Web 2.0 and Safety
Safety, Web 2.0 June 4th, 2007This week I am beginning to write lessons and tutorials for my next year students in Web 2.0. In searching for a beginning point I am thinking about students who may or may not already have a web presence. My next year students will be in 7th or 8th grade, old enough to use the internet for learning, but not yet old enough to be unsupervised on the web. Because of this I have decided to use a Google Apps web page with associated gmail. I will also teach them to use an avatar instead of including their pictures in their profiles. I feel that this is very important for students to protect themselves online and will spend time in class educating them about the dangers that can be found on the web. I will also impose strict guidelines on their gmail accounts which I will be able to check if needed.
What other safety practice do you think are needed for middle school students when interacting on the web?
June 5th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Maybe our students here in NZ are different from yours but my Year 7 & 8 students (11 - 13 yr olds) basically had a web presence before they even entered my class. We surveyed our students this year and at least 60% through the school have access to the Internet whenever they want. I feel that my job is to teach them internet safety but not put any blocks in place than we already have - we have a filter which blocks our access to many sites (Flickr, Google Video etc but not You Tube!). My students nearly all have blogs which they use for school work, some have also got other blogs, Bebo accounts etc. While I don’t moderate their blog comments I do get an RSS feed of all posts and comments. If anything ‘bad’ was to happen I would use this as another teaching session. I have parental permission to post pictures, videos, podcasts etc of my students online. You can lock down things as much as you like but there comes a time when they will be on the internet alone and then ..
Anyway those are my thoughts for what they are worth.
Lynne
June 8th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Ms. S,
Great idea!
My only concern would be this…
Students, esp younger students like to talk, they like to share info among theselves, and most of all, they like to bend the rules till they squeak.
I think there will have to be some way of making sure that each student understands that THEY are solely responsbile for anything posted or written in thier name.
If they share thier ID and Password with thier best Buddy Joe, and next week they become the scum-bag that stole ol’ Joey’s girlfriend and they’re now sworn enemies for life…
THEY are still reposbsible if Joey logs on, in thier name, and posts a bomb threat that locks down the school.
I only think of this because it’s something “I” would have done at that age (and later, lol!)
Not sure how to enforce this, or get this commitment, but hey, you’re the teacher, that’s YOUR job! I just come up with the brilliant questions…
-Perk