Over the past 18 months, I have had the opportunity to work with others around the province to put together a new document to support school divisions work with schools and educators to help students build a better understanding of how to participate safely and responsibly in an online world.Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools was created in response to the Saskatchewan Action Plan to Address Bullying and Cyberbullying recommendation that the Government of Saskatchewan work with school divisions to provide teacher instructional supports and student resources to teach appropriate and responsible online behaviour to all Kindergarten through Grade 12 students.
The guide, as well as supporting documents and resources, can be downloaded on the I Am Stronger website. There are versions in both English and French.
The guide offers:
- a roadmap for developing division wide digital citizenship policies and school-specific digital citizenship guidelines and procedures;
- tools and resources to support digital citizenship education; and
- a digital citizenship continuum for Kindergarten through Grade 12 students.
The guide was developed based on the work of Dr. Mike Ribble and his 9 elements of digital citizenship. A great resource to learn more about this topic is his book, Digital Citizenship in Schools. It has been a favourite of mine since it was first published in 2007 and is now in its 3rd edition.
One of the most popular supports in this document is the Digital Citizenship Continuum from Kindergarten to Grade 12 that was created to support professionals as they infuse these concepts and skills into their teaching.
I encourage you to check out this document and share how you are supporting your students to become more responsible digital citizens.
