 “Empatico empowers teachers and students to explore the world through experiences that spark curiosity, kindness, and empathy. We combine live video with activities designed to foster meaningful connections among students ages 6-11.” Empatico aims to connect millions of educators and children so they can experience other communities, share their lives, and learn about others different from themselves. Currently, over 15,000 educators are registered from more than 135 countries connecting close to 24,000 students around the world. The free platform allows educators like Wendy Turner to build social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom, “one day at a time, one experience at a time, with great intention, focus and practice.” To us, at the Digital Citizenship Institute, we proudly give the stamp of digital citizenship approval (DigCitAPPROVED) to Empatico as both a tool and platform, as well as a company and organization.  DigCitAPPROVED Tool and Platform As a tool and platform, Empatico provides opportunities for classrooms to build a foundation focused on curiosity, critical thinking, and empathy. These life skills are at the heart of our work and aligns with our DigCitCommunity Mindset. As a tool and platform, Empatico provides opportunities for classrooms to build a foundation focused on curiosity, critical thinking, and empathy. These life skills are at the heart of our work and aligns with our DigCitCommunity Mindset.  Empatico models digital citizenship by providing an avenue for young students who do not have the opportunity to experience new places, meet different types of people, or learn about other cultures. Empatico's activities are designed to promote greater understanding of similarities and differences and help students practice skills like respectful communication, perspective taking, cooperation, and critical thinking, each of which is crucial to building towards digital citizenship and global competence. These Empatico experiences resonate with our one world, one human race message where it doesn’t matter where you live or what language you speak because there are more things that make us similar than make us different; and what makes us different is the fabric of our shared humanity. Digital citizenship begins with being safe and responsible, so privacy is of the utmost importance to us. Empatico is COPPA and FERPA compliant, and they do not collect student data. For more information about our privacy policies, please check Empatico's Privacy Policy. During an Empatico exchange, students practice four crucial skills: perspective taking, critical thinking, respectful communication, and cooperation to build strong relationships, especially with people from different backgrounds and cultures. As a tool and platform, Empatico has built in opportunities to put digital citizenship into action by (1) preparing for their exchange, (2) interacting with their peers, and (3) reflecting on the experience afterwards. These three steps provide students with the necessary support to successfully participate in a live video interaction with a partner class, and then reflect on how their thinking has changed over the course of the exchange. By creating shared and engaging interactions for educators and students, Empatico believes they can spark a global movement to spread kindness and empathy around the world.  DigCitAPPROVED Company and Organization Empatico was co-founded by Daniel Lubetzky, CEO and Founder at KIND as an opportunity for children to discover each other’s humanity. The KIND Foundation (2016) recognizes the need to promote empathy & kindness. “I’ve always felt that it’s our shared obligation to leave this world better than we found it. Since becoming a father, I have felt this more urgently and deeply. When I first conceived the idea for Empatico, it seemed like an immediate need for conflict zones like the Middle East, but not necessarily for America. I never imagined that in my lifetime I would come to see the American system as fragile as I recognize it to be today, and a global system facing mounting threats of extremism and intolerance. There is a lot that we need to do to improve the world, including developing the ability to be better listeners and more critical thinkers, and we can’t do it without our kids as part of the solution.” Daniel Lubetzky Empatico stands out to us as a company and organization committed to building a generation of young learners who truly experience the human being sitting next to them, around the world and across the screen. Since our core values have students at the center of our work, we believe students need to be part of the solution. Be the Digital Change This APPROVED partnership supports local, global, and digital communities working together to think critically and act creatively as we solve problems and create solutions together, both on and offline. Empatico’s why resonates with us as a wonderful tool, platform, company, and organization who provides students opportunities to learn about different perspectives and practice interpersonal skills that are crucial for building cross-cultural relationships later in life, through technology and virtual exchange. Our missions are well-aligned to transform participants into designers, creative thinkers, global collaborators, problem solvers, and justice-oriented citizens. Through our shared vision to prepare students for a more collaborative and global world, and through leveraging technology for social good, our work together has the potential to drastically impact and change the lives of students across the globe for the better. Interested in becoming one of our DigCitAPPROVED partners, contact us
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