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Digital Literacy

Digital Literacy Curriculum for Every Grade, K-12

Before students can code, question AI, or stay safe online, they need the fundamentals. CodeHS teaches computing systems, digital citizenship, information literacy, and AI literacy from kindergarten through senior year.

What It Covers

More Than an Internet Safety Poster

CodeHS digital literacy courses build the same strands from kindergarten up, so a 2nd grader and a senior are working on the same skills at very different depths.

  • Computing systems: hardware, software, networks, and file management

  • Productivity software: Google Docs, Slides, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint

  • Safety and responsibility: passwords, digital footprint, cyberbullying, and screen balance

  • Data and analysis: evaluating sources, attribution, and reading data honestly

  • Impacts of computing: how technology shapes communities, culture, and careers

  • AI literacy: how models are trained, how to prompt them, and where they get things wrong

The Pathway

A Course for Every Grade Band

Each grade band has its own courses, so a district can adopt the whole K-12 pathway or start with the single grade that needs it most.

Elementary (K-5)

A Digital Literacy & AI course for each grade, kindergarten through 5th, part of the CodeHop elementary curriculum. Ready-to-go lessons with slides, teacher notes, and unplugged activities that keep screen time down.

See the elementary catalog

Middle School (6-8)

Digital Citizenship for each grade 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Short courses, 10 to 18 hours each, covering online safety, digital footprints, privacy, cyber threats, and evaluating what students find online.

See the 8th grade course

High School (9-12)

Digital Literacy and Artificial Intelligence, a full-year, 115-hour course that pairs cybersecurity and information literacy with Python programming, machine learning, and AI ethics.

See the high school course

Typing (K-12)

Typing by CodeHop is a keyboarding add-on with a standards-aligned progression, real-time feedback, and gamified achievements. Keyboarding is the skill every other computing task sits on top of.

See the typing curriculum
Inside the Courses

What Students Actually Do

Real modules and lessons from the courses above, so you can see how the same strand deepens from elementary through high school.

3rd Grade Digital Literacy & AI

Six modules: Getting Started, Computing Systems, Safety & Responsibility, Impacts of Computing, Data & Analysis, and AI Exploration. Lessons include Modeling Network Connections, Digital Footprint Basics, My Screen Balance Plan, Data Detectives, and Ask AI Better Questions.

Digital Citizenship, 8th Grade

Two modules: Cybersecurity and You, and Technology and Society. Lessons include Personal Data and Collection, Can All Information Be Trusted?, Cyber Ethics and Laws, Common Cyber Attacks and Prevention, and the Project: AI on Trial debate.

Digital Literacy and Artificial Intelligence

Sixteen modules across cybersecurity, Python, and AI. Students study large language models, prompt engineering, bias in training data, deepfakes and misinformation, and AI governance, then build an AI-assisted project of their own.

Every Course, Teacher-Ready

Lesson plans, slides, discussion prompts, auto-graded practice, unit quizzes, and projects come with the course. Teachers without a computer science background can pick up a lesson and teach it the same day.

Standards

Digital Literacy and AI Literacy Standards

More states now write digital literacy into their standards, usually in a combined Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) framework. CodeHS publishes those frameworks standard by standard and builds state course versions against them, so you can show alignment without hand-building a crosswalk.

State Digital Literacy Frameworks

Browsable on CodeHS: Massachusetts DLCS, Alabama Digital Literacy and Computer Science, South Carolina Computer Science and Digital Literacy, Utah Digital Literacy, Idaho Digital Literacy, Florida Navigating Technology, and IC3 Digital Literacy GS6.

State Course Versions

Several states have their own course built to their framework: Alabama DLCS for K-5, grades 6, 7, 8, and 9-12; Massachusetts DLCS for K-5; South Carolina Computer Science and Digital Literacy for K-5; Idaho Digital Literacy; and Florida Navigating Technology.

CSTA and ISTE

The CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards are published grade by grade, from PK-K through high school, alongside the ISTE Standards. The high school Digital Literacy and Artificial Intelligence course maps to CSTA 3A.

AI Literacy

The CodeHS AI Level 1 Certification proves foundational AI literacy, and the high school course includes an AI literacy certification practice module. Teachers can earn an AI Literacy microcredential of their own.

FAQ

Digital Literacy Curriculum FAQ

What does the CodeHS digital literacy curriculum cover?

CodeHS digital literacy courses cover computing systems and hardware, productivity software such as Google Docs and Microsoft Word, online safety and digital citizenship, evaluating information and sources, the impacts of computing, and AI literacy. Courses run from kindergarten through high school.

Does CodeHS have digital literacy courses for elementary students?

Yes. CodeHS has a Digital Literacy & AI course for every elementary grade, kindergarten through 5th. Each one is built from the same six modules: Getting Started, Computing Systems, Safety & Responsibility, Impacts of Computing, Data & Analysis, and AI Exploration, with lesson plans and unplugged activities for teachers.

What digital literacy standards does CodeHS align to?

CodeHS publishes the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, the ISTE Standards, and state digital literacy frameworks including Massachusetts DLCS, Alabama DLCS, South Carolina Computer Science and Digital Literacy, Utah Digital Literacy, and Idaho Digital Literacy. Several of those states also have their own CodeHS course version built to the framework. Browse every framework and its course alignments on the CodeHS standards frameworks page.

How does CodeHS teach AI literacy?

AI literacy runs through the whole CodeHS pathway. Elementary students train simple models and practice writing clear prompts in the AI Exploration module. High school students in Digital Literacy and Artificial Intelligence study machine learning, large language models, bias in training data, deepfakes, and AI ethics, then can sit for the CodeHS AI Level 1 Certification.

How is digital literacy different from computer science?

Digital literacy is about using and understanding technology responsibly. Computer science is about creating it. CodeHS teaches both, and several courses blend them: the high school Digital Literacy and Artificial Intelligence course pairs online safety, information literacy, and AI ethics with hands-on Python programming.

Can I try a CodeHS digital literacy lesson before signing up?

Yes. Several elementary digital literacy lessons are free to open with no account, including Introduction to Computing Systems, Online Risks & Protection, and Impacts of Computing: Our Community. Each sample opens the full lesson the way a teacher sees it in the classroom.

Does CodeHS include typing and keyboarding practice?

Yes. Typing by CodeHop is a K-12 keyboarding add-on with a standards-aligned progression, real-time feedback, and gamified achievements. See the CodeHS typing page for details on how it works alongside a digital literacy course.

Bring Digital Literacy to Every Grade