GV Teachers Becoming Digital Citizenship Educators... and you can too!

“In this increasingly global world of information, students must be taught to seek diverse perspectives, gather and use information ethically, and use social tools responsibly and safely.” (American Association of School Librarians, Standards for the 21st Century Learner)
It is with this above quote from the American Association of School Librarians, we begin to reflect and inform on the importance of teaching our students in Garnet Valley School District how to use the power of technology safely, respectfully, and responsibly.  With the increasing amount of technology usage both at home and at school, it is often easy to assume students already know how to use the various technology devices.  And although that may true in the sense students can navigate a device pretty simply and quickly, we need to keep in mind it's how they navigate and the use the information found on the internet is of most importance.  
Luckily, Common Sense Media offers a variety of resources to help educate teachers, students and parents on the wide range of topics of internet usage.  In particular, the importance of teaching and modeling Digital Citizenship.  Common Sense Media has an entire resource page and has a developed a curriculum for teaching Digital Citizenship, while offering Digital Citizenship Certification opportunities for teachers, schools, and districts.  
As of today, we have over 50 Garnet Valley teachers taking part in Common Sense Media's Digital Citizenship Certification process.  The Criteria for Becoming a Certified Digital Citizenship Educator is simple!  Here are the sparknotes edition (made by yours truly, @GV_ITS) to help make this process simple for you too!
  1. Register with Common Sense Education.
  2. Join a PLN such as edmodo or edweb.net
  4. Using Common Sense digital citizenship resources, at a minimum, you can either:
    1. In one class, teach three hours, 45 minutes of digital citizenship instruction, OR
    2. In two classes, teach two hours, 15 minutes of digital citizenship instruction.
  6. New applicants, save at least three pieces of documentation to submit with your Common Sense Certified Educator application.
Be sure to use this handy Certified Educator Checklist and to complete the application process at your own pace.  *Note - This is an annual certification.  Educators must apply each school year in order to recognize the work completed during the current school year.
For your final step, complete the Common Sense Certified Educator: Digital Citizenship Application.  The completion of the application should be about 15-20 minutes.  The application does not have a saving feature, so you will need to complete it in one sitting.

Good luck and happy Digital Citizenship teaching!

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