 This post written by Theresa AllenAre you globally aware? Will your students be tech-ready for a global environment? The Digiteen™ and Digitween™ projects help students understand digital citizenship on a global level. Students connect, research, create, and apply concepts based on global, cultural, technological, social, and individual awareness. They use Web 2.0 tools including Edmodo, Ning, and wikis to facilitate the learning process.
Students are now in the research and creative phases of the Digiteen™ and Digitween™ projects, now separated into 2 distinct projects based on age (13+ in Digiteen™ and under 13 in Digitween™ ). They find information about their assigned topic, share it with their group on a wiki and take the information shared to create a final presentation to use in their school or local community. This is the HEART of the projects, where the learning occurs and students are focused on their topics.
Soon, they will present to their peers and local communities. The goal is to learn globally and Amazing learning and global understanding of digital citizenship occurs through interaction with virtual partners, researching specific topics, and sharing with the world. Love the Digiteen™ and Digitween™ projects! Photo licensed by Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license and taken by seyed mostafa zamani
Digiteen™ / Digitween™ 12-2 project participants are winding up their action projects while Digiteen™/ Digiteen™ 13-1 project participants are beginning handshakes. Here is a final presentation from Digiteen™ 12-2.
 While Digiteen™ 12-2 is winding up final reflections, Digiteen™ 13-1 is about to get under way. Here are some final thoughts on the Digiteen™ Project 12-2:
I learned so much about digital citizanship during this assignment. So many people are stalked online. This is very dangerous because over time these people could figure out where you are every minute of every day.
Working with others on this project could be a little frustrating at time, but it was worth it in the end, being able to know that that persons job was being done was very satisfying.
One of the new things I learned with technology in the duration of this project is how to make a movie using wevideo and how to edit that movie to the way we wanted it. Technology can be very useful at times.
If I were to do this project over again the thing I would change is my topic. because it is very difficult to try to capture cyberstalking on video. Although the challenge was very exciting, it was trying at times and very frustrating.
 Two classrooms connected on Skype during the morning of Tuesday, November 27, 2012. Erin McGuyer's class in Alabama had a meetup with Sandy Wisneskis's class in Wisconsin. The students discussed netiquette, online safety, and how different areas of the nation are perceived. This project studies digital citizenship with students researching current topics, writing a collaborative report on a wiki, and performing and documenting offline action educational projects to promote effective digital citizenship at their local schools. The purpose of the project is to educate on and promote effective Digital Citizenship and responsible online choices as well as immersing students into an educational community for learning and collaborating.
The next Digitween Project begins in February 2013. Apply now!
 Click to join us this Monday evening for another live #ACCELN hangout (9pm EST Brisbane, 10pm EDT Melbourne, 7pm Perth, 12 am Auckland, 6am EST New York or a time near you-> http://goo.gl/CkEAW) +Amanda Rablin and +Roland Gesthuizen will be joined by +Julie Lindsay, +Vicki Davis and others to talk about The Flat Classroom Project. We are looking forward to your help sharing this hangout event, remote participation and support. If you cannot make this event, you can watch our past recordings and show-notes at http://acceln.wikispaces.com
 The most critical thing that's happened in Digiteen is that there are now 2 projects: Digiteen, for students 13 and older, and Digitween, for students under 13. Digiteen students use the Ning and wiki to communicate with their partners. Digitween students use Edmodo and the wiki to communicate. The wiki has been revised in Digitween to allow the younger students to have a choice in what competency area they would like to cover as a small group. They will be collecting media instead of written words to depict their topic. Teachers are assigned as guides in each competency section as well. In both groups, there will be student mentors assigned to each awareness topic to help guide the students as well.
This week the students are finishing their handshakes and will be starting their research on their awareness topic and competency area. They will also "meet" their small group members online. Several meetups via Blackboard Collaborate and Skype have happened in the few short weeks we've begun the project. More are scheduled this week and next. Teachers and students are excited to meet their new online partners! More to come in the weeks ahead!
Posted by Julie Balen on October 7, 2012Global Read Aloud 2012 has begun. In July, I pitched this idea to a group of teachers and two jumped in—head first. We had lots of learning to do since we had never before collaborated beyond the school. Of course, this meant making contact with other teachers (via Edmodo, which we had never used), deciding on a platform for shared communication (what’s a platform? They asked.), organizing the groups of students across the classes, introducing the students to digital citizenship, and oh yes, preparing the content of the lessons. The novel, The One and Only Ivan, provides a wide array of topics and themes that students can ultimately choose to explore. Along the way, the class will read/listen to the story, and the student groups will use Kidblog to share their thinking with each other, weekly questions will be posted on Wallwisher to help support the extension of ideas across all the classes. Already, students are lobbying for time to delve more deeply into different aspects of the text. Some are curious to learn more about silverback gorillas, while others want to understand why poachers capture animals for captivity, and others yet, are offended by the treatment of animals in captivity and want to learn more about what is being done to end this practice. And we have just completed week one of four! In this project, students can choose what they want to learn more about and how they want to share that learning with their classmates and group mates. Storybird, Glogster, VoiceThread, and a wiki are all possibilities for students to choose from to create their final project.
