Ethics in a general sense includes personal behavior based on one’s values and morals, and appropriate behavior based on a collective community understanding about appropriate behavior with respect to other people and to the law. Digital ethics simply extends these principles to include ethical standards (especially legal issues regarding copyright, plagiarism, etc.) that are of particular concern when working with digital media. With regard to children, ethics can also include honesty in terms of age-appropriate participation in social media and other online communities. Discussions about digital ethics can also include how general character education principles extend to the use of technology.

Curricula

Common Sense Media

Grades:

K-12

“Common Sense Education’s free Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum empowers students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world. There are 80 lessons in the full K-12 curriculum, with supporting materials such as student handouts, assessments, educational videos, family tip sheets, and professional development resources.”

Cyber Civics

Grades:

6-8

"Teach Year 1 is packed with peer-to-peer learning activities that call on critical thinking, ethical discussion and decision making through hands-on projects, problem solving, and role-play, all surrounding the topic of 'digital citizenship' (the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use). It grew out of this published, academic research. This year can be taught entirely without technology. That’s because experts widely agree that the most important new media skills are social and behavioral skills.”

Google in Education

Grades:

9-12

This set of lessons includes one lesson on copyright. “Lessons are designed to fit within 50-minute classes, but can be adapted to fit your schedule.”

iKeepSafe

Grades: 

K-6

“The lesson plans, videos, activities, and handouts are designed to inspire creativity and help students make conscious choices about sharing their own creative work while understanding the value of respecting the rights of other creators.”

Grades:

9-12

“Lesson plans and materials to help you teach about copyright and fair use. Click here to see our many educational videos to help you teach about copyright and fair use.”

Grades:

4-8

What's Mine Isn't (Necessarily) Yours
“Sharing, reusing, or copying content is so easy that rarely do we pause to think about its original source. This lesson will give your students the tools to navigate this often-complicated world of digital media and mass information by exploring the rights they have as content creators, how to protect their own work, and how to respect the work of others. This lesson consists of two videos and a lesson plan.”

Grades:

3-5

Cyberethics Curriculum and Resource Guide: “This section tackles the fundamentals of appropriate digital behavior, including cyberbullying and creating suitable content for online use.”

Videos

Adina’s Deck

Video series for purchase.
“Adina’s Deck is the award-winning technology and internet safety video series for families, schools and organizations to help pre-teens better understand the social side of technology. Designed for ages 9-14 year-olds, stories introduce cyber bullying, predators and plagiarism with an approach that is suspenseful and impactful. Assessments of Adina’s Deck have demonstrated significant results in educating pre-teens and teens about Internet Safety.”

Brain Pop

Free videos on Copyright and Plagiarism.

Library of Congress

Four videos on “Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright.”

Interactive Games

NetSmartz

Grades:

6-12

Digital Ethics Teaching Materials. “Choices & Cheaters: Have students play the interactive comic – Choices & Cheaters - on NSTeens.org. Then, use this discussion guide to help them better understand the comic’s lesson.”

Student Projects

NetSmartz

Student Project Kit

Grades:

6-12

“The NetSmartz Student Project Kit helps students in grades 6-12 teach their peers and younger students about topics like cyberbullying, online privacy, and digital ethics. The kit’s projects are divided by grade and topic to help students pick the best activity for their audience. Students can: Give presentations, Perform skits, Lead classroom activities.”

Educator Training

NetSmartz

CE Credit:

YES

A one-hour online educator training covering Digital Literacy & Ethics, Inappropriate Content, Online Sexual Solicitation, Online Privacy, Sexting, and Cyberbullying.

Helpful Resources & Tips

Media Education Lab

Grades:

K-12

Book for purchase: Copyright Clarity
Additional resources on website supplement the book including case studies and links about fair use and copyright.