check-ins for high school students provide a moment for reflection, which is key for students of all ages—but especially powerful for high schoolers who are seeking to form their identities and assert themselves as unique individuals.

Growth mindset poll to use for social emotional learning activities for high school

2. Encourage an exchange of ideas

P21 emphasizes that the 4Cs—critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity—are the core skill sets needed in today’s society and workforce. Nearpod’s Collaborate Boards encourage just that, as students can share their thoughts and opinions on a shared platform, using care in how they express and word their ideas. They can build off of one another with a “Yes, and …” mindset. At its core, Collaborate Boards build teamwork. Such a tool helps develop competencies around self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship building. Explore more ways Nearpod supports the 4Cs here.

Here are some social emotional learning activities for high school you can use:

Collaborate Board strategies for overcoming learning gap to check in on students' social emotional well-being

3. Make space for doodling

It may sound obvious, but self-expression is especially important for high schoolers. They need platforms and tools to share and hone their voice. When encouraged to doodle, learners are empowered with yet another (non-verbal) way to share their ideas. Even the smallest doodle is a form of art, and such creative expression supports reflection, empathy building, and self-awareness. Nearpod’s interactive Draw It tool permits learners to sketch out their ideas or work through a problem as a means of expression.

Imagine a high schooler making visual notes or mapping out their ideas. In turn, visual learners will appreciate seeing ideas expressed in another medium, helping to ease communication between individuals.

Here are some activities you can use:

  • Mindful Drawing: In this 9-12 SEL Draw It activity from Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, students will create mindful drawings while building social and emotional learning skills, such as reflection and communication.
  • Sequence of Events: Students will use Draw It to sequence a series of events using a graphic organizer.
  • Making Connections: Use Draw It to brainstorm characteristics, synonyms, attributes, or applications for a word using a graphic organizer.
  • Argument from Evidence: Students can use an argument from an evidence chart to complete an activity.
Mindful Drawing Draw It activity

4. Promote trial and error

Use Nearpod’s Drag & Drop tool to encourage your students to try, try again. They can drag and drop labels, sort categories, and sequence events to check their understanding of a particular concept. These activities can be quick checks for understanding, helping learners test their skills while reinforcing concepts across the curriculum. Trial and error also encourages a growth mindset and the notion that hard work pays off! Perseverance, determination, and grit are skills that SEL promotes and that have far-reaching effects beyond the four walls of a classroom.

Consider using some of these social emotional learning activities for high school:

  • Emotions & Communication: In this 9-12 SEL Drag & Drop social awareness activity from Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, students recognize the importance of clear communication by learning the difference between factual and emotional statements.
  • Identifying Congruent Triangles: In this 9-12 Math Drag and Drop activity, students use triangle congruence theorems to identify congruent triangles.
  • Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration: In this 9-12 Science activity, students will practice identifying the reactants and products of photosynthesis and demonstrate how they compare to those of cellular respiration with a Draw It activity.
Emotions & Communication Drag and Drop activity

5. Ask “Why?” 5 times

When it comes to problem-solving, design thinking takes a human-centered approach. In the empathy phase of need-finding, one is encouraged to ask “Why?” five times. Why? Well, it’s not to drive another crazy with a five-year-old’s style of persistent questioning. Rather, it is to drill down to understanding that nugget of need—one that is unique, identifiable, and core to an individual. Through Nearpod’s Open-Ended Questions, you can challenge your students to use higher-order thinking to analyze, evaluate, reflect, and create. Such critical thinking skills underscore social and emotional learning for high schoolers. Practice these skills using our digital wellness lessons in partnership with Common Sense.

6. Provide continuous feedback

With Nearpod’s real-time data, you will have group and individual data at your fingertips. Use this data to monitor your students’ progress. This is essential to social emotional learning curriculum in high school. You can lean on these insights to provide immediate support to keep students from cementing bad habits. Consider using small-group work, peer-to-peer learning, and mini-conferences to keep the instruction individualized as needed. To personalize feedback even more, you can use Nearpod’s Interactive Videos or turn on audio submissions to facilitate an exchange when you’re not face-to-face.

