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Free Tech Literacy Assessment tool for students in grades K-12, specifically geared toward middle schoolers. who are required to be technology literate by 8th grade.

Very important document!! The NASSP Position Statement is the cornerstone for all of our work in cybersafety education at CTAP4. Click on "expand" to see their recommendations.

NASSP recommendations for school leaders 1. Familiarize themselves about all aspects of computer technology, including the mechanics of the Internet, blogs, social networking Web sites, and the liability issues associated with the use of these technologies 2.Form a technology team that comprises staff members, parents and students to act in an advisory capacity to the larger school community 3.Educate staff members and students on using technology within the boundaries of the law 4.Guide teachers and students on how the Internet can serve as effective educational tools 5.Formulate clear guidelines to protect students and teachers against cyber bullying and other criminal activities 6.Conduct orientation sessions for parents regarding student use of the Internet 7.Reinforce these guidelines with parents and encourage vigilance of Internet use at home, including the elimination of derogatory statements against other students or staff.

Merle Marsh wrote this highly informative article on Teaching Children to Be Responsible Users of Technology, which includes real-life incidents involving legal and ethical abuses of technologies. She also provides recommended educator activities and teaching suggestions.

Slick video made by the Pearson Foundation for COSN that explains the shifts that need to happen if we are going to enable students to become fully digital literate.
\nThe Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) provides a voice for K-12 education leaders who use technology strategically to improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies.

This 10th grade student has written an exceptional post-project reflection. I hope you'll take time to read it. Here is an excerpt:\n\n"There is no doubt that this technology is dangerous. It is apparent that few people, not adults, not teenagers, truly understand how collaboration, conduct, and manners affect the internet. This project has to teach others that as well. It is necessary to know how to handle yourself on the internet. That's why Horizon Project is so important. We have to educate tomorrow's leaders how to use new technology without abusing it. The highlight of this project is the education we are giving every single person who has been a part of the Horizon Project."

An excellent post about how doing global collaborative projects can educate students on the safety they need. This is from a 10th grader.

Thought-provoking article by Scott McLeod. If a district has decided to figure out ways to facilitate technology usage and empower students and staff, the policies will follow accordingly. Conversely, if a district is determined to treat technology from a fearful or wary standpoint, its policies will reflect that position as well.

"Exactly 15 years ago the directors at the lab where the web was first developed signed a document which said the technology could be used by anyone free of charge." - very interesting look at the future of the web

Guarding Kids.com - A Practical Guide to Keeping Kids out of High-Tech Trouble . From podcasts to porn, cyberbullying to cell phones, Dr. Russell Sabella helps readers understand the risks that emerge when high-tech tools, uninformed parents, and exuberant youth collide. Because kids are growing up with modern technologies, many are more expert than their parents. As a result, a parent's ability to make effective decisions for how technology is used may be compromised.

New book by Mike Ribble (Author of Digital Citizenship in the Schools). You want your children to enjoy all the benefits a technological society has to offer, but at the same time, you want them to stay safe and act as responsible members of society. Raising a Digital Child is your guide. Inside, you will learn about many of the newest and most popular technologies, in parent-friendly language, along with discussions of the risks each might harbor and the types of behaviors that every child should learn in order to become a good citizen in this new digital world.

The third PSA in a series created by Pearson Foundation and the Consortium for School Networking, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of integrating technology into teaching practice around the world. Students discuss the ways in which they use technology at school, at home, or in their everyday lives.

Widely quoted paper (2006). Educators today confront an ever-shifting landscape when it comes to Internet technologies and their potential for expanding participatory cultures. Henry Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explores new frameworks for literacy through the lens of participatory culture.

Organized around the way middle schoolers use the Internet, the CyberCitz Project provides teaching materials on Internet safety, security and ethics. This new project includes an Educators' Guide, a youth website, technology citizenship posters, and e-lessons on a K-12 learning management system. This project was produced in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Educational technology and IIIA at James Madison University. Navigate through the curriculum content using the sidebar on the left side of the screen.

Digital technology has had a tremendous impact on our lives. Although the Internet and cell phones have been in wide use for only a couple of decades, most of us can hardly remember a time before they existed or imagine how we would function without them. How have the accessibility of these technologies, and the ease with which we are now able to share information, changed the way we communicate? And how can young people in particular better deal with the issues that might arise from being able to communicate so quickly and easily with so many people? This activity will help students recognize and address these issues. Note: Registration for this site may be required, but it's simple and easy.

The following articles originally appeared in one of ISTE's publications: our flagship magazine, Learning & Leading with Technology (L&L), the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, or the Journal of Research in Computing Education. This sampling of articles dealing with digital citizenship and related issues will be available to the general public for a limited time.

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.

A school's Acceptable Use Policy, or AUP, is a list of technology regulations that require students to use technology responsibly and prevent abuse of school computers. Students are often required to sign this "user contract" in order to use school network computers but unfortunately many sign without reading or understanding the information. The Smart AUP assessment tool is a fun and effective way for students to demonstrate to teachers and administrators that they have read and understand the AUP.

What happens if someone posts an unflattering, or worse, a scandalous or compromising picture of you on Facebook? What are your rights? That's a sensitivity that we need to start nurturing by training our kids -- and our employees -- to use online tools responsibly', says Anna O'Brian, a PHD student in digital technology. What happens when only some of us know how to use these connective technologies to improve our lives (as opposed to overwhelming ourselves even more). In other words, what happens when only a small portion of online users is actually digitally literate?

Today's teens are growing up in a world where social media is everywhere. Regardless of whether or not they have access to these technologies or how they engage with them, there is little doubt that social media is playing a significant role in the changing landscape of American youth.\n\nThere are many ways to respond to this shift. The most popular response is panic. Every time a new genre of social media emerges and is adopted en masse by teens, many folks run around screaming that the sky is falling, the sky is falling! Of course, like clockwork, everything calms down once the old fogies begin adopting the technologies that they feared back when they were adopted just by the youngins.

EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) created Teaching Copyright as a balanced curriculum encouraging students to make full and fair use of technology that is revolutionizing learning and the exchange of information. The Teaching Copyright curriculum was developed with the input of educators from across the U.S. and has been designed to satisfy components of standards from the International Society for technology in Education and the California State Board of Education.

Educators find themselves with mixed opinions about the role of social media in higher education and its importance in the classroom. Some see it as the technology of tomorrow, an important piece to the puzzle of connecting with students, while others try it doubtingly in their classrooms, assuming that the traditional face-to-face contact cannot be replaced.