Give students the space to share their perspectives on digital citizenship topics.
If you're a middle school teacher, you know that positive social skills are just as important as academic skills for young adolescents. Add to that students' passion for interacting with others through their devices and online, and it's clear that digital citizenship skills like knowing how to deal with digital drama and keeping online friendships safe are essential for kids this age. But working digital citizenship lessons into an already-packed daily schedule can be a challenge for most teachers.
For Digital Citizenship Week 2019, we're highlighting our Teen Voices video series with these quick discussion activities you can use to kickstart your commitment to digital citizenship. These can fit into a short, 15-minute window of time -- be it planned or unplanned. It's easy -- just show the video to your students, then use the questions to lead a class discussion! And if you find time to take it further, each video has a free lesson plan linked on the video page, complete with slides, student handouts, family activities, and more.
Discussion Questions: Why do people create and use fake social media accounts (e.g. finstas)? What are some of the results of having and using these accounts? How do you present yourself online?
Discussion Questions: What are some of the benefits and risks of talking with people online that you don't know face-to-face? What's one comment in the video you agree with, and why? What do you share with others online?
Discussion Questions: What is digital drama? What are some examples? Why does digital drama happen? What are some ways to deal with it?
Discussion Questions: What do you think are some of the benefits of social media? What some problems or drawbacks? How does/can social media affect your friendships?
Discussion Questions: What are some things you like to do on your phone or other devices? Do you do these things out of habit? How do you deal with the pressure to stay connected?