The Packback platform strongly supports the development of digital citizenship competencies in students. Digital citizenship refers to the responsible and ethical use of technology to learn, create, and participate. Packback promotes digital literacy by allowing students to leverage online tools to research, evaluate sources, and engage in constructive academic discourse. The platform also cultivates an understanding of digital etiquette and responsible social interaction online by facilitating respectful, nuanced dialogue and perspective-taking between peers.

By providing a safe, ethical digital environment to critically analyze ideas at the intersection of the virtual and physical worlds, Packback meaningfully instills all facets of digital citizenship competencies within students

Digital Citizenship Competencies

Digital Citizenship Competency	About Competency	Packback’s Alignment
1. Informed	I evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media and social posts.	Strong Alignment: Packback reinforces students being informed digital citizens. Students are encouraged to cite sources for their assignments. They receive real-time feedback from the A.I. Writing Tutor on the quality of their sources, which supports skill-development in evaluating the accuracy and validity of digital media. When responding to their peers, students are required to evaluate the perspective of digital media and social posts.
2. Inclusive	I am open to hearing and respectfully recognizing multiple viewpoints, and I engage with others online with respect and empathy.	Strong Alignment: On Packback, students are engaged in peer-to-peer discussion in their online Community. Students are required to recognize multiple viewpoints by not only asking a question in each discussion but by responding to their peer’s open-ended questions, too. The Packback platform has Community Guidelines that are upheld through the moderation of posts by the Packback A.I., teachers, and students themselves. The self-moderation requires students to recognize others’ viewpoints with respect and empathy
3. Engaged	I use technology and digital channels for civic engagement, to solve problems and be a force for good in both physical and virtual communities.	Strong Alignment: Packback serves as a launch point for students being engaged digital citizens, as oftentimes their online discussions are rooted in problem-solving and are brought into their physical classroom communities.
4. Balanced	I make informed decisions about how to prioritize my time and activities online and off.	Strong Alignment: When completing Packback assignments, students have to make decisions about how to prioritize their time. Packback provides real-time feedback that helps students monitor how much progress they are making on assignments and suggests where they might focus their time next.
5. Alert	I am aware of my online actions, and know how to be safe and create safe spaces for others online.	Strong Alignment: Community Guidelines are shared with teachers and students when they first join a Packback community. The transparency in the online community values and expectations combined with platform, teacher, and student moderation helps bring awareness to students’ own actions and fosters a safe online space for themselves and their peers.

Applicable across the curriculum for (almost) any course

Packback is applicable to any course with a writing component. Packback has been used by over 2 million students, at more than 700 institutions, across thousands of different courses and subject areas.

Popular subjects of courses using Packback include: