Google Digital Literacy Tour
What it is: No matter what subject(s) you teach, digital literacy is something we all need to take the responsibility to expose our students to. iKeep Safe (one of my favorites for Internet safety with Faux Paw the Techno cat!) teamed up with Google to create a curriculum for educators to teach what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. The outcome is wonderful, it is designed to be interactive, discussion oriented, and hands-on. Each separate piece of curriculum (workshop) includes a pdf resource booklet for both educators and students, videos to accompany lessons, and presentations. The three workshops available are:
- Detecting Lies and staying true
- Playing and staying safe online
- Steering clear of cyber tricks
How to integrate Google Digital Literacy Tour into the classroom: Google never disappoints, and the Google Digital Literacy Tour is no exception! These are a great discussion starters for every classroom. I like this Digital Literacy Tour because it doesn’t give a lot of drill and kill type exercises to find out if the student can tell you the “correct” answer. Instead, it invites conversations and deeper thinking…exactly what is needed for true digital literacy!
The videos and presentations can be used throughout the year (and multiple times throughout the year) to open discussions about online behavior. Too often educators assume that because students are adept at using technology, that means they know how to properly use that technology. Students can understand the freedom and benefits that technology brings without knowing how to properly manage that freedom, that is what digital literacy is all about! It is up to us to help students understand what their digital relationships represent in real life, and how their actions online can affect what they do in real life.
Use the Google Digital Literacy Tour as a conversation starter for the whole class or ask students to break into smaller groups to discuss before they share with the larger group. If you have some added time for reflection, ask students to write about their own experiences, or reflection, on why digital literacy is important. Every year I have taught Internet safety, I am amazed by what students tell me they have encountered online! I am telling you now, no matter what grade you teach, your students have encountered something online that they didn’t know what to do with. Help them navigate that!
Tips: Share these resources with parents. They often hear reports that emphasize the negative aspects of online behavior and, instead of teaching students how to properly manage their freedom, restrict it all together. This is okay for the short term but does nothing that is beneficial for students long term!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Google Digital Literacy Tour in your classroom!