7. Journal

Make time in morning meetings or advisory groups for students to journal. You can use Neapod’s Open-Ended Questions to add a prompt for students to respond to. You may want to offer a few options to promote “voice and choice” on daily or weekly reflection prompts. Students can reflect on their growth with SEL lessons for high school, like Reflecting on Decisions (From Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program), while looking forward to future goals with FLO: Mindfulness & Meditation. Journaling is a way to encourage individuals to hone their writing voice too. Challenge their perspectives and let them share their opinions (which may change daily) and express themselves as they find their work through the day or week.

8. Take brain breaks

Last, but not least, find ways for your high schoolers to take brain breaks, relax their minds, and invigorate their bodies. Nearpod offers Brain Breaks videos (available to educators with access to the 21st Century Readiness Program), which research shows help students ease feelings of stress and refocus on a task. Choose between calming or energizing videos depending on the student’s or classroom’s mood. Pepper 3- to 5-minute breaks after every half hour or so of instruction. When teaching social emotional learning for high school students, such breaks can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed and provide moments for reflection and introflection. True brain breaks are not merely a pause but a way for the mind to internalize what was just learned.

Nearpod Brain Breaks 21st Century Learning activity Calm video Ice Pops
Brain Breaks: Ice Pops

Start using Nearpod for building social and emotional learning skills

While high school SEL can be taught via individual lesson plans, during dedicated periods, these skills are best addressed and reinforced across the curriculum. Choose from over 100 premade SEL activities that use Nearpod’s interactive features such as Polling, Draw It, Open-Ended Questions, and Drag & Drop. These meaningful social emotional learning activities for high school can be utilized as a bell ringer, an exit ticket, for extra practice, or as homework. Help your students embrace and own their social and emotional learning journeys in high school so that they continue healthy habits of mind to find success inside and outside of the classroom.

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 Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Click here to learn more about Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Curriculum Program

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8 Effective ways to prevent cyberbullying in schools https://nearpod.com/blog/cyberbullying-prevention/ Fri, 19 Jan 2024 17:04:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=31741 Explore effective ways to prevent cyberbullying and curriculum resources for schools to address it to promote a safe school culture.

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Schools today continue to grapple with finding ways to prevent cyberbullying. I remember when I was speaking about this to my dad, and he said, “You should have seen the bullies at school when I was growing up.” It was a perfect example of how the tech landscape has caused a generational gap when it comes to understanding such digital dilemmas. With the influx of social media, messaging, and texting, we can all be connected 24/7. While there are many positives to that global connectivity, there are also inherent negatives – and bullying online is a subtle yet pervasive evil. So, how can schools promote cyberbullying prevention?

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.

PEW Research teens and cyberbullying 2022 graph showing that nearly half of teens have ever experienced cyberbullying, with offensive name-calling being the type most commonly reported

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.

Nearpod Digital Citizenship and Literacy Program lessons

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.

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)
DCL - Who's looking at your digital footprint? Nearpod Common Sense lesson preview
Digital Trails Common Sense Education Nearpod lesson

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.

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

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Digital Citizenship Week: Free lessons and activities for K-12 https://nearpod.com/blog/digital-citizenship-week-free-lessons/ Wed, 20 Dec 2023 19:11:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=10554 Explore free resources for Digital Citizenship Week and ideas for teaching students digital citizenship curriculum.

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What is Digital Citizenship Week?

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.

Nearpod digital citizenship curriculum lesson folder

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!

  • Available in the Nearpod Library
  • Available in the 21st Century Readiness Program

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.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense digital citizenship for students lesson
  • 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.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lessons: The Power of Words
  • 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.
Examples of Digital Citizenship Lessons using Nearpod's Common Sense Lesson: Finding Balance in a Digital World
  • 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.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson: Upstanders and Allies: Taking Action Against Cyberbullying
  • 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.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson: DCL: Teen Voices: Hate Speech Online Video

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!

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

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Taking the digital fluency leap with Nearpod: Adirondack Central School District’s story https://nearpod.com/blog/adirondack-success-story/ Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:08:54 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=32090 Discover how Adirondack Central School District is using the power of Nearpod to implement New York State's Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards.

The post Taking the digital fluency leap with Nearpod: Adirondack Central School District’s story appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

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In a digital age where technological literacy is paramount, the integration of computer science and digital fluency into K-12 education is a top priority for school districts. For students today to become the confident, competitive professionals of tomorrow, they must be prepared for contexts that shift in a click. With this in mind, in 2020, New York State (NYS) introduced Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, mandating all K-12 schools to fully incorporate them into their classrooms by the end of 2024. The standards are categorized into five topics: Impacts of Computing, Computational Thinking, Networks and System Design, Cybersecurity, and Digital Literacy.

