The Proper Email

Being a good digital citizen means knowing how to send a proper email. In my class, students are taught that email is a more formal means of communication, requiring these elements:

• Subject Line - briefly state the topic that the email is about.
• Greeting - (Dear Mrs. Moore)
• Several well-crafted sentences about the subject of the email. Proper grammar and punctuation is a must. Eamil is not the place for chat language and sarcasm should be avoided - it just doesn't translate well in the written form.
• Closing - a well-wish (Have a nice day, Thank you, Sincerely are most commonly used.)
• Signature - (Your name)

I reply with a proper email every time as a common courtesy. It is a way of building a respectful relationship.

Life Savers and Digital Citizenship

Here are a few Life Saving tips for being a good Digital Citizen:

Red reminds us to logoff the computer and never share our password information. It's okay to share with our teacher or parent, but not others,  especially strangers.

Orange reminds us that clicking on pop-ups or downloading random things from the internet is probably not a good idea.

Yellow reminds us to stay only to those sites that are just right!

White reminds us to save our work before logging off.

Green reminds us to tell an adult if someone is being mean or saying unkind words online. Speak up!

What Do Postcards & Digital Citizenship Have in Common?

You might ask what postcards and digital citizenship have in common - it turns out a lot!

Consider a postcard - beautiful pictures of scenic paths, cute, fluffy animals or a fun fact about an antique on one side and on the reverse, a place to add an address, postage stamp and a lovely message to a friend.

     "Dear Friend, Having an awesome time. Wish you were here. Signed, Your Friend"

Consider this: when you place a stamp at the top right corner of that card and place it in a mailbox, is that message you sent a friend 'private'? Would it be a good idea to send a mean message to a friend on a postcard? Would you want to add your private information on it? If the answer is 'no' to each of these, this is the connection to digital citizenship.

When communicating online, being a good digital citizen means that your words are not private and we should always choose our words carefully.

I like to use this connection with older students as a reminder of our responsibility when chatting online with friends - think before posting online. Once the 'send' key is tapped, there is no getting it back. Even a delete key will not reverse what has been sent.

For this exercise, I love ReadWriteThink's Postcard Creator - I like how the program takes the user step-by-step, explaining each area of a postcard is and how to complete it properly. I like how easy it is to edit and print and the final product is pleasant.

This is a good idea

Good Digital Citizens Cite Their Sources!

Being a good Digital Citizen means students cite their sources when using images and text. We work these requirements into most all of our activities, especially when we get into "Research Season". Below are the minimum requirements to proper source citation per grade. I use color coding when explaining it to students, to make it easier to understand each part of the citation

I like this video by easybib.com - "Citation for Beginners" - it goes step-by-step, discussing why, when, and how to properly cite sources. Easybib.com is also an excellent source to create the proper citation.

Safe Search for Young Ones Who Want to Search!

I get a little nervous when students tell me they have a YouTube account or they Google searched something. We talk about safe searching habits, but my stomach still rumbles for what they may see while 'out-there'.

These are some of my favorite safe search engines for kids - and most are powered by our friends at Google (thank you very much!)  Kiddle and KidRex are both safe search engines.

KidRex has a "Kids" and a "Parents" section. From the random searches for 'dogs', 'rainbows' and others, I've been happy with the top results of my searches.

I'm a bit happier with Kiddle as the results seem to be more 'kid-friendly' - with images, varying reading levels, a wiki section and more. When I surveyed students, they seemed to have been able to find what they were needing more in Kiddle.

Students want to be YouTubers, but you never know what they're going to view when they search for 'that' image. Enter YouTubeKids.  There is a YTKids app for Apple and Android devices and features kid profiles, watch history, blocking options, video reporting and my favorite, a timer option - so parents can set a limit on how much time is spent in the app - nice features.




My list will always include Wonderopolis - which offers so many interesting topics for everyone. I get a 'wonders' email everyday, which makes for a nice reading break during the day. These folks also offer online camps, wonder-jar challenges and more. Big Fan!


