AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Utah law currently requires school districts and charter schools to offer a digital skills course in 7th or 8th grade, but does not specify a state-set curriculum for it. A recent substitute changed the bill's approach: rather than requiring the State Board of Education to directly offer the course, this bill would require the state board to establish, by the 2027-2028 school year, statewide standards for the digital skills course that local school districts and charter schools provide. Those standards must cover topics such as online safety and ethics, social media's effects on mental health, artificial intelligence literacy, cybersecurity, data privacy, identifying misinformation, cyberbullying prevention, screen time management, and digital citizenship. The bill also allows the state superintendent to create an advisory tech council, with members chosen by the superintendent, to recommend curriculum, professional development, and assessment methods for this course and other technology education, and it removes an existing task force and advisory committee tied to the state's separate Digital Teaching and Learning Grant Program.