Home iDrive Empowerment: Middle School and High School Students Gain 21st Century Skills, Prepare for College and Career

iDrive Empowerment: Middle School and High School Students Gain 21st Century Skills, Prepare for College and Career

iDrive Empowerment: Middle School and High School Students Gain 21st Century Skills, Prepare for College and Career

As teens, technology plays a major role in all aspects of our lives. We not only use technologies in the classroom, we interact with one another off campus and outside of school hours on social media and other online platforms. Our digital actions and interactions impact us socially, emotionally, cognitively and academically which, in turn, affects our well-being, the learning environment, and successful attainment of College and Career Readiness Benchmarks.

Therefore, iDrive Youth Outreach and Empowerment is essential to 21st century learning. We, as students, need to be able to solve problems in the real world, which requires a meaningful context in which to apply our academic knowledge and talents. Through iDrive, we can address the challenges that we observe on campus, in our local community and online. iDrive Empowerment projects also integrate with core subjects like English and math and promote media literacy, technology skills, and digital citizenship. As iDrive Agents, we create media-based projects such as videos, digital publications, social media campaigns, infographics and more. Moreover, we as iDrive Agents connect with the iDrive Student Advisory Board to voice our concerns about specific issues, share ideas for campaigns and initiatives, contribute projects that are then shared with other teens attending schools across the country, and showcase the actions that we take to make a positive impact in the world on social media. Encourage your students to register as iDrive Agents or apply for a seat on the iDrive Student Advisory Board. Read more to see what the iDrive Student Advisory Board is doing now!

iDrive Student Advisory Board – Empowerment Projects

What does an iDrive Student Advisory Board member do? Active members of the iDrive Student Advisory Board collaborate with students across the country to produce Webcasts, Public Service Announcements, Short Form Documentaries, newsletters and blogs, social media campaigns and more. Exemplary projects are used in educational programming and nationwide campaigns and initiatives. Curated iDrive Youth Outreach and Empowerment projects are made available at iDriveTVonline.com and in the i-SAFE curriculum library as resources to inform, inspire and encourage students to take their learning beyond the classroom. Below are examples of projects that have been created and launched by students in collaboration with iDrive. By the way, iDrive Toolkit pages are provided for each of these projects.

iDrive Empowerment Project: Webcast or Short Form Documentary

Teens educate their peers on e-Safety and digital citizenship topics by producing Webcasts. Webcasts are short video segments created by students and for students to inspire critical thinking and to promote personal and social responsibility. Click on the links below to view video trailers of our most recent Webcasts. To see the full video, log in to the i-SAFE curriculum library at isafe.org.

iDrive Empowerment Project: Public Service Announcement

A Public Service Announcement is a brief video or audio recording that raises awareness of an issue or challenge affecting a digital generation and provides a call to action. Video PSAs range from 30-60 seconds in length. iDrive’s video PSAs are shared on social media and presented in schools across the nation. Take a look at a PSA that promotes a positive message as part of the iDrive initiative to prevent and address human trafficking.

iDrive Empowerment Project: Brochures and Visual Media

Media literacy is an important 21st century skill. Students use their media literacy skills to educate their peers and people in their community by creating informational brochures, posters, flyers and other visual media for distribution. Below is a brochure for “12: A Humanitarian Initiative” that aims to address the problem of human trafficking in the United States.

iDrive Empowerment Project: Awareness & Social Media Campaigns

We, as teens, are active consumers and creators of digital media. We use social networks to express ourselves, experiment with new personas and to socialize. Since social media has the power to spread content to a worldwide audience within a short time, why not give students the opportunity to use these technologies to make a positive impact in the world? iDrive invites teens not only to follow social media campaigns, but to actively participate in creating and sharing content. When your students act as Agents of change in their social networks, they construct an online presence that will benefit their college and career pursuits. Follow the links below to see what the iDrive Student Advisory Board has been doing on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The i-SAFE curriculum library provides educators with materials to safely incorporate social media into school projects. i-SAFE Direct provides platforms to make sure that the projects are in line with the school AUP and that the school has parent permission and Verified Parental Consent to use sites and apps for education.

