www.digitalpassport.org/educator-registration • Retail Price: iPad & Android app: $3.99
Digital Passport for iOS and Android is an expansion of the Web-based game that helps students in 3rd-5th grades learn skills around being safe, smart, and responsible online. Based on lessons from Common Sense Media’s K-12 digital literacy and citizenship curriculum, Digital Passport uses games and videos to address online safety and security, cyberbullying, responsible cellphone use, safe searching, and respecting creative work. Students learn and advance through topic areas, collecting badges at their own pace, to ultimately earn their digital passports.
Quality and Effectiveness: Not only is Digital Passport a good mobile app for learning online safety skills, it’s perfect for meeting CIPA needs. Because it is loaded onto their mobile devices, students learn appropriate online behavior at home and teachers can use it to flip their classrooms.
The app includes an educational portal that allows educators to track and generate student reports to assess their learning and helps schools meet E-Rate and CIPA requirements.
Ease of Use: Designed for kids in 3rd-5th grades, Digital Passport uses videos to explain the different elements of being a digitally responsible student. There are five lessons for each student to take (communication, privacy, bullying, safe Web surfing, and creative credit). These lessons are broken up into three progressive stages to ensure that the students become more successful as they complete each stage and learn the corresponding lesson. There is also a helpful Web site and forum for parents and educators looking for help implementing Digital Passport in their classrooms.
Creative Use of Technology: Digital Passport uses an inviting combination of video and cartoon animations to teach cybersafety.
Suitability for Use in a School Environment: This app should be an essential tool for technology educators to use in their curricula. It’s very easy to use, tracks student progress, and generates reports. Also, Digital Passport qualifies for Apple’s Volume Purchasing Program, which allows for big discounts when purchasing apps in bulk.
TOP FEATURES
• Importance and Subject Matter: The app focuses on online safety for students, which is a requirement of CIPA compliance.
• Educational Portal: Digital Passport allows educators to track student progress and generate reports.
• Innovative Use of Technology: The app combines videos and animated characters to create a fun environment for students to learn essential skills.
OVERALL RATING: Digital Passport is an essential app to use when teaching students the importance of online cybersafety.