A significant step for students is a giant leap for educators. Determined to support and not swamp teachers, the Adirondack Central School District in upstate New York is leveraging its long-term partnership with Nearpod to prepare its staff for the standards—and the assessments that will inevitably follow. Together, the district, educators, and Nearpod specialists devised a pioneering plan to align ready-to-teach lessons from Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program with these standards so that by the time they come into force, everyone knows what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why.

New to Nearpod? 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’s 21st Century Readiness Program for schools and districts.

Main challenge: Navigating digital literacy standards with purpose

How could an ambitious rural public school district prepare all its teachers and students for incoming digital literacy standards without ramping up the pressure and workloads? 

Determined teachers across the Adirondack Central School District were aware of the criteria set out by the New York State Education Department. For Michael Faustino, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction, and technology, the only way to successfully implement the standards was to transform educators’ apprehension into intention and purpose. 

“The easy way out would be to explain the standards and ask teachers to just do their best. That’s not our philosophy. When you have new standards, there’s going to be an assessment of some sort and there must be an accountability measure,” he explains.

Three students with laptop, one raising her hand

Michael knew the district needed to support all teachers with a solid, structured plan so they didn’t feel overwhelmed or underequipped.

“Anytime you have mandates come down, the tendency is to put more on teachers’ plates without taking anything away. We realized that we can’t put students first if we put teachers last,” he adds.

For Nick Palczak, the district’s STEAM coordinator, it would be crucial to support teachers in leveraging the existing lessons and resources their students enjoyed and engaged with.

“Our educators are already meeting many of the standards—sometimes without even knowing it. So, the question was simple: How do we incorporate these lessons into their classes?” he asks.

The answer was Nearpod. The Adirondack Central School District has been an active Nearpod partner since January 2019. The incoming standards present a prime opportunity to take the partnership to the next level and use Nearpod to align what is being done with what needs to be done. As Michael asserts:

“Our goal for this academic year is to familiarize all our teachers with the alignment documents we are creating. If we roll out the alignment by September 2024, we won’t need implementation. We will just be fine-tuning.”

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program sets path to meet NYS Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program is a powerful tool that equips teachers with a singular solution to infuse 21st-century learning into their daily lessons. This program is designed to bridge the gap, ensuring that students not only excel academically but also develop vital life skills.

Adirondack recognized the transformative potential of this program for educators who aspire to ready their students for the complexities of the 21st century while meeting the stringent requirements of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards.

To support the district in the demanding task of aligning its curriculum with the new standards, the Nearpod team helped build alignment documents using lessons from the 21st Century Readiness Program, specifically customized for these incoming standards. These documents encompass comprehensive, user-friendly, and adaptable resources.

The district’s forward-thinking approach to education is evident in creating curriculum maps that meticulously identify Nearpod lessons aligning with the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards across various grade levels. Significantly, most of these curriculum resources are sourced from the 21st Century Readiness Program. This strategic integration ensures that students are exposed to high-quality, standards-aligned content and underscores the district’s commitment to nurturing digital fluency and 21st-century skills among its learners. By leveraging these curriculum maps, educators can effectively use them to pinpoint which of their lessons fulfill the criteria of any given standard and track their progress toward ticking all the boxes.

So that’s what Adirondack did, and the results were rewarding—and relieving—as Michael explains: 

“We knew we didn’t want a system that provided standard-aligned lessons but was complex to navigate. Nearpod is so easy to use and works so well. Kids love it. Our students’ mental health is one of our primary concerns, so the platform was a win-win.” 

Nick concurs: “It’s not hard to introduce Nearpod to a set of students by day two. They can run lessons at their own pace. Teachers, even those who are tech-wary, lose their fear because they still use tools they’re familiar with, like Google Docs, with Nearpod.”

Teaching with, not at

In anticipation of the 2024 deadline, Michael and Nick are collaborating closely with Nearpod to plan and execute a comprehensive districtwide rollout meticulously. The first step will be training administrators to become instructional leaders who build capacity through workshops and ongoing support from turnkey trainers. They aim to help teachers explore the standards and connect the dots to what they’re already teaching.

Quote from Michael Faustino, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology

“We’re not going to teach at them,” Michael insists. “The beauty of the Nearpod alignment documents is that teachers can see the standards broken down into subjects and the timeline and then link to the lessons they can use in the classroom.”

