TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Aug 21, 2016

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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NetSafe Utah - UEN-TV and partners

Grades
K to 12
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NetSafe Utah provides a variety of online Internet safety resources for students, parents, and educators. Begin by choosing a category to find resources. Student information is available...more
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NetSafe Utah provides a variety of online Internet safety resources for students, parents, and educators. Begin by choosing a category to find resources. Student information is available for younger kids or teens. All sections include videos, stay safe information, and links to Get Help (such as the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force). The teen section also includes an interactive, and the link will take you outside the site to Google's Interland. The NetSmart Games goes is not working.

tag(s): cyberbullying (41), digital citizenship (88), internet safety (113)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many resources on this site when teaching Internet safety lessons. Download materials from the Trainers Toolkit for use with lessons. Create a link to videos on classroom computers or share a link on your class web page for students to view at home. Ask students to visit the site and create online posters, individually or together as a class, about the information they learn there. Enhance learning by having students use a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here.
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Digital Citizenship - NSW Department of Education and Communities

Grades
K to 12
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Digital Citizenship offers a large number of resources for teaching digital citizenship for students of all ages, teachers, and parents. Choose from from the top menu Teachers, Students,...more
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Digital Citizenship offers a large number of resources for teaching digital citizenship for students of all ages, teachers, and parents. Choose from from the top menu Teachers, Students, or Parents to begin. Each section includes articles and resources for learning responsible digital citizenship. The site was created in Australia. American English speakers may notice some slight differences in spellings and pronunciations. The videos reside on sites other than Digital Citizenship. Some are on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): cyberbullying (41), digital citizenship (88), internet safety (113)

In the Classroom

Bookmark Digital Citizenship for use in any Internet safety lesson or unit. Create a link to individual activities on classroom computers. Be sure to share a link to this site with parents for use at home.

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US Digital Literacy - US DIgital Literacy

Grades
K to 12
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US Digital Literacy is a comprehensive informational site to help better deliver digital literacy information to students. Help to prepare your students to understand and use information...more
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US Digital Literacy is a comprehensive informational site to help better deliver digital literacy information to students. Help to prepare your students to understand and use information in multiple formats from a broad range of sources. Students need to be able to read, and interpret media, reproduce data and images, evaluate, and apply new knowledge from digital environments. Learn how to use the tools, promote responsible digital citizenship, while providing a framework to access, analyze, and create new information. Under Digital Toolkits find information about digital citizens, web 2.0, augmented reality, social bookmarks, wikis, images and creative commons, keyboarding practice, and mobile learning communities. For your own use, find professional learning networks, adaptive learning systems, learning management systems, project based learning, and STEM and STEAM. The Twenty-first- Century Skills section gives background in the Common Core, core subjects, learning and innovative skills, information and media literacy, and life and career skills. Instructional Strategies provide information for classroom management, activating strategies, vocabulary strategies, cognitive growth strategies, organizing strategies, summarizing strategies, and assessment types. Information regarding thoughtful technology leadership includes videos to promote conversations and challenges for your school website. Each section includes interesting and informative videos. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): augmented reality (7), digital citizenship (88), literacy (107), professional development (392)

In the Classroom

Become your school's technology guru. Find information to explore, try and share a piece at a time. Easily locate information to lead you to becoming a 21st century educational technology teacher (and leader). Be sure to document your professional growth as part of your yearly teacher evaluation. Present information at staff meetings to promote growth within your school. Explore various sections of this site to share with your class. Sign up for the newsletter to discover the latest information and resources.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Digital Passport - Common Sense Media

Grades
3 to 5
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Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups...more
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Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups to assign, monitor, and customize assignments for students. This site consists of five topical modules covering privacy, cyberbullying, communication, creative credit, and search. Module Guides accompanying each lesson include complete guides and suggestions for teaching and using the activity. Be sure to download the Educator Handbook for a complete guide to effectively using the Digital Passport.

tag(s): cyberbullying (41), digital citizenship (88), game based learning (171)

In the Classroom

Create an account and assign activities to students to complete at home or on classroom computers. Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here, for younger students, or WordItOut, reviewed here, for older students. Be sure to share Digital Passport with parents and other teachers as an excellent resource for teaching digital citizenship.