Cool videos? The Kid Should See This is the place to go! Videos about science, tech, music, art, dominos, robots - you name it...they have a cool video about it. This is a fun way to give a break during the day and see something cool....very cool!




When you need a word, a rhyme, antonyms or definitions, WordHippo works brilliantly. This site is a fun favorite!

Thanks to these sites for keeping the advertisement kid-friendly as well. Young students need places online that they can turn to for good kid-friendly information and good kid-friendly images, making being a good digital citizen a little easier.

Digital Citizenship - It's Not Just For Kids!

I'm going to have to unload here. These are two topics that students have heard me talk about over and over again, and yet I look at the adults in our community; those that the students are watching and I roll my eyes and shake my head that these basic digital citizenship rules are violated every time.

#1 - Posting Comments Online
Our school system calling for a snow day and the adults in our community just don't get along, where I am from. No matter how careful they are about reaching out to all the experts in weather conditions, county roads and more when making the decision, adults get so angry - regardless that the decision comes with the safety and well being of staff and the student being their topmost concern. Social media and the county's webpage are updated with the decision and within seconds, adults will post such angry comments about the message, the timing of the message, questioning the mental capacity of who made the decision or who posted the message. Adults will go on vicious rants and it's not just about the message, they will even go on these rants with each other, responding to comments of comments. They will call each other names and say such awful things to one another. I can't hardly believe what I'm reading! What has gotten into people?

Folks: the school is closed! Your child's well being was a top concern when making the decision. The roads are iced over or snow is falling in record amounts. Buses in our county cannot travel safely in these conditions. High school students driving in these conditions is even more concerning. Heating in some older school buildings is not adequate to keep your child warm throughout the day. School staff cannot travel safely to get to school to teach and tend to your child. Electricity is out or trees and other hazards pose an issue. Stop complaining! Be grateful that all of this is taken into account for the safety of your child. And, please, stop posting such horrible and angry things online!

As we try every day to ensure your child is safe online and creating a rock-solid digital footprint - reading your comments only undermines everything we have done to create a safe and sound digital environment for your child going forward.

Bottom line: Clean it up, adults - your kids are watching!

#2 - News Outlets Posting Pictures Without Permission Or Without Giving Credit
What a beautiful snow day! Parents and neighbors of the school sent in pictures for us to post on the school's social media and webpage. These are adorable pictures of kids sledding, throwing snowballs and just having a grand time. Of course, any photo used is given complete credit to the person who took the picture - parent, a school's neighbor, staff member. That's only the right thing to do.

But today (and many times in the past), the local paper went online and used those images to capture what was happening around the county. Sadly, one huge item was missing - not giving credit to the picture's creator. It begged the question: are they above this rule? Shouldn't a news agency know better than this?

Parents curiously asked if they should complain or if we would be complaining? Here's the sad and dreadful answer: "We are truly sorry you were not given credit for such a beautiful picture. Your kids are delightful and we really appreciate you sharing your image." On the flip side of that is the notion that if we complain, that news agency will stop posting our wonderful activities for the rest of the community to see. You see, it's a double-edged sword. Their posts of our school is a big part of our branding. Does this answer make it right?  NO!!! It upsets me as much as it upsets the parent or neighbor. It's irresponsible and terribly unfair.

Bottom line: if you are using someone else's picture - a picture you did not personally take - you must give that person full credit for that image. Period!

These are such basic digital citizenship rules that we cover with students everyday. If adults don't do these things, mindfully, the student can easily opt-out, claiming adults don't comply, why should they?

Now...that is sad!

Google Search for Images

https://www.pexels.com/search/flowers/

Searching for the right image is made easy when using the search filters available in Google. I can filter my search results by size of image, by color, by type, by when the picture was taken and by usage rights.

When demonstrating the proper techniques to students, I start by typing 'flowers' in the query box in www.google.com

By clicking on Tools, gives a secondary menu with all those options to further filter the results.

Search by size of the picture - large, medium, icon, with variables refining the size of the image.











Search by color and the results will filter the picture content by that specific color - or choose full color, black & white or transparent

Search by type of picture - a face picture, a photo, clip art, line drawing or an animated image.










