According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children ages 8-18 now spend 9 hours each day on media and technology. To ensure our students take to heart how to be safe, responsible, and respectful online, we are proactively incorporating digital citizenship curriculum in grades 3-8.
In fact, Berkeley Unified has been recognized as a Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Certified District after nearly every 3rd-5th grade classroom carved out time for at least three digital citizenship lessons last school year–that’s 300 lessons in 96 classrooms for 2,500 students. This year all three middle schools are launching a digital citizenship curriculum and Longfellow is leading the way by incorporating lessons into their school-wide expectations teach-in days.
Eric Silverberg, an elementary library services teacher on special assignment and member of our DigiTech Team, is Berkeley’s own digital citizenship leader. He has worked behind-the-scenes on adapting Common Sense Media’s digital citizenship curriculum into easy to use lesson plans and supported implementation of it district-wide. The lesson topics include internet safety, self-image and reputation, digital footprint, cyberbullying, and information literacy.
Last week, Eric had the honor of presenting a session on digital citizenship at Fall CUE, an ed tech conference, so that other educators from all over the country could benefit from Berkeley’s experience and expertise. Eric shared that “children need help navigating the online world” and how Berkeley has aligned Common Sense Media’s curriculum with our school-wide expectations: be safe, be responsible, be respectful, and be an ally. Eric also mentioned how digital citizenship is a “whole-community issue” and how schools are partnering with parent groups. Participants in his session were thrilled to learn Berkeley’s model so they can find ways to replicate it in their own communities.
Kudos to Eric and all the Berkeley educators making sure our students are smart digital citizens.
– Mia Gittlen, K-8 Instructional Technology TSA