Digital Citizenship and Creative Content Curriculum Launches

REDMOND, Washington - 14 Jan 2009

Available as a free resource to teachers worldwide, the Digital Citizenship and Creative Content curriculum addresses issues using real-life examples of creative content encountered daily by young people on the internet. It is designed to help students in grades eight to 10 understand what digital citizenship means as it relates to original content available on the web. This experiential curriculum provides teachers with turnkey resources they need to raise awareness of the value of creative content in a way that is personally relevant and easy for students to understand.

“The Digital Citizenship and Creative Content curriculum provides an important resource for preparing learners for the digital age,” said Don Knezek, CEO of International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). “ISTE applauds Microsoft for tackling the tough issues of digital citizenship and creativity, two critical topics in ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S), and we are pleased that their curriculum has earned the ISTE Seal of Alignment with these important student educational technology standards.”

Microsoft is partnering with the education community in an effort to prepare students for the digital age by enabling them to develop a respect for creative content and ensuring they have the knowledge to become influential, respectful consumers and beneficiaries of digitally delivered intellectual property and creative content. The curriculum includes comprehensive lesson plans, downloadable reproducible materials, and classroom-based assessments. It uses experiential learning techniques, and is mapped to national teaching standards with activities that align with ten academic disciplines. The curriculum is available worldwide in English and plans are under way to add ten more languages this year.

“Learning about digital citizenship helps instil a respect for technological and creative innovation that creates jobs and supports local economies,” said Sherri Erickson, global manager of the Genuine Software Initiative at Microsoft. “Students are driving contributors to social and economic development, and through educating them on the value of creative content and its relevance to their own world we help students realise their full potential.”

The curriculum has been aligned with standards from ISTE, American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the Center for Civic Education (CCE), and the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE).

More information on the curriculum can be found at http://www.digitalcitizenshiped.com . More details on the ISTE Seal of Alignment can be found at
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/
NETSSealofAlignment/Digital_Citizenship_Curriculum.htm

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