Cyber Civics: Teach Level 2

Today's youth must know how to find, retrieve, analyze, and use online information. This program includes lessons, slides, video, send-home parent letters, and one-to-one support to teach “Information Literacy” to middle school students. For more info contact: support@cybercivics.com

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About This Course

This is Level 2 of Cyber Civics (find Level 1 here), a comprehensive middle school digital literacy program that addresses an urgent and growing need to teach students how to become ethical, safe, and productive “digital citizens.” 

After developing Level 1—a full year of weekly "digital citizenship" lessons—it became clear that while it provides students with terrific foundational skills, it's not nearly enough! Students are ready and eager to learn practical skills.

Research shows that while young people seem incredibly tech-savvy, most know little about the core concepts of "information literacy" (how to find, retrieve, analyze, and use online information). While individual lessons that teach these skills can be found here and there, we couldn't find a comprehensive curriculum...which is why this one was created. It scaffolds information literacy skills in a way that makes sense to middle school students. Like Level 1, it's packed with hands-on activities that emphasize ethical and critical thinking through discussion, decision-making, and role-playing games. Lessons are delivered to the teacher through this portal, so they can deliver the lessons in the classroom or send lessons home in the event of Distance Learning.

Contact us at support@cybercivics.com or call (949) 481-4319

Plus!

Testimonials

"We know that digital-citizenship education works. The Journey School in Aliso Viejo, a small Southern California city, is an example of a digital-citizenship success story. Since instituting a three-year middle school series on digital citizenship, information literacy on evaluation of online sources, and media-literacy courses to teach critical-thinking skills around media texts of all kinds—music videos, film, print advertising—the school has nearly eliminated bullying and behavioral issues and significantly boosted standardized-test scores."

-Education Week, July 2016

"If Cyber Civics or digital literacy class is offered in your school or community, sign the kids up."

-Kelly Wallace, CNN

“Cyber Civics is an amazing resource for teachers and parents.  My students love Cyber Civics almost as much as their parents do.”

-Rebekah Hopkinson, Lake Champlain Waldorf School

 

"An intentional deep-dive that teaches emotional intelligence as much as it does digital citizenship."

-SmartBrief on EdTech, April 2019 

Our Story

In 2010, Journey School, a Waldorf-inspired public charter school in Aliso Viejo, California, launched a pioneering three-year, middle school digital literacy program—called Cyber Civics™—to address the urgent and growing need to equip students to use technology ethically, safely, and wisely. Today this program is taught by public charter and private Waldorf schools, public schools, private schools, community organizations, and in home-school settings across 48 US states and internationally. It has attracted national media attention, been honored as an "Innovation in Education" award finalist by Project Tomorrow and the O.C. Tech Alliance, and its founder was awarded the "2017 Media Literacy Teacher Award" from the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). 

Founder

Diana Graber is the author of "Raising Humans in a Digital World: Helping Kids Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology" (HarperCollins Leadership, '19), the book that tells the Cyber Civics story. She co-founded CyberWise, a digital literacy and online safety resource for parents. Graber has an extensive background as a media producer and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Media Psychology. Her published paper: New Media Literacy Education: A Developmental Approach (JMLE, 2012) provides the foundational research for Cyber Civics. She is a long-time Waldorf school parent, and developed and still teaches Cyber Civics at Journey School. A regular contributor to a number of publications and a speaker on digital literacy topics, Graber holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA, and an M.A. in Media Psychology and Social Change from Fielding Graduate University.

Contact: support@cybercivics.com

 

Curriculum

  • Introduction
  • Preview
    ESSENTIAL VIEWING: Intro to Level 2
  • REQUIRED READING: Getting Started Guide
  • Teaching at Home Guide
  • Explainer: For Parents/Guardians
  • Syllabus
  • Research Supports Teaching Info Literacy
  • Student Pre- and Post-Assessments

    Give this assessment to students at the beginning and end of this level to see what they learn.

