4-1 Create a Responsible and Caring Digital Community

In this lesson you will learn about how students are working together to keep each other safe, informed, and smart. You will be asked to look at one particular group of teens called Teen Angels. You will also create a presentation that explains an idea for something you can do at your school to create a community of students that care for and protect everyone at the school.

Activity 1

Teen angels are a group of thirteen to eighteen year old volunteers that have been specially trained in all aspects of online safety, privacy and security. After completion of the required training, the Teen Angels run unique programs in schools to spread the word about responsible and safe surfing to other teens and younger kids, parents, and teachers.

Visit the Teen Angels website: http://teenangels.org/ Links to an external site.

Use the website to answer the following questions. Copy and paste the questions below into a Text Entry wiki. Answer each question from information you found on the teen angel website. 

1. What is the purpose of the teen angel organization?

2. What is the Megan Pledge?

3. Where would a person look for information about Cyberbullying?

4. How does teen angels work?

5. How old must you be to participate?

Look at the website carefully. Based on what you see, would you say this organization is still alive and well or would you say they might be fading? Justify your answer with evidence.

Activity 2

Go to Teen Angels Discussion and respond to the questions. Remember the rules of discussions. You must post your own response first. Then you can see other responses. You must respond to at least two other students' posts. Your responses should be respectful and polite. Do not use texting lingo in your discussion thread since discussion threads are considered too formal for that. Think about the way you would have a discussion in class. The same rules apply except you don't have to raise your hand or wait for your turn. If you are sharing an opinion, start with, In my opinion. If you are stating a fact, share your source e.g. I just read an article on (website URL) where the author (name) said (quote).

Activity 3

This can be a group activity where you and another student (or two) brainstorm and create a presentation.

For this activity, you can present your big idea for a school wide project like Teen Angels using the Text Entry wiki, Media Recordings (video or audio of yourself explaining your idea, or file upload (a picture of a poster you create or an upload of a Power Point, Prezi or other presentation). Your job is to do the following:

Create a presentation explaining to your teachers and fellow students your idea about how to create a teen angel, genius bar, or other tech group for your school. The mission of the community you want to create must include the following:

1. Ways you will help students keep iPads safe and secure

2. Ways you will help provide tech support for other kids who need help with iPads

3. Ways you will create a culture at school where kids follow rules when using technology

4. Ways you will promote the use of technology at your school for making school more fun and interesting

5. Ways you will get parents involved in learning more about technology as well as digital citizenship