Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Amy Thuesen

APS Director of Technology

In a world where more than 4.7 billion people are online, the question isn’t whether we’re connected — it’s whether we all know how to navigate the digital landscape in a safe and responsible way.  The 2024-2027 District Technology Plan calls for a digital learning ecosystem that encourages responsible and resilient learners who can communicate with and contribute to the world. It is through this goal that APS is approaching Digital Literacy work with staff, students, and families.

For the past two years, APS has been working to become a Common Sense District. The Common Sense road map takes a whole-community approach to digital literacy, skills, and citizenship.  This roadmap is developed by Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization “working to make the digital world better for kids and families.” The goals of this roadmap are:

All staff will receive at least one professional development opportunity, covering topics such as: protecting students’ privacy online, modeling healthy digital habits, and AI foundations for teachers.

All students across three grade levels will be taught a minimum of three digital citizenship lessons.  These lessons cover the following topics: media balance and well-being; privacy and security; digital footprint and identity; relationships and communication; cyberbullying, digital drama, and hate speech; and news and media literacy.

APS will engage with families through regular communication around technology.  Topics include managing media for children, help kids spot fake news, and boost kids’ safety, privacy, and security.

Although we haven’t fully reached our Common Sense District designation yet, we have been making strides over the last couple of years.  In the Spring of 2024, all elementary buildings were awarded the Common Sense School designation through their work delivering two digital literacy lessons to each grade level.  This year, all ninth graders will receive digital literacy and citizenship instruction as part of their Packer Profile class. Additionally, Packer Profile class connects ninth grade students to community partners who discuss the ins and outs of navigating technology in their career pathways.

During this 2024-25 school year, all APS staff are receiving mandatory and optional training on a variety of privacy and security topics — with a special focus on student data privacy — and families receive quarterly communication around a technology topic.  For example, in December, families received a “Family Tech Planner” focusing on developing expectations around screen time.

As we look toward the 2025-26 school year, APS will focus on Grades 5-8 and 10-12, providing important keyboarding and technology skill training in fifth and sixth grades and embedding digital literacy and citizenship topics in seventh-12th grade math, health, language arts, and social studies classes.

Teaching students how to navigate the digital landscape is a group effort, and APS is looking forward to continued working with families and the community to ensure that every student has the tools and knowledge to navigate their future with confidence and competence, ensuring they are ready to make a difference in the world.

To learn more about Common Sense Media, visit their website at https://commonsense.org.