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Conventional wisdom about young people's use of digital technology often equates generational identity with technology identity: today's teens seem constantly plugged in to video games, social networks sites, and text messaging. Yet there is little actual research that investigates the intricate dynamics of youth's social and recreational use of digital media. Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out fills this gap, reporting on an ambitious three-year ethnographic investigation into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings-at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces.

Great 3-minute safety video from the YouTube Safety Team. "How to recognize and steer clear of tricks online" covers scams, phony free offers, phishing, pop-up contests etc.

In this game, designed for ages 8-10, the CyberPigs play on their favourite Web site and encounter marketing ploys, spam and a close encounter with a not-too-friendly wolf. The purpose of the game is to teach kids how to spot online marketing strategies, protect their personal information and avoid online predators.

In this sequel to Privacy Playground, for ages 9-12, the three CyberPigs learn some important lessons about authenticating online information and observing rules of netiquette. They also learn how to distinguish between fact and opinion and how to recognize bias and harmful stereotyping in online content.

When is a phone not a phone? In the hands of children and tweens, today's cell phones are primarily used as text messaging devices, cameras, gaming consoles, video viewers, MP3 players, and incidentally, as mobile phones via the speaker capability so their friends can chime in on the call. Parents are getting dialed in to the social media phenomenon and beginning to understand-and limit-how children use new media

Understand and control how you share information on Facebook.

This is a short presentation providing ideas on how to teach digital citizenship, with a focus on cyberbullying awareness. Many of the links are from the UK, but it does provide some ideas for using COMIC LIFE with students to address cyberbullying.

This lesson plan demonstrates not only how to align learning goals and outcomes with curriculum standards but also with ISTE NETS for digital citizenship and 21st century learning goals.

Cell phones are useful tools, and they're lots of fun too. But cell phones do have risks. If you have a cell phone, it is important to understand these risks, and learn how to enjoy your cell phone safely. [Scholastic News, 5/09]

Most of today's students are entirely comfortable with technology, but are they using it appropriately? Do they understand their roles and responsibilities in digital society? How can teachers help students become responsible digital citizens?

b>Inquiry on the Internet: Evaluating Web Pages for a Class Collection
In this lesson plan, students explore a class inquiry project, collecting Web-based resources that can be used for further study during the course of the class or for more in-depth projects. Students use Internet search engines and Web analysis checklists and questions to find and evaluate online resources then write annotations that explain how and why the items they have found will be valuable to the class.

This Comcast segment (Part 2) highlights cyber-bullying where teens discuss their personal experiences of being cyber-bullied, identify safety tips, and discuss how and when to make a report.

This Comcast segment (Part 3) highlights cyber-bullying where teens discuss their personal experiences of being cyber-bullied, identify safety tips, and discuss how and when to make a report.

In Just Kidding, the Beacon Street Girls learn about the implications of gossip, how to use the "no joke zone" (developed by best-selling author Rachel Simmons), and how the Internet can spread rumors and contribute to hurt feelings. In addition to the book, the Beacon Street Girls website is hosting a resource center online with articles and tips for parents, and guidelines for children.

Executive Summary of a white paper on the same title, available at http://www.pearson.org. The study begins a discussion of how digital media is changing the way children learn and whether the way they learn is evolving to meet a new, dynamic digital media format.

Excellent educator-created video offers students an introduction to the concepts of "managing personal identity online" and "digital footprint" and what it will mean in the course of their lifetime. Particularly noteworthy are the employer comments regarding what they learn from reading what job candidates have posted online and how it affects them both negatively and positively in considering the person for a job.

How will you prove your students meet NCLB requirements to be "technology literate" by 8th Grade? This free assessment is based on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). The assessment questions are available in both Mac and PC versions. In other words, the screen shots used in the assessment questions match those of a Mac or PC. (The actual assessment is web-based and platform-independent).

Do Internet search engines point us to the information that we need or confuse us with irrelevant or questionable information? How can Internet users improve their searches to find reliable information? are some ways to perform effective searches? In this lesson, students conduct Web searches on open-ended questions, and draw on their experiences to develop guides to searching effectively and finding reliable information online.

A good demonstration of information that both teens (and adults) divulge online that could be used against them to commit home invasion crimes: just type in the words "headed to" in the Twitter Search Engine and watch how many people indicate that they are not home!

Project Information Literacy (PIL) is ongoing research project, based in the University of Washington's Information School. We are currently collecting data from early adults enrolled in community colleges and public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. The goal is to understand how early adults conceptualize and operationalize research activities for course work and "everyday life" use and especially how they resolve issues of credibility, authority, relevance, and currency in the digital age.