Safety first! How many times have we heard that phrase at one time or another? Today in 2010, that phrase has a whole new meaning when it comes to the internet. The internet has become a virtual playground when it comes to almost everyone in the world. Young, old, black, white, fat, skinny, we are all connected, but who patrols this land of technology? Not many, thats why we as teachers need to teach appropriate and safe skills to our students on how to use the internet. If you watch the news any day of the week we can see how their are child predators, ex cons, etc waiting for children to take advantage of online. But to a young child how would they know the difference? They don't, thats why we need to teach internet safety.
The site that spoke about the 3 I's was fantastic! Informed, Interested, In view, these are words to live by if you are an educator or parent. We need to make sure we know whats going on, what are they doing, what are they looking at, who are they talking to etc. As stated on the site, schools have all sorts of filters to weed out the wrong kinds of sites, but home computers do not. Parents need to seriously monitor what their children are doing, and what they are posting. Whatever you post is now out their on the world wide web and anyone can get it. Thats a pretty big price to pay!
The site on fair use was also interesting for teachers. We now have access to all types of material that can be beneficial in our classrooms; however their are copyright laws that need to be obeyed. With the outburst of unlimited material, we need to make sure we know our rights as far as copying go.
Lastly, technology agreement forms are now an essential on the first day of school, right up there with the emergency cards. In the school I work in students must have their technology form form up to date and signed before they can even turn a computer on. This is something the district takes seriously and rightly so. The staff is also required to have an up to date technology form on file at all times.
Times are changing, and that is a positive, lets just be safe about it!
My name is Pam and I am a grad student at MSMC. I am passionate about teaching young children and I am so thankful for everything I have learned thus far at MSMC. My blog is titled Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach because I believe that we are all lifelong learners. As we move into our careers as teachers we will be continuously learning from our peers and students. Happy blogging!
The Way of the Future
We are the 21st Century Teachers
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI too found the site for fair use interesting and informative. I had thought that there was an exemption for limited educational purposes. Boy was I wrong. I plan to be much more diligent in this area in the future. I will make sure to credit everything I use from the internet and not use anything if I am unsure of the fair use considerations.