Search by the time the image was taken - in the past 24 hours, past week or a customized range.









And then, what I tell the students is the most important filter - by usage. We can search by images we're allowed to use and to use and make modifications. This is also an excellent time to reiterate that no matter the permissions, we always give credit to the photographer. An excellent opportunity to reiterate our Digital Citizenship responsibilities.

https://www.pexels.com/search/flowers/

The results - this image is of medium sized, orange flowers, that were taken in the last 24 hours and have a 'Labeled for reuse' filter.

Thanks to the folks at www.pexels.com for this extraordinary image!

Hi-5 to Digital Literacy!

One of the biggest challenges we face, day in and day out, is making certain Students can think through any tech issues and try to solve these issues on their own. Ask: "What would happen if an adult were not in the room...what would you do then?" We come up with five possible solutions for each tech issue they might face. If the issue comes up, they first must do the Hi-5 before asking for more help!

Here are some typical solutions...some Hi-5's!


Hi-5 to Login Issues:

1. Are their any extra spaces?
2. Is your username spelled correctly?
3. Are the numbers on your username correct?
4. Is your password correct?
5. If all else fails, clear both boxes and begin again.

Hi-5 to Printer Issues:

1. Which printer did you print to?
2. Is the printer turned on?
3. Is there paper in the printer?
4. Are the ink levels good?
5. Is there a paper jam?

Hi-5 to Programs/App functioning:

1. Is the server up and running properly?
2. Do you have too many windows open?
3. Have you refreshed your screen recently?
4. How about quitting and retrying?
5. Have you tried a different browser?

Trends in the Ed Tech World - My Take...

There's a lot of chatter about ideas surrounding the Ed Tech Community regarding trends...where are we going & what catchy idea will be the next big deal. There are a few concepts that I think should be added to the list, or further defined, as I think they play an important role when we think of these trends in Ed Tech and our role of nurturing digitally literate citizens. 

So...here's my take:

Curation & Reflection & Peer Review - This is where Digital Portfolios or ePortfolios comes into play. I have Students create a slide or post about each completed tech project. These posts then become a time for them to reflect about the activity itself and talk about it in length; what was the activity, what did they find to be their strengths & what were some take-aways for areas of improvement.  I also like the notion of Peer Review and have Students couple-up and review each other's portfolios with constructive comments, suggestions, questions and (my personal favorite) connections.  This helps them 'own the project', become better listeners and become constructive evaluators. Nice combination.

Robotics is another amazing area that I really love exploring with Students. Include the "build" component and you've got a winner of an activity.  I posted a few weeks ago about the Meccanoid Robot that I put together.  Building that Robot was one of the more exciting activities I've done in quite awhile.  It gave me a  true 'connection' that I would not have gotten had I just grabbed a robot out of the box and put batteries in it and away we go. I was able to see how things fit and work together. Cool experience!

Maker Movement has become quite something these days. I'd like to see more of a 'reuse' feature in the program rather than the acquisition of new toys. I think sometimes we get carried away with the "latest and greatest", that it loses it's appeal for me. "Making" something from used parts is really a challenge in itself.  One big plus for me, I like seeing the 'thinking-process' in action....very meaningful part of the experience.

VR / AR - yet another huge concept. Very exciting experiences as well as an attractive venue for learning.

And, Digital Citizenship!  I read recently that nearly 300k statuses are updated ever minute on Facebook and over 2.5 million searches are done in Google at that same rate!  That just screams our need to keep the conversation about Digital Citizenship going with Students. Add in an accountability component for their online presence and the care of equipment!  I don't see this element going away anytime soon.

We've got a lot of work to do to create Digitally Literate Students and these trends inspire ways to move them in the right direction!

Checkmate!

I'm totally into the game of Chess! My Dad was the Master and my oldest brother, a very aggressive opponent!  I used to love watching them play their very heated games!

ChessKid.com (www.chesskid.com) has proven to be a great source for Students to learn the dynamics of the game, strategies, rules and more. 

