Digital Citizenship unit

Understanding By Design by Sharon Hayes



Title: Digital Citizenship

This Information Technology/Information Literacy unit for 7/8 grade students at Folsom School is constructivist in approach with students working in groups to create their own products and wiki page based on a teacher model to explain one of the nine aspects of Digital Citizenship to students in the 5/6 team. Students will develop their knowledge through inquiry, starting first with the class wiki and then finding their own materials (inquiry) as well as creating their own materials (wiki page, Google application video or digital story, cartoon, podcast). The unit employs strategies for project-based learning as well as a flexible learning environment (students can choose a number of tech products to show their learning as well as choosing to learn through reading, watching or listening); this unit is student-centered. Although our school has an Acceptable Use Policy, which we hold our students to follow, I as their library media specialist have not done enough to promote my students' digital citizenship. This unit meets a need at our school, and I hope the project will hold the students' interests.

The unit design includes 21st century technology skills and standards, including:
* Digital Citizenship (the theme of the unit).
* Communication and Collaboration (students will work in teams to produce wiki pages).
* Research and Information Fluency (students will research one aspect of Digital Citizenship and find and apply appropriate tools to gather, evaluate and use information).
In addition, students will each create a digital story or video; a cartoon and a podcast.






Stage 1: Desired Results

Understandings

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: (NETS, 2007)
* Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION: (NETS, 2007)
* Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

RESEARCH AND INFORMATION FLUENCY. (NETS, 2007)
* Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (Vermont standards 1.18)
* Students use computers, telecommunications and other tools of technology to research, gather information and ideas and to represent information and ideas accurately and appropriately.

RESEARCH (Vermont standards 1.19)
* Students use organizational systems to obtain information from various sources (including libraries and the Internet).

Essential Questions
What arguable, recurring, and thought-provoking questions will guide inquiry and point toward the big ideas of the unit?

What does it mean to be a Digital Citizen?
What are our rights and responsibilities as Digital Citizens?

Knowledge & Skills
* (From Vermont Standard 1.19): Students recognize and define their need for information.

* Students develop an effective search strategy to satisfy their informational needs.

* Students evaluate information for timeliness, relevance, bias, accuracy, quality and accessibility. (GE IT 7-8:6)

* Students synthesize and organize information.

* Students demonstrate the ethical use of information and information technology, including citing sources and respecting copyright. (GE IT 7-8:2)

* Students use technology/productivity tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity by illustrating a variety of relationships, ideas and topics (visual organizer). IT GE 7-8:3

* Students demonstrate the use of a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences by creating a web page (wiki), including text, graphics and links. IT GE 7-8:4

* Students advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology (Digital Citizenship, NETS)

* Students exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning and productivity. (Digital citizenship, NETS)

* Students demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. (Digital Citizenship, NETS)

* Students exhibit leadership for digital citizenship (Digital Citizenship, NETS)

* Students plan strategies to guide inquiry (Research, NETS)

* Students locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. (Research, NETS).

* Students evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on appropriateness to specific tasks. (Research, NETS)

*Students interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. (Communication and Collaboration, NETS)

* Students communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. (Communication and Collaboration, NETS)

* Students contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. (Communication and Collaboration, NETS)

Technology/Web 2.0 skills
Flip video camera
Windows Movie Maker
Photo Story 3
Digital camera
Sound recorder
Podcasting
PB wiki
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
What evidence will be collected to determine whether or not the understandings have been developed, the knowledge and skill attained, and the state standards met? [Anchor the work in performance tasks that involve application, supplemented as needed by prompted work, quizzes, observations, etc.]

