Key Issues and Recommendations to Consider
1. Student Privacy: We need to take steps to protect the personal information of students and teach students how to protect themselves.
- Educators should teach their students about Internet safety and security. There are many resources that can assist us in this process. There are even virtual games available that teach internet safety. Websites like http://www.webwisekids.org/ and http://mediasmarts.ca/ provide information, lesson ideas, interactive games and other tech safety resources to students, parents and teachers.
- Educators should never enter their students’ personal information online, unless it is a secure website your district instructs you to use. We should also be careful not to send any personal information via email.
- Students should be instructed not to enter their personal information online. If they are posting comments on a public site, they can use their first name and last initial, rather than their full name.
- Educators should avoid posting any photographs of their students online without explicit permission from parents.
- When using class blogs or social websites, we should try to use secure websites that are password protected and education based.
2. Inappropriate Content: Inappropriate or offensive material may not always be filtered out of our school internet access.
- We can plan for potential issues. We can take preventative measures and teach our students how to handle this issue if it arises. In my own classroom, my students know to immediately close their laptops if something “pops-up”. They know not to cause a scene and show other students. Students need to be taught to deal with inappropriate or offensive material in an appropriate way.
- Inform parents (proactively) if an incident happens in class. We can also notify parents about our procedures for this issue before we let students use the internet in our classes.
- We can pre-screen the websites that we provide to our students. It is important to do this frequently, particularly because links can change quickly. If we provide students with the links to click on rather than just writing down a website for them to visit, we can avoid students typing any incorrect web addresses.
- Educators can also structure the online activities. There will be less opportunity for students to come across inappropriate material if they are following your specific instructions.
3. Cyberbullying: This is a growing concern with emerging social technologies. It is a topic that should be addressed in every class that utilizes technology.
- Educate yourself so you can teach your students about what is considered cyberbullying, how to avoid it and how to handle a situation, if it arises. There are numerous online resources and videos dedicated to the topic of cyberbullying.
- Establish a Technology Code of Conduct for your classroom. Many schools and school districts already have some available for you to use or adapt. Some educational websites, like Edmodo, also have them available for you. I had students read and sign my classroom technology code of conduct and then make their own additions to the code so that they would personally buy into it.
Additional Internet Safety Resources
http://www.staysafeonline.org/
http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/
http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/bullyingandcyberbullyingprevention.cfm
http://www.webwisekids.org/
*Blog Sources
Concept map created on https://bubbl.us/
Shelly, G., Gunter, G. & Gunter, R. (2012). Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology in a Connected World (7th Ed.). Boston, MA: Course Technology.