Setting up a 'Teacher' account and a "Class" account, with 30 Students, was fairly easy.  I decided to choose a 3rd Grade Class, whose Teacher is totally into the game, to test drive this program.  To get started, once they launch the program, they must go through a tutorial with 20 levels that detail each piece and the moves it can make.  As well they learn mechanics and strategies of the game. The instruction is pretty thorough and easy for them to understand.  Once completed, they can choose to play games or solve puzzles.  I particularly like how the program walks the user step-by-step through each move and explains wrong moves or gives suggestions along the way.

It does become social, whereas the Students can 'Friend' each other to play a game.  I found this to be, yet another great opportunity to tie in the discussion of digital citizenship. We talk about communicating online, accepting friendship requests from only those people we know and touch on other proper netiquette tips as well. 

This program is not only online, but also comes in an iPad & iPhone app, as well.  I rate this program for 3rd Grade and up.

This is an impressive program...very well thought out!  Nicely done!

Digital Citizenship Resources

Webonauts Internet Academy by PBS Kids (http://pbskids.org/webonauts/) is a fun, interactive game with valuable tips about being online...starting with the motto: "Observe, Respect, Contribute".  Rewards are given in the form of new uniform accessories and more for answering questions correctly.  I rate this for 2nd Grade through 5th.

ATT's Safety Land (http://www.att.com/Common/images/safety/game.html) is another fun way to learn internet safety, by helping "Captain Broadband" track down a villain and learn safe tips along the way. One nice feature is the ability to print out the course and each participant can also print out a Certificate of Completion.  I also rate this for 2nd Grade through 5th.

Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/) is a great resource for School Staff, Parents & Students with tons of information, grade appropriate videos, movie & book top picks and so much more. To take it to the next level and for more in-depth Digital Citizenship learning, Common Sense has designed interactive activities and assessments for K-12 Students.  Take a look: Common Sense Media - Interactive Assessments (https://assessments.commonsensemedia.org/)

In the spirit of developing strong and positive digital footprints, we collectively need to continue the conversation about Digital Citizenship.

Padlet - A Cool Exit Ticket and More!

I've been a fan of Padlet for awhile now and it always amazes me the ideas that can come to use it with all levels of Students.  This was what we did with our 4th Grade STEM Students.  They had to go on and tell whether they are Scientists, Technologists, Engineers or Mathematicians and answer why they think so.  It's been fun reading their posts...clearly these kids are going places.

Here are other ideas:  Guided Reading responses to text....Chat about Genius Hour activities or mapping out a plan with their teams...Discussion Wall about their hypothesis and then the results of their science experiments.  Endless ideas!

We're also always looking for ways to bring up being good Digital Citizens...before going onto Padlet, we have yet another discussion about thoughtful, kind posts and not leaving too many personal details or tracks for other online viewers. Not only does this discussion minimize crazy posts, but it brings the activity into focus of what is expected when they do leave their mark!

I also like how easy it is to start a Padlet wall, share, print, and more.  Nicely done Padlet...nicely done!

Created with Padlet

A Message to Parents about Digital Citizenship

I have to admit, I had to cool off before updating my blog with this message about Digital Citizenship.  Today, the District called off School for Students due to inclement weather.  While it was in anticipation of potentially severe weather that was headed our way, the decision showed great foresight and it was made with an abundance of caution. As is customary, they posted the notice to the webpage, to Facebook & to Twitter.  Within minutes, the overwhelming clamoring of negativity struck from all sides from parents, disagreeing with the call.  Comments were rude, ugly, disrespectful, angry. Some included name calling. I was really quite taken by it all.  Not only were they replying to the initial post, in this manner, but also to other comments made by other parents.  I could have really put my two cents in here, but chose to follow the District's lead and show restraint.

