As teachers in today’s educational world, it is our job to be able to keep our students safe while they are using the technology devices that we are providing to them. Technology is a part of each day in classrooms at our school. They need to be able to safely use these tools at school, as well as at home. Parents and teachers should both be prepared to teach their child about the importance of internet safety and digital citizenship. Although we are teaching these children each day, we are learning about all of the technology that we are using as well. Below are some basic internet safety tips that we can use to stay safe on computers.
10 Online Safety Tips:
- Keep Personal Information Professional and Limited -----Potential employers will only look at the things that they need to know, including professional background and how to get in touch with you. Don’t give out relationship statuses or home addresses.
- Keep Privacy Settings On-----Hackers love knowing everything about you, so take charge of your information and leave the privacy settings on.
- Practice Safe Browsing------Don’t visit dangerous sites. Cybercriminals use things as bait, and they know when people are searching for things to look at.
- Make Sure Your Internet Connection is Secure------When you go on a public Wi-Fi connection, you have no control over the security of that connection. Make sure that your device is secure before you give out any information that you might not want someone else to know.
- Be Careful What You Download-----Downloading certain programs or apps may allow information to get stolen.
- Choose Strong Passwords------Passwords are weak spot in the internet structure, but they are also a necessity for keeping any information private.
- Make Online Purchases From Secure Sites-----Only make purchases from sites that you know are secure. Otherwise, your information may get into the wrong hands.
- Be Careful What You Post-----Anything that you say or do online will stay forever. It does not remove any information, and there is no way to “take back” anything that you may have said.
- Be Careful Who You Meet Online-----People aren’t always what they seem. Be careful when talking, emailing, or messaging anyone on the internet. NEVER go out and meet anyone that you have met.
- Keep Your Antivirus Program Up To Date----Make sure that you have a good antivirus program to block out anything that may become a threat to your computer.
Teacher Tips for Our Students:
- Look at the site address, look for the “s” in the address. If the “s” is there, it means that the site is encrypted and safe to use. “NO S? REASSESS!”
- Privacy Policies are something that every safe site should have. No Policy? No GO!
- If a tool is risky, or a device seems unsafe, check with your school specialist about what to do next.
- Never Talk to Strangers
- Do not talk to strangers on the internet. Emailing, messaging, and chatting are three things that students should never do with anyone that they do not know. Meeting up with these people should NEVER happen.
- Don't Overshare
- When talking to people on the internet, never give our too much information. This could be dangerous.
- Never Disclose Location
- Students should never tell anyone any information about the location that they are in.
- Digital Literacy- Those who understand the digital world are more likely to make better decisions when using the internet.
- Digital Civility- Internet users should demonstrate respect for others, both on the internet, and off. They should learn how to behave ethically.
- Information Literacy- Information literacy is the ability to effectively use the internet to be able to complete a task, answer a question, or research a topic.
Journey North
Journey North is a website where students or teachers can track migration patterns of different animals. This is a collaborative website. Teachers and students can get on this website and post their sightings and findings about these different animals. Students can discover the different places where these animals are being spotted, and then research the area and the culture that relates to that area. Students could use a blogging tool to blog about the animals' migration patterns and seasons. Screencastify or Seesaw could be used to create an interactive video about the animal that the student is focusing on. Students could also do more research about their animals, and then create a book about it using different sites, such as StoryJumper.
ePals
ePals is a website that students can use to become "online pen pals" with other students. Students can collaborate with other students about different research topics, or just topics in general. They can choose who they talk to by different topics, such as languages, age, country, etc. Students can learn more about the area that these students live in, and may learn to appreciate things more if the other student doesn't have access to as many things as they may have. Students can use different tools with this as well, such as Screencastify or Seesaw as well. However, they may be able to teach their ePal about other Web 2.0 tools that he/she can use as well.
Digital Citizenship. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/digital-citizenship
Online Safety Tips. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/top-10-internet-safety-rules-and-what-not-to-do-online
What should students do to be safe when using email and the Internet? - D.E.T. Universe. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://sites.google.com/site/detuniverse/-what-should-students-do-to-be-safe-when-using-email-and-the-internet