Event Information
I imagine the playground to be drop-in style, where attendees can visit the space and participate in activities that 1) demonstrate these digital citizenship activities for student use 2) allow the participants to meet other conference goers and discuss their own media habits, thoughts, and feelings. In this way, each activity is a chance to both meet new people and learn a new idea for your classroom. Each presenter listed will facilitate a different station activity designed to engage students in a digital citizenship topic. Modifications/differentiation will be implemented for each small group depending on their personal needs and the student population they serve. All stations are low/no digital tech, but some require paper and can be easily implemented in any space. Here are the stations:
*Curiosity Tellers: Participants will be guided to fold origami fortune tellers printed with questions intended to facilitate a conversation about their favorite media. Fold, find a partner, make a friend. Emphasize speaking and active listening.
* Repairing Friendships: This choose-your-own-adventure style card game allows participants to learn about how to make a genuine apology when we mess up online and hurt someone's feelings.
*Friends vs. Followers: Use the cards to sort out the characteristics of what makes a friend and what makes a follower. Consider the pros/cons and value of each and what part they play in our lives. Discuss who you follow and why.
*Belonging vs. Peer Pressure: In this station, we will examine what peer pressure looks like online and how it differs from ways we feel when we belong to a group. We'll play a game of bingo to understand the difference. Maybe someone gets a prize!
*Brain Battle: Participants learn about the way media and tech can trick us into thinking things that aren't true (thinking traps) by reading Pokemon-style cards and battling each other. Discuss ways to engage students in these battles or create a station in your classroom for game play.
After this session, participants will be able to ...
1. Implement at least 3 low-tech, high-engagement station activities in their own classrooms that integrate digital citizenship with social skills development.
2. Facilitate peer-to-peer conversations about repairing damaged friendships in online and offline contexts using structured card-based discussion protocols.
3. Identify and teach students to recognize "thinking traps" perpetuated by social media algorithms through custom gamified Pokemon-style battle activities and how to avoid such traps.
4. Distinguish between performative online connections (followers) and authentic relationships (friends) using sorting activities that promote critical reflection of our online community
5. Analyze the difference between healthy belonging and harmful peer pressure in digital spaces through interactive bingo-style learning experiences and facilitated discussion about our online communities.
6. Model healthy face-to-face communication habits through scaffolded question protocols that build students' social-emotional vocabulary.
7. Create classroom environments where students practice real-world social problem-solving related to their digital lives without relying on screens or tech.
Additionally, this session directly addresses all five SEL competencies identified by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning):
Self-Awareness: The Brain Battle station helps students recognize how social media affects their thinking and emotions (identifying thinking traps).
Self-Management: Curiosity Tellers and friendship repair activities practice emotional regulation and impulse control when navigating online conflicts.
Social Awareness: Friends vs. Followers sorting develops perspective-taking and empathy for others' experiences in digital spaces.
Relationship Skills: Every station practices communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution—foundational relationship skills applied to digital contexts.
Responsible Decision-Making: Belonging vs. Peer Pressure bingo helps students evaluate choices, consider consequences, and make constructive decisions in online communities.
By grounding digital citizenship in social-emotional learning, we teach the whole child—addressing not just what students do online, but how they feel, connect, and grow as human beings navigating an increasingly digital world.
On the importance of why students need face-to-face social skills in today's AI driven world: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/talk-trust-and-trade-offs-how-and-why-teens-use-ai-companions
On the use of media and tech for comfort, companionship, emotional regulation, this 0-8 research indicates that students need support and practice with SEL skills: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-2025-common-sense-census-media-use-by-kids-zero-to-eight
On the pressures that are faced by teens in the digital world and what skills are necessary to avoid burnout: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/unpacking-grind-culture-in-american-teens-pressure-burnout-and-the-role-of-social-media
To understand how teens think about how tech can support and challenge our students. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/double-edged-sword-how-diverse-communities-of-young-people-think-about-social-media-and-mental-health
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