Here is what I would have posted:

Dear Parents, 

We have an ongoing conversation with your children about being good Digital Citizens.  We talk about how their digital footprint is permanent and any words spoken online could potentially have an impact on future employers and any university in an admittance application.  We stress consistently to them that they are to "THINK" before they post and ask themself:  Is it True...Is it Helpful...Is it Inspiring...Is it Necessary...Is it Kind!  Convincing your kids to follow these steps towards being good Digital Citizens is a hard job.  So, when you post such rude and thoughtless comments, especially on a very public website, where thousands are able to read it, your comments potentially shatter any of the conversations we've had with them about how to behave while they are online.  If your son or daughter could see your comments that you made today, they could easily say to themself 'well if Mom and Dad can speak like this while online, so can I'.  I ask you, exactly who wins here?

Something to consider. 

Blessings,

Mrs. Elana Moore

Being Good Digital Citizens is a whole community effort.  Everyone must do their best to THINK before they hit the send key.  Students, Parents, Community, including School Staff, must be able to be online with each other and to feel safe. Communicating online should be to broaden relationships and for learning....not damaging or for name calling. It is up to all of us.....

Again...something to think about...

New Safe Search Tool - Kiddle by Google!

Happy to see yet another Safe Search Engine tool that Students can use to gather information...the safe way!

Kiddle (http://kiddle.co/) is a Safe Search Engine powered by Google.  It offers essentially everything that the Google Search offers - web links, images, news and videos, but entirely buttoned up for Students.

They define their safe search results that the first 3 results being pages written specifically for Kids, the next four results are not specifically for kids but have been tested for kid-friendly content and the pages eight and beyond are pages written for adults but again have been filtered for safe search and more difficult to read and understand.  I also like how you can request word and site blocking - a nice added feature!

Nicely done Google!

Bitmoji = Super Powers!

Oh my...yet another great app...Bitmoji!

(https://appsto.re/us/2_CVZ.i)

This app however adds a new twist...avatars that add a punch....a Super Power punch!  The avatars are easy to create and selecting pictures a snap.  I'm planning on using this avatar to talk about the powers (uh...super powers) of being a good Digital Citizen to my K-5 friends. 

How about this one to just say "No!" To cyber bullying or any other wretched online behavior.  The message to "THINK" before posting also comes to mind!

Or this one to say "Great Job Cyber Citizen!"

Another cool feature is that you can add Bitmoji to your International Keyboard on your phone or tablet, by simply going in to the Settings on the device.  This makes the avatar and pictures accessible now from anywhere.

I'm loving it...

Digital Citizenship, the Digital Native & the School Community

When I was a kid, born & raised in the 60's, we didn't have computers...not in our schools, homes or anywhere else we would go.  We didn't have our own personal phone or smartphone. In fact, in my house, we had one landline phone that was for Mom or Dad to use.  Not even my older brothers and sister could use it.  We understood that the phone connected by wire, to a wall in our home, was so expensive, that only responsible adults would operate it, and...we were okay with that! It wasn't until I was 10 that I was allowed to answer it. I remember my folks sat us all down at the kitchen table and talked about the proper way to answer it...using proper diction and polite words. I guess you could say that that was my first experience learning how to be a good digital citizen.

Today, kids are pretty much born with an iPad in one hand and a smartphone in the other.  They access apps, play games, text, talk, skype, make videos, snap pictures, share their content and on and on.  They learn these things by tinkering or instinctively clicking all on their own. They click here and then click there and use or reuse the content without thinking twice.  Most haven't had that conversation about the consequences of their clicks or the importance about proper digital behavior or 'netiquette'.  This generation has become known as 'Digital Natives', because they have never known a day that some form of personal technology exists and that these devices are available for them to use, much of the time, without careful supervision or limits. We can say we've moved into the 21st Century technologically speaking, but the question now is what is our level of digital responsibility? To what lengths are we accountable for our digital clicks?  I wonder how many have thought about this or communicated it with their own children.

I think it's time for us to start and keep an ongoing dialogue about 'Digital Citizenship'.  But let's take a step back for a second.  I think we can now remove the word 'digital' from this title and just have a conversation about "citizenship", because how we act offline should be mirrored behavior for when we are online, right?  What we say and do in any sphere of our life should be the same...thoughtful, polite, inspirational, for learning & growing, for research & development and to champion the global greater good.  

