As of July, 2012, the latest CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act) requirements (part of the Broadband Data Improvement Act, AKA Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act) mandate that districts applying for federal E-Rate funding* must actually have programs in place for educating students about “appropriate online behavior including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and regarding cyberbullying awareness and response.” In other words, districts must be teaching digital citizenship. Simply including anti-bullying policies in a school handbook, for instance, will not meet the requirement.
The new requirements do not mandate a specific curriculum nor do they provide specific implementation procedures for teaching internet safety-digital citizenship. Since it is up to each district or school site to determine its own E-Rate implementation plan, EGUSD has compiled a dynamic set of lessons posted to the EGUSD Digital Citizenship Curriculum Google Site. Note: Access to the Digital Citizenship Curriculum Google Site is limited to EGUSD staff only. You must use your district Google account to login.
In alignment with the CIPA requirements, all resources added to the EGUSD DigCit Curriculum Google Site focus on:
- Appropriate online behavior (building a positive digital footprint, respecting intellectual property)
- Safety and privacy
- Cyberbullying awareness and response
*EGUSD uses E-Rate funding for:
- Telecommunications – Voice communications, voice mail, or messaging.
- Internet Access – Internet access and the power of video conferencing (making global connections possible from all school sites).
- Infrastructure – Extending connectivity down to every classroom.
"The technology that has so dramatically changed the world outside our schools is now changing the learning and teaching environment within them."