  • Student Pre- & Post- Assessment
  • Student Assessment Key
  • Optional Prep Lesson
  • Safe & Responsible Use of Tech Agreement Lesson Plan
  • UNIT 1: Learning Balance
  • Unit 1 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 1 Home Activities
  • Lesson 1: Your Time
  • Lesson 2: Your Time, Part 2
  • UNIT 2: Online Safety
  • Unit 2 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 2 Home Activities
  • Lesson 3: Online Safety 101
  • Lesson 4: Common Online Threats
  • UNIT 3: Searching the Web
  • Unit 3 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 3 Home Activities
  • Lesson 5: Elements of a Web Search
  • Lesson 6: How Does Search Work?
  • Lesson 7: Constructing a Search Query
  • Lesson 8: Anatomy of a Results Page
  • Lesson 9: Why Can't I Cut & Paste?
  • Searching the Web Quiz (and Key)
  • Searching the Web Quiz Key
  • UNIT 4: Your Personal Information
  • Unit 4 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 4 Home Activities
  • Lesson 10: Who's Watching You?
  • Lesson 11: Privacy Policies: Who Reads Them?
  • Lesson 12: Understanding Terms of Use
  • Lesson 13: Algorithms are Awesome. Or Are They?
  • Lesson 14: Protecting Your Online Data
  • Lesson 15: What Makes a Password Great?
  • Lesson 16: What Would You Collect?
  • Personal Information Quiz (and Key)
  • UNIT 5: Copyright | Public Domain | Fair Use
  • Unit 5 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 5 Home Activities
  • Lesson 17: What Is Copyright?
  • Lesson 18: Why Copyright Matters
  • Lesson 19: What is "Creative Commons"?
  • Lesson 20: Public Domain and Fair Use
  • Lesson 21: Living in a Remix World
  • Copyright Quiz (and Key)
  • UNIT 6: How To Use Wikipedia
  • Unit 6 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 6 Home Activities
  • Lesson 22: Why Wikis Work
  • Lesson 23: Exploring Wikipedia
  • Lesson 24: Editing Wikipedia
  • Final Test
  • Lesson 25: Collaborative Final (and Key)

About This Course

This is Level 2 of Cyber Civics (find Level 1 here), a comprehensive middle school digital literacy program that addresses an urgent and growing need to teach students how to become ethical, safe, and productive “digital citizens.” 

After developing Level 1—a full year of weekly "digital citizenship" lessons—it became clear that while it provides students with terrific foundational skills, it's not nearly enough! Students are ready and eager to learn practical skills.

Research shows that while young people seem incredibly tech-savvy, most know little about the core concepts of "information literacy" (how to find, retrieve, analyze, and use online information). While individual lessons that teach these skills can be found here and there, we couldn't find a comprehensive curriculum...which is why this one was created. It scaffolds information literacy skills in a way that makes sense to middle school students. Like Level 1, it's packed with hands-on activities that emphasize ethical and critical thinking through discussion, decision-making, and role-playing games. Lessons are delivered to the teacher through this portal, so they can deliver the lessons in the classroom or send lessons home in the event of Distance Learning.

Contact us at support@cybercivics.com or call (949) 481-4319

Plus!

Testimonials

"We know that digital-citizenship education works. The Journey School in Aliso Viejo, a small Southern California city, is an example of a digital-citizenship success story. Since instituting a three-year middle school series on digital citizenship, information literacy on evaluation of online sources, and media-literacy courses to teach critical-thinking skills around media texts of all kinds—music videos, film, print advertising—the school has nearly eliminated bullying and behavioral issues and significantly boosted standardized-test scores."

-Education Week, July 2016

"If Cyber Civics or digital literacy class is offered in your school or community, sign the kids up."

-Kelly Wallace, CNN

“Cyber Civics is an amazing resource for teachers and parents.  My students love Cyber Civics almost as much as their parents do.”

-Rebekah Hopkinson, Lake Champlain Waldorf School

 

"An intentional deep-dive that teaches emotional intelligence as much as it does digital citizenship."

