Digital Citizenship
Resources
At Bryan ISD, technology is used as one way to further the educational mission, to provide positive educational experiences, and enhance the educational value of the district curriculum. Technology resources include, but are not limited to, laptops, desktops computers, mobile devices, tablets, electronic communication, and other emerging technologies. Bryan ISD encourages its students and staff to use technology resources to promote academic excellence. All users are responsible for using district technology resources in a manner that supports the educational mission of the school district. Regardless of the resources used, there are expectations that must be followed by those who utilize these resources.
Bryan ISD sets a goal for all K-12 students to be educated about: 1) appropriate online behavior; 2) safety and privacy; 3) cyberbullying; 4) media literacy; and 5) age appropriateness and tech laws. The student digital citizenship curriculum, Neptune Navigate, is taught annually and is accessed by each student through the district’s single sign-on portal, go.bryanisd.org. Neptune Navigate’s Continue the Conversation site provides resources for parents to engage in meaningful lessons and conversations over key digital citizenship topics.
The Texas School Safety Center offers information on the programs developed by the TxSSC for legal consequences, and other unintended consequences, of sharing of visual material depicting a minor engaged in sexual content. Common Sense Media offers comprehensive, research-based digital literacy and citizenship curriculum and resources for educators and parents. Through the free Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum, ready-to-use instruction helps educators guide students to make safe, smart, and ethical decisions in the digital world. The parenting tips resources can help parents keep up today on information about apps and trends.
In addition, CyberSmart! is a free web-based curriculum that has up to 80 cyber safety lesson plans and student activity sheets. Lesson plans utilized by CyberSmart correlate with the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) as well as the state and district standards. CyberSmart curriculum focuses on fostering 21st century skills for students and are considered experts in cyber safety by various supporters and partners. InCtrl is a great website for instructing secondary students on digital citizenship and safety. They design lessons that are tied to creating school campaigns to improve campus environment. Netsmartz is a free web-based curriculum sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Netsmartz offers a variety of videos and activities for appropriate grade levels on cyber safety.