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K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum - Common Sense Education

Grades
K to 12
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Common Sense Education offers this curriculum for teaching Digital Citizenship to students in all grades from K-12. Topics include cyberbullying, digital footprint & identity, media...more
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Common Sense Education offers this curriculum for teaching Digital Citizenship to students in all grades from K-12. Topics include cyberbullying, digital footprint & identity, media balance & well-being, among others. Create a free account to access all lesson materials, including lesson plans, media, and student materials. Many of the included materials are available for bilingual learners.

tag(s): cyberbullying (41), digital citizenship (88), identity (28), internet safety (113), media literacy (102), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this website as your first stop for any lessons related to responsible digital behavior. Share a link to videos on your classroom website or blog for students (and parents) to view at home. Download and use lesson plans and materials as part of your digital safety planning. Many lessons include suggestions for modifications to use as a quick activity instead of a complete lesson. Enhance learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here, for younger students, or WordClouds, reviewed here, for older students. Enhance learning and ask students to collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr, reviewed here, (quick start- no membership required!) demonstrating information presented from these Digital Literacy & Citizenship lessons.
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CyberWise - CyberWise

Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites 1  Comments
  
CyberWise provides tools for parents, educators, and kids to help them understand and use new media tools safely at home and in the classroom. The site provides an extensive collection...more
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CyberWise provides tools for parents, educators, and kids to help them understand and use new media tools safely at home and in the classroom. The site provides an extensive collection of videos and resources that explain current media tools and ways to use them. Guides include Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Blogger, Prezi, Glogster, Facebook, Snapchat, Vine, and many others. Enter any tool name into the search box to see if there is a guide. Find information about media literacy, digital citizenship, cyberbullying, sexting, and more. The CyberCivics blog has the latest issues, trends, and tools to keep you an informed digital citizen. Sign up for the free newsletter and subscribe to the blog to stay current with information included on the site. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): cyberbullying (41), digital citizenship (88), internet safety (113), media literacy (102), tutorials (51)

In the Classroom

Share videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector with students to discuss media tools and how they are using them, or show before assigning projects using current media tools. Challenge students to create an online "scrapbook" on cyber safety using Smilebox, reviewed here, or ask them to create a simple infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Share videos with parents to help them understand current media tools and how to use them.

Comments

Great tool- always need all we can find to help teach this with students. Charlotte, AL, Grades: 0 - 12

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Vecteezy - Eezy Inc

Grades
K to 12
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Discover a slick way to find Creative Commons pictures (pictures you are ALLOWED to use without copyright problems, simply by giving credit). Vecteezy searches for creative commons...more
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Discover a slick way to find Creative Commons pictures (pictures you are ALLOWED to use without copyright problems, simply by giving credit). Vecteezy searches for creative commons images and locates those with licenses that permit use in other activities and projects. Enter text or tags, and Vecteezy does the rest, providing thumbnail images for you to choose from. After you search, be sure you have checked the box in the LEFT sidebar of the search results, specifying that you want Creative Commons images, NOT commercial ones. Click to search again, if necessary. Choose from the results that appear below the dotted line. (Those above the line are images you must pay for!) Click on the image you like and double-check the license information under item 1 to be sure it is available for non-commercial use with attribution and can be used for "derivative works." Click the image itself to copy and paste its URL to use in image credits. Remember that Creative Commons DOES require that you give proper credit!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): creative commons (29), images (270), search engines (50)

In the Classroom

Users need to be able to use good search terms to find the best pictures possible as well as knowing how to save images on their computer. Use in the classroom any time that an image is needed for projects, even if it is not going to be put on a website for others to see. Be sure students are aware that any time another person's image is used, they must give full credit for it, even if that owner cannot see it. Demonstrate Vecteezy on a projector or interactive whiteboard so students know how to use it. Student groups can use Vecteezy to collectively find the best image to use for a project. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Image Annotator, reviewed here. For example, students studying renewable energy can use Vecteezy to find images of various renewable energy sources, then explain them using Image Annotator. Teachers can collect Creative Commons images for use on their interactive whiteboard for sorting activities (monocots and dicots, producers and consumers, etc). Never assume that your students, even the gifted ones, understand about giving proper credit and only using copyright-safe images (CC or public domain). Vecteezy makes it easier. Be sure to hold students accountable by including a "digital citizenship" category in your project rubric, requiring proper credit for all images. You will want to spot-check a few of the URLs to be sure they are actually correct credits. Share Vecteezy as an important tool on your class web page, wiki, or blog so students can access it anywhere, anytime.

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