-SmartBrief on EdTech, April 2019 

Our Story

In 2010, Journey School, a Waldorf-inspired public charter school in Aliso Viejo, California, launched a pioneering three-year, middle school digital literacy program—called Cyber Civics™—to address the urgent and growing need to equip students to use technology ethically, safely, and wisely. Today this program is taught by public charter and private Waldorf schools, public schools, private schools, community organizations, and in home-school settings across 48 US states and internationally. It has attracted national media attention, been honored as an "Innovation in Education" award finalist by Project Tomorrow and the O.C. Tech Alliance, and its founder was awarded the "2017 Media Literacy Teacher Award" from the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). 

Founder

Diana Graber is the author of "Raising Humans in a Digital World: Helping Kids Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology" (HarperCollins Leadership, '19), the book that tells the Cyber Civics story. She co-founded CyberWise, a digital literacy and online safety resource for parents. Graber has an extensive background as a media producer and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Media Psychology. Her published paper: New Media Literacy Education: A Developmental Approach (JMLE, 2012) provides the foundational research for Cyber Civics. She is a long-time Waldorf school parent, and developed and still teaches Cyber Civics at Journey School. A regular contributor to a number of publications and a speaker on digital literacy topics, Graber holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA, and an M.A. in Media Psychology and Social Change from Fielding Graduate University.

Contact: support@cybercivics.com

 

Curriculum

  • Introduction
  • Preview
    ESSENTIAL VIEWING: Intro to Level 2
  • REQUIRED READING: Getting Started Guide
  • Teaching at Home Guide
  • Explainer: For Parents/Guardians
  • Syllabus
  • Research Supports Teaching Info Literacy
  • Student Pre- and Post-Assessments

    Give this assessment to students at the beginning and end of this level to see what they learn.

  • Student Pre- & Post- Assessment
  • Student Assessment Key
  • Optional Prep Lesson
  • Safe & Responsible Use of Tech Agreement Lesson Plan
  • UNIT 1: Learning Balance
  • Unit 1 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 1 Home Activities
  • Lesson 1: Your Time
  • Lesson 2: Your Time, Part 2
  • UNIT 2: Online Safety
  • Unit 2 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 2 Home Activities
  • Lesson 3: Online Safety 101
  • Lesson 4: Common Online Threats
  • UNIT 3: Searching the Web
  • Unit 3 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 3 Home Activities
  • Lesson 5: Elements of a Web Search
  • Lesson 6: How Does Search Work?
  • Lesson 7: Constructing a Search Query
  • Lesson 8: Anatomy of a Results Page
  • Lesson 9: Why Can't I Cut & Paste?
  • Searching the Web Quiz (and Key)
  • Searching the Web Quiz Key
  • UNIT 4: Your Personal Information
  • Unit 4 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 4 Home Activities
  • Lesson 10: Who's Watching You?
  • Lesson 11: Privacy Policies: Who Reads Them?
  • Lesson 12: Understanding Terms of Use
  • Lesson 13: Algorithms are Awesome. Or Are They?
  • Lesson 14: Protecting Your Online Data
  • Lesson 15: What Makes a Password Great?
  • Lesson 16: What Would You Collect?
  • Personal Information Quiz (and Key)
  • UNIT 5: Copyright | Public Domain | Fair Use
  • Unit 5 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 5 Home Activities
  • Lesson 17: What Is Copyright?
  • Lesson 18: Why Copyright Matters
  • Lesson 19: What is "Creative Commons"?
  • Lesson 20: Public Domain and Fair Use
  • Lesson 21: Living in a Remix World
  • Copyright Quiz (and Key)
  • UNIT 6: How To Use Wikipedia
  • Unit 6 Teacher Guide
  • Unit 6 Home Activities
  • Lesson 22: Why Wikis Work
  • Lesson 23: Exploring Wikipedia
  • Lesson 24: Editing Wikipedia
  • Final Test
  • Lesson 25: Collaborative Final (and Key)