Inspire Citizens and the Digital Citizenship Institute: a Partnership for Impact
Inspire Citizens has teamed up with the Digital Citizenship Institute (DCI) to promote and share what’s going on with this summer’s Eco Photography camps for teachers and families. Marialice Curran, DCI founder and executive director, says the course is perfectly aligned with DCI’s pillars for digital citizenship.
“I love that the Inspire Citizens Eco-media courses specifically speak to the pillars of what we do at DCI, and also about being balanced and knowing how to prioritize your time on and offline,” says Marialice.
The Digital Citizenship Institute’s six pillars.
Marialice met Inspire Citizens co-founder Steve Sostak when they were both featured guests for an episode of OnEdMentors podcast, hosted by Canadian educator Noa Daniel. “When we were talking, the wheels were spinning and we were connecting the dots,” smiles Marialice. “Our work is well aligned and I knew we were going to join as a force for good.”
Marialice was working as an associate professor in Connecticut and serving as the faculty lead for the university’s Ed Tech program when she realized she wanted to dig deeper into digital citizenship.
“At that time, schools were giving out laptops for one-to-one programs and I could see that the technology was driving the decisions,” Marialice reflects. “I really felt we needed to have conversations about digital citizenship first, before making decisions about the tech, and I started running some courses, workshops and events. Before I knew it, we were connecting with like-minded people around the world who resonated with our proactive message. A lot of people focus on ‘dont´s’ with technology; we wanted to change that narrative and create a positive approach where we could learn side by side with the students.”
In 2015, Marialice founded DCI and she has been building her international team and working with educators worldwide ever since.
“Our work is deeply connected to the Inspire Citizens’ Empathy to Impact model,” says Marialice. “We talk about the role of our hands, hearts, and minds in our digital work. Inspire Citizens uses the words ‘head, heart, hands’. It’s about human connections online; ultimately, we want young people to make an impact, to solve real problems in local, global and digital communities, use technology for good, and to become the digital change.”
After meeting Steve for the podcast interview, Marialice invited Steve and Ivy Yan (Inspire Citizen’s director of Eco-Media) to participate in an online Digital Citizenship Summit (DigCitSummit) with the California School Librarian Association. Steve and Ivy also ran a workshop at a DCI DigCitSummit on June 11th for New York State educators, and will offer a webinar about Eco Photography on June 23rd.
“At some of our events, we have over 40 countries represented,” says Marialice. “Physically, we have been all around the world to work with teachers and students and we’ve hosted student-led experiences where the outside community, the grown-ups, come and learn alongside students. The best part is that the students take our pillars and put them into action, which is our ultimate goal. We want to help school communities create their own ripples of goodness that influence and inspire others at school, home, play, and work.”
Eugenia Tamez is the director of LATAM Partnerships and Programs with DCI, and she couldn’t agree more.
“There are so many changemakers out there! It only takes one person to stand up and take action to change the narrative,” says Eugenia. “When we connected with Inspire Citizens, it was like we found our other half, and we can partner to increase our impact.”
Eugenia is leading all DCI initiatives and programs into Spanish speaking countries and communities. She lives in Monterrey, Mexico and is committed to using a multi-language approach to merge digital citizenship with technology for good around the Global Goals.
“We are looking for schools to keep an ongoing conversation around Digital Citizenship. The Digital Citizenship Institute Certification consists of three stages: Global Impactor Academy (educators program), Student Academy (students program) and a culminating event (which includes the entire school community and parents/caregivers),” says Eugenia.
DCI is promoting the Inspire Citizens’ summer Eco Photography experience, encouraging educators to participate and grow their own sense of digital citizenship and digital storytelling.
“I am so excited about the potential and possibilities with this partnership,” says Marialice.
Steve and Aaron Moniz, the two co-founders of Inspire Citizens, feel the same way and look forward to robust experiences with DCI leaders and participants.
“At Inspire Citizens we have created a team, an ecosystem, a community around engaged global citizenship and true transformation,” says Steve. “In some ways, it’s like we’re becoming enlightened in the ways we reimagine schools and education. Working with DCI is exciting because they are doing the same thing in the digital citizenship space.”
Check out the video interview below with Marialice, Eugenia, Steve and Ivy for more information about Eco Photography.