Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship is comprised of the knowledge and practices that allow students to safely interact in a digital environment. Topics cover appropriate online behavior, responsible use of social networking websites, and cyberbullying prevention. All students must be educated annually in this subject in order to comply with Federal law.

Curriculum

You may provide instruction using any of the approved curricular providers below.

Free Options

Be Internet Awesome: Google’s Be Internet Awesome supports students in grades 2 - 7 in being safe, confident explorers in their online world.

Be Internet Awesome Promo Video

Common Sense Education: This curriculum provides free lesson plans, interactives, and videos designed to support K-12 students in being good digital citizens. You can also use their Essential Guide to Digital Citizenship for CIPA & E-Rate.

Common Sense Education Promo Video

Edpuzzle Originals - Digital Citizenship: These ready-made video lessons help elementary, middle, and high school students become responsible digital citizens. All videos have embedded checks for understanding with the option for teachers to add questions, notes, and voiceovers.

EdPuzzle Promo Video

EverFi- Ignition – Digital Wellness and Safety: Ignition: Digital Wellness and Safety is a digital literacy curriculum designed to provide students in grades 6-9 with the information they need to safely and confidently navigate the digital world, and the skills to leverage technology safely and effectively.

Ignition Promo Video

Teaching Digital Citizenship Through an Inquiry Lens - The NYCDOE Department of Library Services has aligned the Common Sense Digital Citizenship Curriculum to the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum to help build digital citizenship skills through an inquiry model for grades K-12.

Fee Options

BrainPOP: FAMIS Vendor ID: BRA550283

BrainPOP Jr.

Curriculum consists of lesson ideas, quizzes, games, and activities for students in grades K-3

BrainPOP Digital Citizenship

Curriculum consists of topics, learning pathways, and support resources for teachers and students grades 3 and up.

BrainPop Promo Video

Other

If you want to use another digital-based curricula, you must make sure that the vendor has a “Completed” status in the Enterprise Request Management Application (ERMA). You can visit the EdTech Portal to check the compliance.

Schools Must Certify

As soon as schools have educated students about appropriate online behavior, including responsible use of social networking websites and cyberbullying prevention, they need to certify compliance.

The deadline to do so is April 4, 2025.

Learning Opportunities

On-Demand Classes

WeLearn

On-demand Digital Citizenship classes are available from our partners through WeLearnNYC

Sign into the WeLearn platform. Then select the "Discover” tab and type in the name of the class you’d like to take from the list below. The class will then be listed in “My Courses” when you visit your home screen again. Most classes also qualify for CTLE credit:

Google’s Be Internet Awesome (Grades 3 - 5)
CommonSense Education (Grades K - 12)
EverFi(Grades 6 - 9)

Recorded Class

This class does not qualify for CTLE credit:

Teaching Digital Citizenship Through an Inquiry Lens (Grades K-12)