New York State’s learning standards work by bands. Nick has taken each band and broken it down by grade for K-12. He is progressively feeding the alignment documents in which the standards are listed, with an explanation of the standard, examples of the standard that the state provided, and lessons that align with that standard to give to teachers, encouraging them to add their own lessons to the document.

The aim is for teachers to recognize what they’re doing in class and understand how the district and Nearpod can help them fill in the gaps or try something new. Nick gives an example:

“Part of the digital fluency standards is creating a digital artifact. Every teacher who creates a slide in Google Slides is creating digital artifacts. How can we make that more intentional? Why did you pick Google instead of something else? What are the features of it? How do you save it? Do you have folders? Is it stored in the Cloud? What does that mean? Great. Now you can deliver a lesson on digital citizenship.” 

Here are some examples of the lessons* Adirondack used for instruction: 

Visualizing Data Drag and Drop activity for Grades 3-5
  • Computer Vocabulary (Grades 2-3): In this 3-5 Nearpod Digital Citizenship and Literacy lesson, students investigate how technology can be used to make their lives simpler, more productive, and more expansive. Students learn the uses of different computer hardware devices.
  • Visualizing Data (Grades 4-6): In this 3-5 Digital Citizenship and Technology Drag & Drop activity, students will demonstrate an understanding of how to read various simple data sets.
Who's looking at your digital footprint? Nearpod Common Sense lesson preview
  • Lesson 5: In the Loop (Grades 7-8): In this 3-8 Coding lesson, students will be able to define what a loop is and explain its importance as it relates to writing code. Students will practice their new skills by completing a selection of CodeMonkey challenges.
  • Who’s Looking at Your Digital Footprint? (Grades 9-12): In this Common Sense Education lesson on Digital Citizenship, students learn how any information they post online can affect their future. They create a vignette that shows how a positive digital footprint can help take advantage of opportunities.

*These lessons are only available on Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program.

From vision to action

For Adirondack, the key to successfully implementing the standards is to know which skills to teach and how. Even if students nor teachers know what the future holds in store, as Nick concludes: 

“We want our kids to leave Adirondack ready for high tech colleges and high tech jobs. I had a student who graduated last year. He’s now at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He’s trying to decide which robotics club he is going to join so he can compete in robotics programs. He’s so excited to go to a technical college when he grew up in a town of 100 people. I want more and more students to be able to leave our school to do those kinds of things.”  

Michael believes that educators must understand what is being measured and the outcomes:

“It’s not enough for us to have a vision statement that says we want our students to be college and career ready. We’re preparing them for jobs that don’t even exist right now. We can’t just give them taglines; we need to give them avenues, and the only way is by building professional learning without overwhelming teachers. That’s where Nearpod makes all the difference.”

It seems like the difference is already being made in the district. Far from dreading the incoming standards, Nick is confident they will help Adirondack achieve its goals: 

“In 2024, we want to intentionally meet these standards because we know why they are in place. We want to ensure our staff knows why these standards are in place. What jobs are available in 20 years? I have no idea. What skills do you need to be ready for those jobs? Adirondack’s goal is to have kids college and career ready. These standards are really going to help us to meet that goal.

To learn about the Adirondack Central School district’s actions, watch the webinar “Preparing for Digital Fluency with Nearpod” where they explain how they’ve been using Nearpod resources!

Take the digital fluency leap with Nearpod

Nearpod created New York State-centric alignment documents to demonstrate to teachers how their existing lessons correspond with incoming standards and help the district implement a strategic plan to meet them well before the 2024 deadline. Adirondack squared up to the challenge and developed curriculum maps, which clearly outlined the standards for each grade level and identified relevant Nearpod lessons that taught the necessary skills for students in each grade band.

By offering comprehensive, standards-aligned lesson plans, interactive activities, and assessment tools, the program simplified the process for educators and ensured that students receive a dynamic and engaging learning experience. It sets a blueprint to help schools across and beyond the state take bold strides and implement new educational standards with confidence, calm, and care.

Ready to learn more about how to prepare every student for success with Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program? Schedule a call with one of our experts and learn how you can empower educators with unlimited access to everything they need to engage learners.

