Safety?

I think one of the foremost concerns of parents, educators, and administrators is keeping students safe while they are interacting on the web. Everyday, we hear horror stories about the internet and safety issues concerning our children. I think it's important for teachers to understand and be aware of the issues, but also to be proactive about discussing those same issues with his or her students and finding ways to circumvent those issues. The internet can be a powerful tool for learning, if used correctly and safely.

For me, one of my most important concerns is monitoring what students ARE watching, reading, and doing on the internet. Websites like "ChatRoulette" allow students to be instantly connected with other users through video, but over the past couple of months I've heard many stories and experience for myself inappropriate use of such resources. I think it's important to set up groundrules and consequences for innappropriate use of the web in school. During open house, parents and teachers should discuss such inappropriate use at home and keep the lines of communication open.

Some other important rules/themes/conversations to have with students about internet safety:

1) Have a class wide debate of the use of the internet in the classroom. How can it be productive? How can it be harmful? What should teachers do to keep students safe? What should students do to keep themselves safe? What stories have students heard about inappropriate uses of the internet?

2) Enable safety mode on YouTube.

3) Enable safe search on google and other search engines.

4) Set up computers in classroom in a way that enables monitoring by a teacher or adult present.

5) Read this post to become aware and understand the signs/effects of cyber bullying: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/cyberbullying-tips

6) Encourage critical thinking with websites such as Wikipedia, where anyone can post information. Have class discussions about why such material might represent biases. Critical media literacy can become an important discussion when using the internet!

7) I think it's also important for students to understand the idea of plagirism, and how it's easy to forgot to give credit to research or ideas found online.

8) Encourgae balanced use of the internet in the classroom and at home.

9) Establish privacy settings for students, but keep a master list of passwords, etc.

10) Be open and honest with students about the internet!