Students learn concrete skills to stay safe and secure online.
Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum for Grades 6-8
This FREE, pioneering curriculum is designed to empower students to think critically and make informed choices about how they create, communicate, and treat others in our ever-evolving, 24/7 digital world. Browse the units to find the topics and lessons that are just right for your students.
Safety and Security
Unit 1: Safety
Students explore the benefits and risks of online talk. They learn about the rewards of communicating online, but also how to recognize inappropriate contact. Students learn how to apply common sense tips to online talk, and to stay safe when they connect with others.
Unit 2: Security
Students learn strategies for managing their information online to keep it secure. They learn how to guard against identity theft, keep their property safe from hacking and malware, and protect themselves from phishing.
Digital Citizenship
Students reflect on how to behave ethically online.
Unit 1: Digital Life
Adults may think of students' online, mobile, and technological activities as "digital life" but to young people they are just life. The lessons in this unit are designed to harness students' enthusiasm, encouraging them to talk about the impact of digital media on their lives, their communities, and our culture. Students discuss the positive and negative aspects of digital life and are introduced to the concept of digital citizenship.
Unit 2: Privacy and Digital Footprints
In a world in which everyone is connected and anything created can be copied, pasted, and sent to millions of people, it is important that students bring a sense of ethical responsibility to the online spaces where they consume, create, and share information. In this unit's lessons, students learn to manage their own privacy and respect the privacy of others.
Unit 3: Connected Culture
Students explore the ethics of participating in and building positive online communities, as well as how communities are upset because of cyberbullying and other damaging behaviors. The lessons explore the impact of students' individual actions – both negative and positive – on their friends and on the broader communities in which they participate.
Unit 4: Self-Expression and Identity
Students show who they are to the online world with avatars, social networking profiles, and posts. The lessons in this unit are designed to help students explore their online versus their offline identity. Students learn how the way they present themselves online can affect their relationships, sense of self, and reputations.
Unit 5: Respecting Creative Work
Young people are creating and publishing their own writing, music, videos, and artwork. They live in a world where information is easily available to copy, paste, and remix. The lessons in this unit address students' rights and responsibilities about respecting creative work, as well as explore topics ranging from copyright to fair use. Students reflect on the ethics of using creative work from others, and they are encouraged to celebrate their role as 21st-century creative artists.
Research and Information Literacy
Students think critically about finding and evaluating information online.
Unit 1: Searching
Students are introduced to different search options and effective strategies for finding information. They make informed choices about which search sites to use, and to use search tools and precise keywords to yield the best search results.
Unit 2: Research and Evaluation
Students become critical thinkers about the information they encounter online. They learn to evaluate the quality and credibility of websites. They also explore how some websites are designed to be “sticky” – attracting viewers and keeping them coming back.
