Recent articles

How To Empower — Not Scare! — Parents About Technology
09/23/2021
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship, Parents
It’s a very stressful experience to have an audience member stand up, say you’re wrong and walk out in the middle of your presentation. Fortunately, that’s only happened to me once, but when…

From discord to civil discourse: The human side of digital citizenship
12/24/2019
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital & media literacy, Digital Citizenship
Gun violence, climate change, immigration, abortion. There seems to be no end to the number of divisive issues that are causing people from all walks of life to lash out in angry ways.
It’s not…

7 tips for helping students develop emotional intelligence
02/18/2020
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship, social-emotional learning
Part of growing up is developing empathy, the ability to understand the feelings of others. It starts in kindergarten when we learn to share the crayons. As we get older, we learn to include others on the playground to avoid hurt feelings and begin to relate to those who are different than we…

6 Ways To Easily Bring Mindfulness Into the Classroom
04/24/2021
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship
Mindfulness is the practice of paying purposeful, nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. It's a skill that can benefit students far beyond the classroom. Studies have shown the practice enhances focus, may…

7 Tips and 1 Activity To Help Digital Citizens Engage With Empathy
10/18/2021
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship, Inclusion
Educator and author Kristen Mattson, Ed.D., has a bone to pick with a lot of the digital citizenship curricula used in schools today. Too much of it, she says, focuses on what not to do, and it rarely addresses the opportunities and responsibilities of the digital world. In addition,…

Top 10 Sites To Help Students Check Their Facts
05/14/2022
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital & media literacy, Digital Citizenship
In a political climate where sharing fake news has become commonplace, it’s more important than ever to rely on trustworthy and dogged fact-checking services to vet information.
Our job as digital citizens requires more than…

5 Things Students Should Do to Stay Safe and Secure Online
02/05/2021
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship
As adults, we do everything possible to keep our computers, bank accounts and families safe. Our list of to-dos continues to grow as our use of digital…

Infographic: I'm a Digital Citizen!
10/17/2022
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital & media literacy, Digital Citizenship
For students today, the digital world offers enormous possibilities. Free and low-cost digital tools allow students to write blogs, share their photos and art work with a global audience, …

The student's guide to safe online shopping
10/18/2019
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Digital Citizenship
As teachers work with students to understand online access, student voice, media literacy, and digital balance, there’s one aspect of digital citizenship they often overlook: digital commerce. And yet it has significant implications for students, both personally and financially.
Buying…

Don't Ban Technology; Help Kids Strive for Balance
03/01/2021
Topics: #DigCitCommit, Balance, Parent engagement
We seem to be living in an all-or-nothing, black-and-white world without any acknowledgment that there can be a middle ground. Our attitudes toward technology and our children are hardening into these types of fixed mindsets.
Figuring out how to integrate technology into our lives is not…