About the district

About Adirondack Central School District in Boonville, NY

The Adirondack Central School District in Boonville, NY, is a rural public school district encompassing four schools—two elementary, a middle school, and a high school. The district strives to create a safe, respectful, and accepting environment, and to provide students with the mental and emotional support to thrive and excel. By prioritizing open and transparent communication, and fostering a positive school spirit, Adirondack is committed to uniting the community while nurturing academic growth and achievement. Firmly focused on developing STEAM capacity, the district has invested greatly in building facilities and capacity to prepare students for whatever might await them. Its administrators and educators work for and with students to raise graduation rates, enhance state exam performance, minimize the need for academic intervention services, and increase enrollment in advanced courses to prepare students for their chosen—and changing—life endeavors.

About the educators

Michael Faustino, with three decades of experience in education, including 17 years as a kindergarten teacher before becoming a principal, now serves as the director of curriculum, instruction, and technology for the Adirondack Central School District. He leads the district’s mission to prepare all students for college and career success by emphasizing the importance of curricula and data. Michael collaborates closely with educators throughout the district to ensure they are well prepared to implement the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards in 2024, guiding teachers and students through every step of the transition, aligning with and even surpassing the timeline.

Nick Palczak, a seasoned physics teacher at Adirondack Central School since 1996, also serves as the district’s STEAM coordinator. He collaborates closely with the tech director to oversee K-12 STEAM programs, while also teaching STEAM courses at middle and high schools. In 2021, Nick played a pivotal role in establishing the Adirondack STEAM program, including setting up a new laboratory post COVID-19. In the past two-plus years, the Adirondack STEAM program has won several robotics competitions and has received numerous recognitions for its work with students. Alongside district coordinator Michael Faustino, Nick readies students and educators for upcoming standards while integrating STEAM into the curriculum. With a family legacy in education, Nick is passionate about preparing students and their teachers for 21st-century careers.

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Why is digital citizenship important for 21st-century students? https://nearpod.com/blog/importance-digital-citizenship/ Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:22:00 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=23498 Why is digital citizenship important? Explore tips and tools for educators and schools to empower students to be responsible digital citizens.

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We hear the term digital citizenship, but without having grown up in a fully digital world, many of us don’t comprehend the value or importance of this skill set. In today’s world, where technology is readily accessible, it can be overwhelming for both the young and the not-so-young. But as musician Frank Zappa said, “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”

A graph of the exponential growth of computing
Wikimedia Commons

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.

6 core topics of digital citienship Common Sense Education graphic
Common Sense Education

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.

Nearpod's Common Sense Education DCL: Pause & Think Online Video explains what is digital citizenship

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

Teacher helping students while on their tablets

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
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson: We the Digital Citizens

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.

Nearpod digital citizenship lesson folder preview

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!

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Essential lessons and examples to build students’ digital literacy skills https://nearpod.com/blog/digital-citizenship-literacy/ Tue, 10 Oct 2023 04:40:00 +0000 https://www-test.nearpod.com/blog/?p=5561 Digital literacy skills teach students to use technology safely. Use our essential digital literacy lessons and examples in your curriculum.

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Why is digital literacy important in education?

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.

We had to invent cars before recognizing the need for drivers’ ed and seatbelts. Would you give a 16-year-old the keys without them today? - @NearpodAdamClick To Tweet

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 curriculum examples of Nearpod's Common Sense lesson about finding balance in a digital world

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.

Digital literacy examples and lessons on from Nearpod and Common Sense

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

Digital citizen lesson preview and Matching Pairs activity

Media literacy

Drawing digital literacy activities to help students identify trustworthy resources
  • 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

Tik Tok social media literacy activity and lesson

Technology applications

Nearpod Draw It activity related to digital literacy skills about healthy computer habits
Coding lesson with Flocabulary and Nearpod

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.

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

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Visit colleges and universities across the nation with The College Tour https://nearpod.com/blog/college-tour-lessons/ Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:36:31 +0000 https://nearpod.com/blog/?p=31292 Learn how The College Tour, in partnership with Nearpod, revolutionizes virtual college and university tours, with interactive video lessons.

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What is The College Tour?

The College Tour is a TV series that enables students to explore colleges and universities meaningfully without the burden of travel costs. Each episode travels to an individual college or university and features real students on campus telling their authentic and diverse stories, making college exploration relatable and aspirational.

The College Tour brings equity to higher education by giving students the freedom to explore all their options regardless of finances, medical limitations, or logistics. Their video series teaches students how to identify priorities and choose the path that works best for them based on their own individual needs.

