As Frisco ISD encourages students to bring their own cell phones and tablets to school, the district embarks on its second year of using a digital citizenship curriculum.
Frisco ISD students from kindergarten to high school are taught ways to stay safe online and keep personal information private, said Melissa Fouche, Frisco ISD's director of technology.
Elementary school efforts
Digital citizenship lessons for kindergarten through second-grade students are based around the concept of "stranger danger."
"Basically, you don't talk to strangers in person, so you wouldn't talk to them online, either," Fouche said.
Students visit the Netsmartzkids.org website and watch videos, and the class has follow-up discussion questions.
For third-fifth-graders, digital citizenship takes the "stranger danger" concept a step further.
Students learn about the dangers of using chat rooms, posting photos of themselves and friends, and cyberbullying.
"The discussions move toward having a digital footprint and that what is posted online is always online," Fouche said.
Sherri Richardson and Mimi McGhee, two of the district's instructional technology facilitators, provided digital citizenship seminars for several campuses last year during the day. Fouche said they hope to continue the seminars this year and possibly expand to evening sessions.
Secondary school efforts
Every Frisco ISD sixth-grade student is required to take a technology applications course, and an entire unit of study is dedicated to digital citizenship.
In addition, the district is using the Common Sense Media curriculum to create multiple lessons for sixth-through 12th-grades.
"Campus administration will be able to choose from these available lessons and resources to tailor content to the needs of their campus at the specific time they feel it is needed," Rouche said.
Frisco ISD content filter
The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees recently agreed to a new content filter for the district's network.
Jim Weidemier, the district network specialist, said the filter allows the district to balance protecting students from questionable web material with allowing access to educational resources.
"We are using a company that is compliant with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)," Weidemier said. "Individual teacher feedback is vital in order to make the filter work towards using the Internet in a safe manner while exploring important educational content."
He said teachers' recommendations as to what has educational value and should be acceptable in the classroom are reviewed by the school's administration. Through that process, appropriate sites can be cleared for use throughout Frisco ISD and not just in individual classrooms.
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
The Frisco ISD communications office will be tweeting tips throughout the month of October for parents and other followers.