Performance Task Summary
Students will create:
* Personal Learning Network (Inspiration or Web-based). Student reflection. (Beginning and end of unit.)
* Wiki page (pbwiki)
* Cartoon with ToonDoo
* Video with FLIP video camera and Windows Movie Maker
or Photo Story 3.
* Podcast
* Draft of Digital Bill of Rights
* Culminating presentations and discussion: "What does it mean to be a Digital Citizen?
What are our rights and responsibilities as Digital Citizens?"
* Share wiki page with 5/6 students
* Develop whole-class final copy of Digital Bill of Rights

Rubric Titles

Rubric for video/digital story

Rubric for cartoon

Rubric for wiki

Rubric for final presentation


Self-Assessments
Student checklist

Personal Learning Network-- Students will create their own Personal Learning Network with Inspiration, Google Documents or a web-based program at the beginning of the unit and at the end of the unit. Students will reflect on their PLN at the beginning of the unit and then at the end of the unit (using FLIP video camera/Windows Movie Maker, Photo Story 3 (digital story), Microsoft Word document or another format of their choice.

Kathy Schrock's podcast checklist


Student checklist/evaluation of Wiki Page Sharing with 5/6

Other Evidence, Summarized
Teacher checklist
This is a checklist (formative) of all the knowledge and skills listed above with the corresponding performance tasks and room for teacher to assess using observation to determine whether a student Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, is Working or Needs Improvement for a variety of standards as well as room for comments.
Work may be resubmitted at any time during course of unit.

Observation: Throughout unit teacher will look for evidence of students exhibiting positive attitudes toward technology that support collaboration, learning and productivity. (Digital Citizenship, NETS)

Students will vote on which rights and responsibilities should be included in Folsom School Digital Bill of Rights.
Stage 3: Learning Activities
What sequence of learning activities and teaching will enable students to perform well at the understandings in Stage 2 and thus display evidence of the desired results in stage one? Use the WHERETO acronym to consider key design elements.

Timeline: This unit is untested; so the timeline for the activities will be refined once students have completed the unit. Timeline is flexible.

Day 1: Teacher introduces concept of Digital Citizenship by sharing essential questions and explaining standards for the unit by showing students NETS and first page of Digital Citizenship wiki, sharing ideas presented and YouTube video. Teacher gives overview of wiki project by briefly showing pages that include cartoon and video -- products that students will later create.
Day 2-3: Students create PLN (using Inspiration or a web-based tool) based on Teacher model. Students reflect on their PLN at this time (Word document, podcast or movie using FLIP video camera and Windows Movie Maker or other method of student choice). Teacher explains that unit will give students time to expand their PLN by playing with Web 2.0 tools and exploring Century 21 teaching and learning skills. PLN documents how students collect, connect, collaborate, etc. Students will create this document as a pre-learning activity and document their learning and use of 21st century tools throughout the unit, as a culminating activity and then pledge to modify the document throughout Folsom years and beyond.
Day 4-6: Teacher introduces wiki project, using wiki pages as examples. Explains how each piece is REAL -- using Alan November's webpage evaluation tool. Explains SOURCES page and encourages students to add to page after evaluating web pages. Students begin to plan for wiki page.
Day 7-8: In teams, students read, watch, listen and research using Web 2.0 tools to learn about nine aspects of Digital Citizenship (literacy, access, rights & responsibilities, commerce, law, communications, health & wellness, etiquette and security.)
Day 9-12: Teacher models video on Google Sounds. Students work collaboratively to produce a video or digital story on a Google application or another tech tool of their choice.
Day 13-16: Teacher shares podcast from wiki page. Individual students either select podcast that relates to purpose, read news article to create podcast or create original related podcast of their own. Students self-assess podcasts using Kathy Schrock's checklist.
Day 17: Each student creates a cartoon with ToonDoo.com to show understanding of an issue concerning Digital Citizenship.
Day 18-20: Students work collaboratively to produce wiki page to demonstrate understanding of an aspect of Digital Citizenship.
Day 21-22: Student teams draft school Bill of Rights for Digital Citizenship and participate in debate to decide which aspects of each team's documents should be included in a final document to be presented to the school principal.
Day 23: Students share wiki pages, Google application videos and other creations with peers in whole class discussion about "What it means to be a Digital Citizen" and the "Rights and Responsibilities of Digital Citizens." Invite principal for unveiling of school's Bill of rights for Digital Citizenship.
Day 24-27: Students visit 5/6 classrooms to share as groups their wiki pages with teams of 5/6 students.