So...how do we do this?  I've thought about this at great length and think we need to start from Day 1 having this conversation as a total school community.  Everyone needs to be on board, take personal ownership, buy into it and agree.

Here are some questions that might be useful to start this conversation:

• Who is responsible for the technology or the device we're assigned?

• Who is in charge of the account we're assigned?

• Who is in charge of our passwords and password protection?

• Should we set limits on picture or video use and, if so, what does this look like?

• Should we set a tone for communicating online and when it's appropriate to communicate online? What does this look like?

• What should the consequences be for off-task or misbehavior on or offline?

• Should there be limits for personal and school related use on school-assigned technology?

• Who is responsible for the physical device...maintaining proper charge, storage, etc.

• (And this, I think is an important question) What is the acceptable use policy for students at home, do they have to power down at a certain point and what are the consequences at home for not abiding by family rules?  Should we mirror some of these practices at school?

• And lastly.....exactly what age or grade level should we begin this conversation?

I think it's time to start talking about Digital Citizenship.

Proper Citation with a Scan of a Barcode!..... Yes...I'm totally serious!

I have been looking for an easy way for 2nd through 5th Graders to properly cite sources. We have what I like to call "Reasearch Season" in the Tech Lab during cold, yucky months of February and some of March.  Part of this section presents a great opportunity to talk about "giving credit where credit is due"...being a Good Digital Citizen and cite your sources!   Everything I found was really suited more for Middle, High and College level Students...never for Elementary Students.   I wanted an easy-to-look-at and easier to navigate program for them to use.  Then came...."RefME Citations Made Easy" by RefME .  With a swipe of a barcode, on the back of a book or magazine, the citation is captured and can be switched between MLA, APA, and a whole host of other styles. Students can then add pages numbers, line numbers and more. It also creates bibliographies and reference lists. Nice tool. 

This app is Free on iTunes, clouds nicely to other devices and has a web based version as well (https://www.refme.com/#/)  .....and it's going on School iPads as we speak!

Happy Citation!

Elana Moore

Comics about Digital Citizenship!

To become a Digital Citizenship Community at our School, it can sometimes be a challenge to find ways to have Students get dialed into this role of theirs!  We start each week in Technology Encore discussing what it takes to be a good Digital Citizen, then this was one of the ways to help them model their role....creating a comic strip!  The parameters for the project were simple:  the overall topic must be about being a good Digital Citizen and the strip could contain tips or a story about how the character is modeling this good behavior.  

We used MakeBeliefsComix (www.makebeliefscomix.com) to design our comic strips.  It is an easy to use web-based program where Students can create 2, 3 or 4 pane strips.  There are a large variety of characters to choose from, as well as backgrounds, props, thinking & speaking bubbles.  Once they are finished, printing and saving is a snap!

Other Ideas for Comic Strips:

* Storytelling - any and all subjects!

* Biographies - the character could tell details about a famous person

* PBLs - have the characters in the strip talk about what the PBL was, the materials used and the outcome!

* Characters can describe PBIS behaviors!

* Great for Presentations - Students love showing off their final product!

Happy Creating!

Elana Moore

Today's Meet - Student Discussion on Digital Citizenship

Today's Meet (https://todaysmeet.com/) is a Discussion Board or Back Channel and is perfect for use with Students to discuss any topic under the planet!  Once you launch the program, you can either get started right away without signing in or use the signup option which gives more features for the end user.  It is easy to use from all perspectives and acts in real time.  The 'Room' can be set up to stay open for hours, days, months or a year.  Students can access it anywhere there is an internet connection....home, school, other classrooms, etc.

Ideas for Today'sMeet use with Students:
* Chat about Digital Citizenship - perfect forum...they're online working with a digital tool! Great way to teach respectful and responsible online discussion.
* Have back channel for any subject being taught in the classroom.  Students can ask questions and then the presenter can leaf through the questions to help clarify during their presentation.
* Homework help - Students can access it to ask questions they have about their homework.  Anyone else online at the time can comment, help or ask their own questions.


Happy Meeting!
Elana Moore