Community reviews for Digital Passport

I feel that Digital Passport is a great teaching and learning tool. I like to introduce the topics to my students and have a discussion prior to having them play the games. They get a lot out of the games and make connections to their own experiences. I like that there are educator guides for each game/lesson and supportive materials. Digital Passport is a great tool to use in a blended learning environment. I would recommend it to any teacher in elementary or middle school.

My overall opinion is I still liked using this, even with 6th grade students because I think they really relate to the animated/game format of the lessons. I like that the program allows for the students to self-pace and everyone does not have to be at the same point/lesson. Some students became frustrated in privacy mission with the jumping game. As they reached higher levels it was trickier to reach the space pads. Some students spent ALOT of time trying to beat and get to the end of the level. It would have been nice to bypass after so many tries or have another way to keep on going.

Because this is my first time implementing this program, I also enrolled myself as a third grader so that I could experience everything just as my students would. The short videos at the beginning of each module were both engaging and relevant. My students and I found the Mix n’ Mash to allow for great creativity and appreciated the save option. I felt this was the most meaningful of all the modules because it allowed for kids to actually create their own mashup, cite their creative sources, and then publish their own work. Most of my third and fourth graders have not yet published anything online before having this opportunity and truly enjoyed themselves as they were learning. On the other hand, as I played Share Jumper, I became frustrated since I continued to fail. This was not because I couldn’t answer the questions but because I couldn’t maneuver my character very well. Some of my students who played the game also struggled with it. Eventually, I told them that I would give them credit for that section if they came and answered some questions for me in regards to privacy. It would have been nice if, in the educator’s guide, the questions from the game were provided. If they were, I never found them. However, despite our challenges with the Share Jumper, our experience of earning our Digital Passports was fun and helpful in sparking many meaningful conversations. If I were to make any changes, I would add all questions and answer choices from all the games to the educator guide and would also include a save option in all of the games. As kids only had thirty minutes in my lab, they would finish one module and be somewhere in the middle of the second. Unless they were in Mix n’ Mash, all their work in the unfinished module was lost, and they would have to start at the beginning of the module the next time they came to class. Overall, I appreciated that ALL of the games and the educator materials were completely FREE! The Digital Passport was a great hit with my students, and I anticipate returning to this site again next year!

My students and I have thoroughly enjoyed adding Digital Passport (and Digital Compass) to our weekly Digital Literacy lessons and I hope even more units are added in the future. I have 30 students in each of my 6th grade classes and they LOVE to talk, so if Digital Passport is keeping them so engaged that they are quiet and furthering their understanding of the state standards in technology then this program will continue to be a huge part of my instruction in years to come!

The positive aspects of Digital Passport are: - an introductory video for each topic with kids who are the same age as the students; - an engaging and challenging game for each area; - the interactivity. Some aspects to be improved: - review the content adding more areas such as digital footprint & reputation, self-image & identity, etc.

I love using this to enhance the understanding of these concepts. At an elementary level they are very hard to grasp and the games help with the understanding for most students. The only change I would make would be the ability to change the level at which they earn the badge from our end. I wanted to set the percentage to 70% for the students and they earn a badge after completing the game so I would have to go check the % even after the students earned the badge.

I really enjoy this component, as the topics are timely and engaging. Students REALLY like the games and frequently ask if they can play them again or login from home. I would like to see more/different topics. This is the second year I have used with my students and so the repetition of material (not the topic) is not the best. It would also be great to have this type of curriculum for K-3. (I do assign some components to 3rd.) Anytime we can get the message of Digital Citizenship. online safety, etc to kids through GAMES, it seems to be more engaging. I am a Digital Citizenship Certified Teacher and our school is also certified.

In my opinion this is a wonderful tool as it also provides assessment. Numerous students asked if they can do this at home and that is the showing success of a product! Well done Common Sense Media!

Any time I emailed a question, I was answered swiftly with a solution. During the first week, the site was having issues. I sent a question about it. A response came immediately saying they appreciated my feedback and they were working on the issue. I would highly recommned using Digital Passport. It was an effective teaching tool and prepares students for Internet use. The first week I used it with the students, the site was having difficulty. I emailed the site and recieved a quick response mentioning they were aware and were working on a solution. After a day or two, I never had an issue! It is great to see the site creators follow through! The feature of accessing the students results and seeing exactly what they got wrong was very valuable. It also encouraged the students to go back and earn a higher score! A few students had difficulty with the "game" part of Share Jumpers and weren't able to complete the game. I was able to read the questions to them to be sure they understood the concepts. The students giggled a bit about the flip phones in the Twalkers video. Perhaps that could be updated. I will continue to use Digital Passport in the future and have already recommended it to other technology teachers.

This is a great reinforcement of some of the digital citizenship concepts. It is an engaging approach that meets the needs of students that learn this way. I like to present digital citizenship in a variety of approaches including the Common Sense Media unit. Digital Passport fits right into this flow of lessons. The 4th graders seems to get a better grasp of the concept from the videos. The 5th graders seem to perform better on the games/questions than in 4th grade. The challenge of the games is mixed for the students. I am always surprised at which activities they find more challenging than others, just another insight to the different way students think and approach the task. The teacher dashboard provides the results of the students progress. It is not detailed, but it gives me an idea if they are missing a concept. The students love the time we spend on it and are disappointed when we need to move it. This is definitely a worthwhile program to use alone or independently to teach digital citizenship.