Because of the omnipresence of technology, schools throughout the world teach their kids digital literacy in an attempt to turn them into digital citizens. These skills give students the skills that they need to use technology responsibly. But we must not stop there. We have to move students from thinking of themselves as not just digital citizens, but also digital leaders. In this piece, we will highlight 12 apps that will help them learn not only digital citizenship skills, but digital leadership skills as well.
This website is designed to teach 3rd – 5th grade students digital citizenship skills by using fun, interactive web-based games, videos, and modules. As students master levels based on various digital citizenship topics, they work their ways towards earning their digital passports.
A choose-your-own-adventure type of game for 6th – 8th grade students aimed at helping them learn how to make appropriate choices when online.
This app was designed by learning.com and works for a wide range of ages (starting at middle school). The app includes videos, games, and quizzes to teach students online safety, how to address cyberbullying, and the ethical use of online content.
A non-profit organization that has developed a website with an extensive collection of free resources for educators to help students learn how to become global digital citizens.
This online resource is a website that includes several must-have digital citizenship tools for teachers. If content is online, you can find it here. Plus, there is digital citizenship hub with lesson plans and more.
Digital citizenship should begin in elementary school. Thankfully, there is an online game to help teach younger children too. PBS Kids offers this online game as a way to teach young children digital citizenship by focusing on “netiquette,” internet safety, and how to evaluate online content.
If you are looking for ways to teach students about their digital footprints, this is a great tool. It shows students what digital traces they are leaving behind depending on the devices they use and how they use them.
BrainPOP provides an entire unit on digital citizenship that includes information on a plethora of topics with interactive activities, videos, quizzes, games, and more.
To get help with digital literacy, it is important to start at the beginning. This all-encompassing website includes the fundamentals of what digital literacy is. Teachers can browse through the site and find useful resources such as informative articles, creative games, and inspiring projects.
While one benefit of a digital world is the exposure to extensive knowledge, this is often exploited by students in the form of plagiarized writing. It is important for students to understand that access to information should be used as a basis for their writing, and not simply as their writing. To this end, more and more teachers are turning to plagiarism websites to help aid them in sorting through their students’ work. Plagiarism Checker is a free website that allows teachers to upload documents easily which are then scanned to check for copied work.
How do you know if you are digitally literate? Diigo provides numerous self-assessments for both teachers and students to test their digital literacy. Most jobs require a level of digital awareness, so career-wise, it is important for students to be well-versed in their online skills.
If this list is not comprehensive enough, head over to Futedteach.com which has an exhaustive list of resources to increase anyone’s digital literacy. It is run by two educational technologists who have dedicated their lives to improving the educational landscape.
Did we miss any?