Trying to help the teachers with internet safety isn't that big of a deal. In my school district, they keep us locked down real tight when it comes to working on-line. It is hard to get to certain websites because they block a lot of sites, especially the educational ones. We have to fill out a form to see if the county will allow us to go to educational websites. We still need to make sure that we are keeping the students safe while being on-line.
There are many people out there that will take advantage of kids through e-mail, blog and twitter. We can teach the students what to look for when it comes to being at home on-line. Staying away from those who they do not know, and only opening e-mail from the friends and family they know. They also need to only go to websites that are age appropriate. As educators, practicing internet safety in the classroom might help the students to use their knowledge from the classroom to their home. The only way they are going to learn is by guiding them through websites the teacher knows is safe. The district just needs to trust the teacher's judgement on site that are appropriate and useful for the students.
I have tried to look at the district internet safety for my county and the result is a link, but the link goes to a blank page that is not up and running. I have tried to e-mail the head hanchos about the link and I haven't heard anything yet. It looks like I might be e-mail the entire Instruction Technology Department to get the answer that I am looking for. I have tried to look at other district safety plans and one of them has a link that is connected to a website that is all about internet safety for students: netsmarz.org and netsmarzkids.org.
I am glad that your district has you guys on lock down! :) I know our students get around almost every block we put up, which can be frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI had to go to the Ga DOE to get information about Internet safety and then half of those links did not work, so I am concerned for Georgia as a whole on educating our students on safety. They talked about a course that should be in schools (and so did my county tech plan), but every time I try to find this course, I end up at dead links. It seems we are just to gung-ho for our counties! :)
It is a shame that the kids can get to whatever your not wanting them looking at, but as teacher we have so many firewalls and unauthorized access blocks.
ReplyDeleteDon't get discouraged with running into all those dead end leads /links. Keep asking around, the right person will hear about the questions you pose and changes will happen eventually. (Most likely being someone else's idea)
Keep modeling safe and appropriate internet safety usage, students are watching and many are listening.