The goal of this course is to increase both student and teacher awareness of some of the dangers that are inherent with web use. The Internet is a powerful educational tool that is here to stay, but ensuring that students both remain safe and broaden their awareness of the online world is crucial. We will examine some strategies and explore resources that demonstrate how to impart Internet safety to students and teachers alike.
Providing students with access to technology can be a wonderful tool in the classroom. Projects can come to life, research is enhanced, quick access to primary documents is possible, and access to online media can provide rich classroom resources. However, navigating through the Internet can have some pitfalls for your students. They can accidentally or purposely visit web sites that contain sexual or violent content, they can be cyberbullied by a classmate, or could be approached online by an adult in an inappropriate manner. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimate that 20% of children have been the victims of online harassment in some form.
In this course we will examine ways to help make students safer, more aware, and more careful with their online behaviors. This involves classroom management and teaching critical thinking skills to help students evaluate web sites and online behaviors. Also, teachers need to understand more about the sites their students visit and how to best manage a technology-infused classroom--sometimes a very different management process from a traditional classroom.
The goal of this course is to increase both student and teacher awareness of some of the dangers that are inherent with web use, and how best to combat these issues in the classroom without frightening students or severely limiting their online access.
Objectives
Participants in this course will be able to:
Learn management strategies for the technology-infused classroom.
Understand several criteria for evaluating web sites for classroom use.
Discover online resources to help students remain safe while navigating the web.
Session One: Regulating the Tech-Infused Classroom
Overview One of the primary ways to encourage Internet safety in the technology-infused classroom is to set up clear expectations from your students. Most school districts have Internet Acceptable Use Policies in place; it’s always helpful to familiarize yourself with those stipulations. They can also provide you with ideas on creating an effective and enforceable Internet Acceptable Use Policy for your own classroom. Whether you create your own guidelines or solicit ideas from your students, make sure that students understand the rules and why they are in place. It is important to post the rules in a visible place as a reminder as well as for easy reference.
Good classroom management can prevent students from going off-track and visiting sites that may be inappropriate. Having a clear plan, keeping the pace of the lesson moving, and physically circulating around the room can go a long way toward preventing student misbehavior online.
Readings
In the How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom Book, read Chapter 1, “How to Manage the New Media Classroom.”
On the How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom CD-ROM, read the Classroom Management section and watch teacher videos. There are three videos of teachers implementing technology in the classroom. Choose to watch the video that is most applicable to your grade level.
Visit the three links below, all examples of AIUP’s (Acceptable Internet Use Policies), pay attention to the rules chosen and what is and is not permitted.
Reflection Using the chart on page 13 of the How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom text, as well as the online examples to guide you, create your own classroom Acceptable Use Policy. Tailor it to your own classroom situation, students, and needs.
Overview Too many students (as well as adults) blindly trust the information they find online. In our world of instant gratification, we quickly accept information that may or may not fit our needs, and may or may not be inaccurate or misleading. With the sophisticated tools available on the home market, those with ulterior motives can easily design a site that would fool the most seasoned among us.
Many students are very knowledgeable about how to navigate the web, but may still need guidance about information literacy and some of the misleading information that can be found on the web. Some of these sites are clearly designed to fool and influence young people, so it is important to both raise their awareness and provide them with some critical thinking skills to help them recognize material that is less than credible.
Readings
In the How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom book, please read the Kathy Schrock article (p. 84-86) on evaluating web sites. Note the specific criteria listed.
Visit the Bogus Web Sites web page (http://tinyurl.com/boguswebsites). There are many examples listed on this page. As you look at each site, consider the criteria provided by Kathy Schrock.
Reflection What are some criteria for a “good” web site that presents quality information? How can you use bogus web sites to teach students about the importance of evaluating web sites? Choose one of the bogus web sites listed at the Bogus Web Sites page and describe how you might use it to introduce this crucial topic to your class.
Overview Luckily, there are a lot of organizations and concerned individuals who have created extremely helpful resources on the web to help keep kids safer on the web. Created with teachers, parents, and children in mind, these sites contain tools, tips, strategies, and plans of action in case things do take a wrong turn. Prevention is discussed, so students know what types of sites and behaviors to avoid. Problem-solving is also discussed to assist students who may have already been targeted online.
If needed, there is plenty of software available to assist you, such as filters, keystroke readers, and program controls (read the PC Magazine article to learn more). There is also a lot of free, meaningful assistance you can receive to make your students aware of what they can do to increase their safety online. Visit the following web resources.
Readings
Read the article “Keep Your Kids Safe.” http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1618806,00.asp. Written for parents, it provides tips and resources to promote Internet safety for all students, both in and out of the classroom.
Read Microsoft’s list of “Ten Things You Can Teach Kids to Improve their Web Safety” (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/guidelines/rules.mspx). Again, this list is written for parents, but consider how they could be modified for classroom use.
Choose three of the sites below to review. All contain resources on Internet Safety for children.
Reflection Choose one of the sites listed above and describe how that tool could be effectively used to inform students about risks on the web and enhance Internet safety in the classroom.
Create an idea for a lesson plan to teach your students about any form of Internet safety or information literacy using one of the approaches or web sites introduced in this class. What are some compelling ways to inform your students about some of the potential dangers on the web, while also encouraging critical thinking skills and responsible use of the Internet?
Internet Safety for Students, Colonial Heights, VA school district http://www.colonialhts.net/internet_safety.cfm
A comprehensive list of links and resources, including information on MySpace and recent media reports.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTip Line http://cybertipline.com
A web portal which links to pages for parents, ways to report abuse, and activities for students concerning Internet safety.
