Digital Citizenship Poster/ Lesson

Currently, my third grade students are taking on their first research project in which they have the freedom to comment on one another’s work for the first time, and explore district-approved websites.  I decided to create a digital citizenship lesson addressing general tablet responsibility, research responsibility, and posting responsibility. I also saved this lesson to the server, so that each student could follow along on his or her individual devices. I split this lesson into three segments so that students are able to practice each element of digital citizenship in conjunction with their research. I taught one portion of this lesson each day in order, so that they could practice each skill before moving on to the next.  The first day was simply dedicated to refreshing how to handle the tablets responsibly. My students have used these tablets a handful of times this year, but I find that a general review before each use is incredibly necessary. The next portion of this lesson focused on research responsibility. In our district, the students are only allowed to use district approved links which is wonderful in that it promotes web safety, but can also be limiting in that it is not conducive to teaching students how to explore and find their own relevant links safely.  Lastly, my students had their first opportunity to post on one another’s research projects through our district’s server. I wanted to model and emphasize commenting positivity and safety so this lesson spanned over the course of this entire project. Each day, I modeled posting positive, constructive feedback appropriately and safely. I can report without reservation that this was the most enjoyable aspect of the digital safety lesson for my students. They absolutely flourished when giving clear, specific and positive feedback to their peers. Each student was so excited to share their comments, and explain the components of positive posting. I really enjoyed creating this lesson, and love that it led to a successful digital citizenship lesson.