New Digital Citizenship Curriculum for 2011-2012 School Year

Digital Citizenship Curriculum Rollout
Chicago Public Schools are required to meet the Illinois School Code for annual, age appropriate Internet safety instruction to students in grades 3-12 (105 ILCS 5/27-13.3).  For the 2011-2012 school year, CPS has adopted Common Sense Media’s Digital Literacy and Citizenship Classroom Curriculum (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum).  We are very excited for this curriculum as it will provide our district with a vast amount of practical content, as well as focus on a whole community approach to media safety for our students. Each month a new curriculum topic will be featured. Please see chart below. 

Chicago Public Schools Common Sense Media Monthly Topics 2011-2012
September	Digital Footprint	February	Cyberbullying
October	Identity/Self-Expression	March	Privacy and Security
November	Online Community	April	Searching Online
December	Research and Information Literacy	May	Creative Work/Fair Use
January	Digital Life	June	Safety

Training Opportunities
Technology Education is collaborating with Common Sense Media to implement best practices related to curriculum delivery.  Throughout the year, Technology Education and Common Sense Media will provide CPS teachers with best practices for implementing this curriculum through face-to-face meet ups and online training opportunities.  In the spring, Technology Education will host a Student Technology Showcase with a segment dedicated to digital citizenship.  Please keep track of your best digital citizenship lessons and artifacts, as we will be calling for them in the spring. 

Special Event | City-wide Town Hall

This fall, Common Sense Media will host a city-wide Town Hall event on Cyberbullying with students, teachers, parents, and members of the community. Stay tuned for more details regarding this event!

Cyberbullying Video by CPS MIKVA Students:

In an effort to promote digital citizenship and internet safety at CPS, MIKVA students working with Beyondmedia produced a video on cyberbullying highlighting the reasons why this is such an important issue. To view the video click here.

Getting Started:

1.       View Common Sense Media’s introductory webinar

As an introduction to this new digital citizenship curriculum, please view Common Sense Media’s webinar on Taking Students from Digital Users to Good Digital Citizens:

Click here to access this webinar ► Taking Students from Digital Users to Good Digital Citizens. Then Click the Play button to view the recording. 

2.       Register for Common Sense Media’s curriculum

Register at http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators using your CPS email.

3.       Host a training session

Contact Hassie Johnson at hmjohnson@cps.k12.il.us if your school would like to host a local training session.