The College Tour TV series streams on Amazon Prime, Freevee, and also for free on thecollegetour.com.

The College Tour + Nearpod

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program offers 650 interactive videos covering 48 campuses across the U.S. from The College Tour. Educators can easily find and launch the resources to steer students onto college paths, erasing doubts and sparking excitement. By showcasing a variety of students and campuses, they provide an easy-to-understand view of college, uncovering lesser-known majors and aspects of campus life. This blend of motivation and learning empowers teachers to mold well-informed and enthusiastic students heading for college.

Every campus includes a full 30-to 60-minute video and short 5-minute videos that explore traditions, academics, athletics, lifestyles, and more. Our pre-populated interactive questions placed throughout the videos get students to think critically about the content and evaluate whether the campus is right for them. Teachers can gauge student comprehension and facilitate discussions about the college journey, as presented by The College Tour. This combination allows for a comprehensive learning approach that imparts knowledge and fosters active participation, making the exploration of college pathways informative and engaging.

These lessons can only be accessed through school and district accounts with Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program. Our college and career readiness lessons explore learning strategies, college exploration and preparation, career exploration, and virtual reality career tours.

If you’re interested in Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, schedule a call below!

Colleges and universities included in The College Tour

The College Tour offers lessons in the Nearpod library about the following colleges:

  • Adelphi University
  • Arizona State University
  • Asbury University
  • Baylor
  • Carson-Newman University
  • Central Washington University
  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Columbia College Chicago
  • Delaware Valley University
  • East Tennessee State University
  • Florida Atlantic University
  • Florida International University
  • Florida Tech
  • Fort Lewis College
  • Goucher College
  • Grand Canyon University
  • Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Iowa State University
  • Long Island University
  • Loyola University Maryland
  • Miami University
  • Montclair State University
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • Sacred Heart University
  • Salus University
  • Sam Houston State University
  • South Dakota State University
  • Southern Utah University
  • St. Edward’s University
  • Texas Christian University
  • The University of Rhode Island
  • Tulane University
  • UC Davis
  • University of Central Florida
  • University of Cincinnati
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Evansville
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  • University of Montana
  • University of North Texas
  • University of Oregon
  • University of Puget Sound
  • University of Southern Indiana
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • University of Utah
  • Utah State University
  • Valparaiso University
Nearpod The College Tour lesson collection

To access the lesson previews on this blog post, please make sure you’re logged into Nearpod. If you’re new to Nearpod, sign up for free here!

Topics included in each lesson bundle

Each college lesson bundle includes at least 12 interactive video lessons covering topics such as campus, activities, students, and what makes the school a desirable place to attend. Students learn about the college’s various majors, geography, student lifestyle, academic experience, services offered, traditions, values, and more.

Columbia College Chicago The College Tour Nearpod video lesson

Lessons to visit colleges and universities across the nation with The College Tour

Ready to get started on your experience with The College Tour? Here are some Nearpod lessons we recommend exploring!

Florida Atlantic University

In this full-length College Tour video about Florida Atlantic University, viewers learn about the campus, activities, students, and what makes the school a desirable place to attend.

Florida Atlantic University The College Tour Nearpod video lesson

Make Gaming a Career: New Jersey Institute of Technology

In this short College Tour video, viewers learn about the gaming program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, New Jersey.

Make Gaming a Career - New Jersey Institute of Technology The College Tour Nearpod interactive video lesson

Teaching the Teachers: Sam Houston State University

In this short College Tour video, viewers learn about the education program for future teachers at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

Teaching the Teachers - Sam Houston State University The College Tour Nearpod video lesson

Texas Christian University

In this full-length College Tour video about Texas Christian University, viewers learn about the campus, activities, students, and what makes the school a desirable place to attend.

Texas Christian University The College Tour Nearpod video lesson

Housing: University of Oregon

In this short College Tour video, viewers learn about campus housing at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

Housing: University of Oregon The College Tour Nearpod video lesson

Start exploring The College Tour’s lessons on Nearpod

The College Tour, in partnership with Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, revolutionizes college exploration by providing accessible and engaging resources for students to discover a diverse range of colleges and universities. With lessons covering various institutions and critical topics, students can embark on their college exploration journey with confidence and enthusiasm, irrespective of financial constraints or logistical challenges. Start exploring colleges with your students now!

If you’re interested in Nearpod’s 21st Century program, schedule a call!

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