Internet Safety - Curriculum for all students?

It has been a few days since I have been on twitter. I am on vacation this week, so I am trying to take a vacation from the online world! Sort of what Jeff did, but on the lighter side! Just cutting back a bit. I did venture on though for a few minutes this evening and came upon CoolCatTeacher - AKA Vicki Davis telling us she was going to be starting a live online blog using CoverItLive. The topic this evening, live from Princeton University, was about internet safety. Click here to revisit the live chat.

Talk about Web2.0 tools!! It was fun to communicate with other technology teachers in a live environment, all the while, during a live presentation presented by Nancy Williard - director of Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. When reading Nancy's blog, I was surprised to read her post about iSafe.org. I did not realize they were using some outdated material and "scare" tactics. I admit, I use the curriculum from iSafe, and I think some of it is great.

Reading an article from the NY Times on dangers of the internet, it says that the internet is not as "scary" as the media portrays it. According to the author of the article, David Pogue, he states, :“Sure, there are dangers. But they’re hugely overhyped by the media. The tales of pedophiles luring children out of their homes are like plane crashes: they happen extremely rarely, but when they do, they make headlines everywhere. The Internet is just another facet of socialization for the new generation; as always, common sense and a level head are the best safeguards.”

I do know that I use a combination of many resources when it comes to teaching internet safety. Also, in combination with internet safety, I know I must begin teaching "digital citizenship" to all of my students. It is of great importance that the students know how to collaborate with each other using the most respectful techniques possible to them out in "cyber-space".

I also joined Vicki's new grass roots movement for responsible internet safety education. Advocates for Digital Citizenship, Safety and Success.
On this wiki, Vicki is gathering a lot of different information to educate our youth on how to be good "digital citizens". It is a discussion we must have with children using the internet. I agree!

Any suggestions or information welcomed! :)

Blogging, Writing, Literacy

It is no surprise one of the goals of our district is literacy. We are encouraged to improve upon writing in each of our classes regardless of the content. I try to encourage writing in my technology classroom with the use of journals and forums(blog type exercises). There are a few rules I try to encourage in their writing. They must capitalize the first letter of every sentence, capitalize their I's and write in complete sentences. It is still difficult for the student's to adhere to the few rules I have laid out. All too often, even with all of the verbal warnings, I see shorthand writing, abbreviations as well as lower case i's throughout their writing. With the moodle program we use, they have a whole WYSIWYG full of emoticons, which I say are fine to use, if they could just complete the sentences!

According to the CNN article BTW, teen writing may cause teachers to :( "It's nothing to LOL about: Despite the best efforts to keep school writing assignments formal, two-thirds of teens admit in a survey that emoticons and other informal styles have crept in." :) The article then goes on to say,"The Pew Internet and American Life Project, in a study released Thursday, also found that teens who keep blogs or use social-networking sites such as Facebook or News Corp.'s MySpace have a greater tendency to slip nonstandard elements into assignments."

I agree with the article that it is a "teachable" moment for the students and I also make sure to let them know with the grade they receive as well as my immediate feedback that the grammar they chose to use in their journals is not one: proper and two: they did not follow directions. I am not sure if they care or not, but I am trying to keep the English Language alive. It says further in the article that the language is always changing, and possibly the shorthand IM language may begin to creep in as part of the formal style. Although students use blogging and wiki's at home, they are still resorting to conventional hand writing for most of the school writing they do. Not all classrooms or homes have computers and I am sure teachers do not require typed work.

In conclusion, the article states: "Teens who keep blogs are more likely to engage in personal writing. They also tend to believe that writing will prove crucial to their eventual success in life."

I hope we can encourage our youth to want to write and we value blogging as a viable literacy tool in our schools. Take a look at this blog which discusses student writing success. People are talking!

Look at JOTT, and how you can use a simple cellphone as a recorder and then you can print out into text... Very cool! :) There are endless possibilities for ALL learners here.

Listen to NPR and Text-Messaging Shorthand Invades Schools