KQED, the NPR and PBS member station serving Northern California, joins a diverse group of tech, education, and media organizations to launch the Digital Citizenship Commitment campaign (DigCitCommit) with the goal of reaching one million students by 2021 by engaging educators and providing them with the tools to teach a new definition of digital citizenship and wellbeing.

Through the development and sharing of curated and updated resources online and at in-person events, the DigCitCommit campaign provides educators with a set of competencies that teaches youth to be safe online as well as instill in them a strong sense of digital literacy, civility, community, and engagement that will preserve and perpetuate our democracy.

KQED is the only public media organization among the founding partners and brings deep experience in education, taking the lead on media literacy as a key component of digital citizenship. KQED provides free professional learning courses for teachers and classroom resources that help students learn to be informed, inclusive and engaged online.

“DigCitCommit aligns with KQED’s mission to nurture civic engagement skill building among youth and to amplify youth voices,” says Holly Kernan, Chief Content Officer at KQED. “Digital citizenship and media literacy are fundamental skills for participation in democratic life.”

The five DigCitCommit competencies – inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced, and alert – are designed to focus less on a list of DON’Ts and more on a proactive approach of DOs that challenge students to stay safe, solve problems and become a force of positivity. The DigCitCommit campaign and the competencies were previewed at ISTE19 to more than 20,000 attendees.

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“As more and more of our interactions move to virtual spaces, the future of our democracy depends on our ability to prepare the next generation of leaders to be kind online, have a healthy balance between the types of online activities they engage in, and view technology as a tool to improve their physical and virtual communities,” says Richard Culatta, CEO of ISTE. “Digital Citizenship must be more than just online safety if we hope to create a virtual world that doesn’t erode the foundations of our communities and democracy.”

Coalition members include: ISTE, Google, KQED, HundrED, Team4Tech, Facebook Education, Common Sense Education, Digital Citizenship Institute, KidCitizen, Wiki Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, Caroline County School District, Generation Citizen, Media Education Lab, National Writing Project, EVERFI, National Constitution Center, The National Institute for Civil Discourse, and Newsela.

The DigCitCommit coalition also announced the first Digital Citizenship Commitment Virtual Congress February 11-12, 2020. The virtual conference will showcase educators and students who are demonstrating effective digital citizenship based on the five competencies.

Learn more about the coalition and register for the virtual congress by visiting digcitcommit.org.

About KQED
KQED is a San Francisco-based nonprofit, public media station and PBS and NPR affiliate. KQED serves educators and students nationwide by providing free, high-quality resources that strengthen media literacy skills, empower youth voice and encourage civil discourse. As a nonprofit and a leader in media innovation, KQED provides standards-aligned classroom content and professional development courses that educators can trust. The KQED education team is comprised of educators and experienced media professionals with a passion for equity and access in education. kqed.org/education

Media Contact:
Liana Holmberg
415-864-2000

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