This week in ITEC 7430 revolved around internet safety in the classroom. Most people today are familiar with NBC News’ show To Catch a Predator (information available at http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10912603/). While reports of predators online are numerous, in reality, Richardson (2010) in his book Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms points out that this is actually the minority of internet users. Richardson further observes that while the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) has mandated that schools filter internet content available to students, this has not been entirely effective (pg. 12), and it is critical that teachers make their students aware of safety necessities while utilizing the internet. Fortunately, there are numerous websites available to assist teachers in emphasizing internet safety with their students.
One such site is hosted by i-Safe, Inc., and provides tips to parents and students on how to safeguard information online. Although i-Safe, Inc., offers tips, it is crucial that teachers explain some of them, such as “know how to exit an inappropriate website.” Too often, our students get caught up in the surprise of having found an inappropriate website instead of simply clicking the back button or exiting from the window. I will never forget my first year of teaching when my AP Government students were doing a project on the executive branch of the government. Too late, I realized that there is a big difference between the official site of whitehouse.gov and the extremely inappropriate site of whitehouse.com.
Another site is hosted by NetSmartz.org, which is run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Again, this site is targeted mainly to students and parents; however, there is a substantial section for educators. Here, you can order lesson plan kits that are targeted to various grade levels.
A final website that I found extremely useful is from eSchoolNews and is an article on how schools are teaching internet safety. One idea that I found interesting in the article is the concept of teaching internet safety through online games. They suggested using material from CyberSmart! or WebWiseKids. I recently was introduced to free programs from EverFi at an Economics conference, and they also have sections on teaching internet safety. I love that these make the incorporation of internet safety information entertaining for kids.
Although it is nearly impossible to protect our students from everything, it is crucial that we give them the tools to safely navigate the internet on their own. My hope after this week is to do a much better job of addressing the importance of keeping private information private and how to deal with inappropriate sites when they are happened upon. As always, I look forward to your comments!
One such site is hosted by i-Safe, Inc., and provides tips to parents and students on how to safeguard information online. Although i-Safe, Inc., offers tips, it is crucial that teachers explain some of them, such as “know how to exit an inappropriate website.” Too often, our students get caught up in the surprise of having found an inappropriate website instead of simply clicking the back button or exiting from the window. I will never forget my first year of teaching when my AP Government students were doing a project on the executive branch of the government. Too late, I realized that there is a big difference between the official site of whitehouse.gov and the extremely inappropriate site of whitehouse.com.
Another site is hosted by NetSmartz.org, which is run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Again, this site is targeted mainly to students and parents; however, there is a substantial section for educators. Here, you can order lesson plan kits that are targeted to various grade levels.
A final website that I found extremely useful is from eSchoolNews and is an article on how schools are teaching internet safety. One idea that I found interesting in the article is the concept of teaching internet safety through online games. They suggested using material from CyberSmart! or WebWiseKids. I recently was introduced to free programs from EverFi at an Economics conference, and they also have sections on teaching internet safety. I love that these make the incorporation of internet safety information entertaining for kids.
Although it is nearly impossible to protect our students from everything, it is crucial that we give them the tools to safely navigate the internet on their own. My hope after this week is to do a much better job of addressing the importance of keeping private information private and how to deal with inappropriate sites when they are happened upon. As always, I look forward to your comments!