Curriculum
Digital Citizenship: Grades 6-8
Power and Responsibility
Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about digital citizenship from CyberSmart!
Overview
Students consider the power of the Internet to disseminate positive and negative ideas of individuals, as well as large organizations. They relate the privileges and responsibilities of cyber citizenship to their school's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
Objectives
- Explain how the Internet is a powerful tool for disseminating both positive and negative ideas
- Explain that it is difficult to tell if a Web site represents the opinion of one person or thousands of people
- Relate the privileges of cyber citizenship to the responsibility of adhering to an acceptable use policy
National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Digital Citizenship
- advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
- exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
- exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
Site Preview
No Internet site is used in this lesson.
Materials
- Activity sheets (2)
- Your school district's Acceptable Use Policy and/or student contract
Introduce
- Have students imagine that a class of younger students wants to contribute the money they raised to a fund to prevent hunger. Ask: How could you use the Internet to help them? Allow students to brainstorm ideas.
Teach 1
- Distribute Activity Sheet 1.
- Students may ask what kinds of lies are spread by hate sites. One example is historical revision in which hate groups retell history to support their positions (such as that the Holocaust never took place).
Teach 2
- Distribute Activity Sheet 2 and your school district's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and/or student contract.
- Have students work in pairs to complete the sheet.
Teach 3
- Ask volunteers to share and discuss their responses with the class. Guide
students to consider the following in their discussion:
- Duane's E-mail: Because he is using the school network, Duane is subject to the school's AUP rules. If the rude message is racist, sexist, or contains obscenities, it may violate the rules.
- Julia's E-Mail: Julia's message is inflammatory and threatening and probably violates her school's AUP, but because Julia sent her message from home, she may not be subject to discipline under the school's AUP.
- Anthony's Web page: Most AUPs do not allow the school network to be used for commercial purposes.
- Randy's joke: If Randy sent the E-mail from the principal's account, he violated the AUP. Even if he didn't, hoaxes are probably prohibited.
Assess
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: What makes the Internet such a powerful tool for spreading ideas?
- Ask: How can you tell if a Web site represents the opinion of one person or thousands of people?
- Ask: According to your school's acceptable use policy, what are some responsibilities of being a cyber citizen?
Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.
- Have students explore the capability of the Web to promote good deeds by searching for the sites of charitable organizations.
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