Ad4dcss/Digital Citizenship

This wiki was created for school library media specialists by Dr. Donna Baumbach and Dr. Judy Lee, University of Central Florida. The purpose is to provide information about some of the new web-based tools (Web 2.0) and how they can be used and are being used by school library media specialists and their students and teachers. Much of the information--including identifying a need for this kind of information--is the result of a survey conducted in 2008 of over 600 school library media specialists about their knowledge and use of web-based tools in library media programs.

Based out of NYC, the Global Kids Digital Media Initiative is a series of interrelated programs designed to support teenagers to think critically about the role of digital media in their lives and document their experiences in various media. It is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Cyberethics curriculum from the eMINTS project. These sites highlight the debate about downloading music from the Internet for free. Watch videos of musicians expressing their thoughts on the issue. There is also information about copyright law and explanations about why these types of downloads are considered illegal and unethical. The sites are helpful for teachers who want students to debate the issue. There are links to eThemes Resources on Internet safety and computer basics.

From Anastasia Goodstein: Here are some of the lessons I've learned from studying young peoples' online habits, helping to launch a number of successful Web sites and TV properties for teens and twentysomethings, and founding a blog about youth culture for media and marketing pros.
1. Teens are multitaskers.
2. Teens prefer byte-sized entertainment.
3. Teens expect content on demand
4. Teens want to participate.

NBC Learn, the education arm of NBC News, this week launched a new collaborative learning site that combines gaming and multimedia for students aged 13 and up. Called iCue ("Immerse, Connect, Understand, and Excel"), the service builds on research out of MIT's Education Arcade, housed at MIT's Comparative Media Studies, to integrate traditional learning activities with new technologies.

Every day, across the nation, our digitally native students are punching search terms into their school's Internet browsers. But which keywords are they searching for most? Starting today, a top 15 list of the most active search terms will be available on Thinkronize, Inc's netTrekker site

Why is media literacy important? Here's a beginning list of reasons from thinkers and leaders in the field.

Most parents accept the importance of digital media but wonder about the impact on students social skills, according to findings from a Common Sense Media poll.

After a years-long dispute, Microsoft and the computing and education project One Laptop Per Child said Thursday that they had reached an agreement to offer Windows on the organization's computers.

[NYT Magazine, 5/25/08]. Examination of why people "overshare" their personal information on the internet through the eyes of a 20-something woman who compulsively blogs. This is a fruitful article to seed a discussion of how teens express themselves digitally and the importance of privacy and self-regulation. It could also be paired nicely with the Youth Privacy site ( previously bookmarked by another group member) for discussion in a digital citizenship class.

The company will provide content blockers that allow parents to prevent their children from accessing certain content, application filters to keep children from using software and will empower parents with time limiting tools to control time spent on various Internet activities.

This web site was developed by Mike Ribble, co-author of Digital Citizenship in the Schools. He covers the 9 areas of Digital Citizenship that are outlined in the book and offers many examples of how educators can begin the process of teaching their students how to use technology more appropriately. These resources can be used by any anyone who is interested in helping students or others better understand appropriate technology use.

Afraid of technology, on the bleeding edge of new technologies, or somewhere in between - these Teen Tech Week Tech Guides will help you keep abreast of current technologies and how you can use them in a public or school library program.
1. Making Music with Teens
2. Online Surveys
3. Virtual Worlds
4. RSS, Blogs & Wikis
5. Gaming
6. Podcasts
7. Dungeons & Dragons @ Your Library.

A griefer is a player who plays an online game simply to aggravate and harass other players. Griefers find fun in embarrassing and pushing others around in the online gaming world. They may use tools such as stalking, hurling insults, and exploiting unintended game mechanics.Griefers scam, cheat and abuse, often victimizing the weakest and newest players.

Children may be net savvy but their critical reading and research skills are not finely honed. They don't understand that they shouldn't believe everything they read. To kids, WIKIPEDIA is still the gospel.

A combustible mix of minors, sex and technology.

A behind the scenes look at how the BBC created the BBC iPlayer trail for April Fools' Day, featuring a colony of flying penguins.

Use this BBC video [4/1/07] as an icebreaker when teaching information literacy and digital citizenship. It will prompt a great conversations about the importance of critical thinking when examining information on the Web. [With thanks to Jane Krauss for the clever idea...]

"How I Learned to Type," was created by Diana Kimball and Sarah Zhang of the Digital Natives team. It takes a glance into how people of different ages learned one of the first skills every digital inhabitant needs - typing. Do you "peck" with two fingers, type in multiple languages at once, or have a typing teacher with a wooden leg? The people in "How I Learned to Type" do all this and more. Digital technology has become so ingrained in our lives that for digital natives, learning to type has become a ubiquitous experience, as memorable, say, as learning to read or ride a bike.

Craik School in Saskatchewan Canada is exploring the use of cellphones as learning tools. This video highlights the work of Carla Dolman and Gord Taylor and the grade 8 and 9 students of Craik School.