Just a reminder that you will need to teach your grade level digital citizenship lesson from Common Sense Media prior to the end of the school year. Visit the WUSD Digital Citizenship website for quick access to the Common Sense Media lessons on digital citizenship. The website contains lessons that must be taught at each grade level to comply with the Internet safety mandate linked to E-Rate funding. Once finished with the lesson, you will want to complete the embedded Digital Citizenships Teacher Verification form.
E-Rate is a federally funded program that provides discounts to assist schools to obtain affordable Internet access and telecommunications services. A requirement of E-Rate is that students are taught Internet Safety Education Requirements outlined in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Over the past three years, the district has applied for and started receiving over $700,000 in discounts on data transmission and Internet access and upgrades to cabling and equipment. Failing to teach the required Digital Citizenship lesson could jeopardize funding yet to be received and future access to our 80% discount.
Common Sense Media is the district adopted curriculum to teach our students about Digital Citizenship. It is a free site that requires teachers to create an account in order to download the materials. The lessons also include information that can be sent home to families about the topics discussed in class. Most lessons do not require technology, so access to devices should not be a barrier for classrooms.