*Note: Students must be at least 13 years of age to participate in social media campaigns.

iDrive Empowerment Project: Editorials and Blogs

The iDrive Student Advisory Board writes blogs about digital issues that matter to us as teens. Blogs are informative, thought-provoking and inspire action. As an educator, you can use our blog posts and articles to teach your students about digital citizenship and to inspire them to apply their writing skills with a purpose! We would love to see your students write about digital issues that matter to them. Our blog posts and articles address topics ranging from College and Career Readiness to e-Safety issues such identity theft, online relationships, digital ethics and more. We care about what happens to our future, and we know that you do, too. Read the latest blog posts from the iDrive Editorial team.

iDrive Newsletter

Every month, our iDrive Editorial Team produces a newsletter that provides a featured article with information on topics that our relevant to our digital lives, tips and tutorials for Agents, and the latest news from our iDrive Student Advisory Board. You, too, can subscribe to our newsletter as a Teacher Agent and keep your students informed about what is happening in this technology-infused world. Subscribe to the iDrive Newsletter on our website. Encourage your students to subscribe as well so that they don’t miss a beat!*

*Note: Students must be at least 13 years of age to register online as iDrive Agents.

iDrive Website

Hey, Teacher! Students need to know that they have a voice and that they can make difference. Share the iDrive website with your students. Register on our website as a Teacher Agent to support your students and to keep up-to-date with what is happening with iDrive. We are real students who want to make a difference in the world, but we need you! Encourage your students to become iDrive Agents today.

Note: Must be at least 13 years of age to register on our website.

iDrive Toolkit

iDrive offers toolkit pages to students as well as teachers. The teacher toolkit provides supporting information and examples so that you can guide your students through successful iDrive Empowerment projects and initiatives. Take a look!

Have you read the latest iDrive Newsletter Edition?

iDrive Newsletters are sent out to subscribing Agents each month. Students subscribe to the newsletter when they register as iDrive Agents. Teachers can also subscribe to the iDrive Newsletter and register as a Teacher Agent. Since students must be at least 13 years of age to register, become a Teacher Agent to keep your middle school students in the loop with what is happening with iDrive and to provide them with the opportunity to affect positive change, too!

Monthly iDrive Newsletter Editions address digital citizenship and e-Safety topics topics that relate to current events, seasonal issues, related international and national observances and more; times of heightened awareness on issues that matter to teens and relate to i-SAFE’s core mission. Each iDrive Newsletter includes a Letter from the Editor that is written by a high school student and active member of the Student Advisory Board. The Featured Article imparts knowledge, insight and practical tips on the central theme or issue of the Newsletter Edition that is relevant to teen life. Topics range from social media trends and digital safety and security, to College and Career Readiness, and even issues that teens do not always consider relevant such as identity theft and fraud. Teachers are encouraged to share iDrive Newsletters with their students to educate and empower them as creative, effective and responsible digital citizens, and to make a positive impact in their world as iDrive Agents.
Go To Newsletter →

What is iDrive?

iDrive is a nationwide team of students, ages 13-18, who want to make a real difference in the world. As change Agents and members of the iDrive Student Advisory Board, we are active participants in the youth-driven, youth-inspired Outreach and Empowerment program of i-SAFE. Our mission is to empower teens as Agents of change in their communities—both online and offline—by giving them a voice to speak out on the issues that they face in as a digitally connected generation. Our vision is to build a strong coalition of teens that work together to address real-world problems by turning challenges into opportunities for positive change; raising awareness of important issues and educating others at school, in the local community, across the nation and online. Do you want your students to truly benefit from your school’s digital citizenship and e-Safety program? Be sure to incorporate iDrive Youth Outreach and Empowerment into your lesson plans. Empower your middle school and high school students to use the knowledge, skills and abilities that they have learned in your classroom as an iDrive Agent: www.iDriveTVOnline.com.