Digital Literacy and Wellbeing for K-8 from Common Sense Education

Sue Thotz

Director of Regional Outreach, Common Sense Education

Sue Thotz is a senior program manager for Common Sense Education. In 2011, Sue began working for Common Sense in Chicago by partnering with educators and parents to help them create a culture where students use technology in a meaningful, thoughtful, and respectful way. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2014, Sue has provided educational leadership through motivating keynotes, professional development workshops, conference presentations, and consulting with districts across Southern California.

Prior to Common Sense, Sue was a researcher and educator. She worked with Abt Associates to manage an experimental study evaluating the efficacy of a computer-based literacy curriculum across 44 randomized Chicago public schools. Through the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Sue conducted research on community food security, eventually teaching those same assessment methods to high school students to take civic action in their own neighborhoods. Sue conducted qualitative interviews evaluating nutritional practices among rural women in Vietnam using a community-based participatory Photovoice technique in partnership with the National Institute of Nutrition. Sue holds a master's degree in public health and an undergraduate degree in zoology and chemistry. She lives in a small house with a 13-year-old reader, an 11-year-old gamer, and a most clever musician.