Posted by Helen McConaghy
As I looked over Challenge 7, I thought I would reflect on where I started and where I think we need to go with empowering digital citizenship action. When I started as a technology integrator for the middle school I did not teach any classes but worked with teachers to help them integrate technology into their classes. What I started to notice was gaps in student knowledge. Many times it depended on what teachers they had and what projects they were exposed to. When we started a 1-1 netbook program for our 7th and 8th graders, I pushed for a class that I would teach, that would fill in some of those gaps... hence Web 2.0 for my 6th graders was born. Using some of the new tools with kids in my own class gives me more credibility with the teachers I am trying to get to use technology. It also gives me a chance to try new tools and find what works and what doesn't work. However, while that first year of Web 2.0 did fill in gaps, something was still missing. I needed Web 2.0 content, not just fishing for topics that coincided with what students were learning in their other classes. I also became concerned that unless we worked on educating all our students on good digital citizenship before they turned 13, they would leave footprints they would regret. I started searching on the internet for something and ran across the Flat Classroom Project website and the Digiteen project. The more I read, the more excited I got. The next day I had a conversation with my administrator who backed me on the project. I have never looked back. It is a very sustainable, worthwhile, global project. It adds vital content while letting student use new tools, collaborate and communicate beyond the classroom walls. Lessons learned: - Think about usernames.
- Students will be in a variety of different sites (wiki, Ning or Edmodo, Diigo, perhaps other places (we useGlogster, VoiceThread & Google Docs). The more logins, the more confusing it can be for kids. The more confusing, the less likely they are to visit those places you want them to be in. I will be using something like JohnD-TWS118.
- This username will be public so we do not use last names.
- I want to distinguish my students from other schools so I use TWS.
- I use 118 to help me track my class sections (I have 3) and graduating class (this is year 3 for me, and my previous students still have their Edmodo accounts).
- Let students do as much of the presenting as you can. This year for example, I did not try to explain what the Digiteen project was. Instead I put students in groups by Awareness Area and let them look at last year’s student created wiki. Each group gave a short 5 minute presentation to their classmates, explaining what they thought their Awareness Area meant, what an action project was, the rough timeline, how they may be communicating and with who. Why they were looking, I also asked them to think about how they can make the wiki they create this year even better than last year’s wiki.
- Give students choice while keeping within the bounds of the project. Schools in the project try to divide their students fairly evenly across the different categories. After hearing the brief intro to the Awareness Area, I asked students to use their school Google email to reply to a survey which ranked their top 3 choices of Awareness Area. I will do my best to put them in one of the 3 areas they chose. If not all of the areas are filled, I will “talk up” that area which usually convinces a few students to change their initial choices.
- Start early getting kids to think about how they would like to teach others (siblings, family, students, teachers) through an action project. I am beginning to think that having the kids start with family and friends is a good approach. Kids seemed to be more verbal about concerns they had about a younger sister, a friend, a classmate. At least initially.
- Start creating good work habits for your students. Even though time is at a premium (we are lucky to meet for 40 minutes twice every 6 class days), we will try to use the first 5-10 minutes to respond to discussions and replies. I use a few screen shots of what I consider to be great replies and show them to the class as models. What makes a good reply? (timeliness, detail, include a question if you want to continue discussion, ……).
- While most of the communication is asynchronous, try to use synchronous as well. The kids love a Skype session. I highly advise you practice before this session as some kids will naturally want to jump in front of the camera and “ham it up”. Practice who and how you will approach the camera. Some will do a lot of talking and never get to the point while others will be tongue tied. Have students write down what they will say and practice before they Skype.
I am excited about getting into a third year of the Digiteen Project and encourage any of you who have never looked at the project to give it a try. It does a great job of empowering digital citizenship to both students and teachers.
Flat Classroom™ Projects Applications are now open for projects starting in September 2012! Follow the links below to find out about each of the projects including suitability for your students and school. Make sure you read the 'New Teacher Guide' for each project and download the Subscription information. When you are ready select APPLY NOW! and send in your details. This will reserve you a place in the project. Confirmation will be sent via email from Flat Classroom organizers. We look forward to welcoming you back/to our projects. 'When you go flat you never go back!' APPLY NOW! to become a Flat Classroom ™ Certified TeacherThe next cohort will start in August 2012.
The Digiteen™ Project is a global hands-on project for, upper elementary, middle and early high school students, (typically Grade 4-9, 8-15 year old) which was founded by Julie Lindsay (now in Beijing, China) and Vicki Davis (Camilla, GA USA) in 2008. This project studies digital citizenship with students researching current topics, writing a collaborative report on a wiki, and performing and documenting offline action educational projects to promote effective digital citizenship at their local schools. The purpose of the project is to educate on and promote effective Digital Citizenship and responsible online choices as well as immersing students into an educational community for learning and collaborating.
Recently, a Digiteen student posted this video to ignite a discussion...
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