Internet Awarenessand Safety

For Educators and Their Students

Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

The Technologies, Benefits, and Concerns

Mark Wagner

Educational Technologist

The Technologies

The Read-Only Web

• Powerful resource for educators and students, but…

• Information moves from publishers to consumers

• Information cannot be edited

• One-Way Web(Web 1.0)

The Read/Write Web

• It is now as easy to create as it is to consume.

• Anyone can publish, share, and change information

• Two-Way Web

(Web 2.0)• This is changing our

world!

Blogs

• Web + Log = weblog

or “we blog”• Easily created• Easily updated• If you can email, you

can blog.• Blogs allow visitors

to comment.

www.technorati.com

Educational Blogs

• Teacher web sites• Class web sites• Learning journals• Book Clubs• Connect with

Authors and Experts• Pen pals• Professional

Development• Reflective Practice

www.edublogs.org

Podcasts

• Podcasts are blogs with audio or video.

• Podcasts are like Internet radio shows or TV shows.

• Podcasts are consumed on demand.

www.podomatic.com

Educational Podcasts

• Lectures & lessons• Just-in-time learning• School News• Classroom News• Final Projects• Presentations• Performances• Foreign Languages• Music

www.epnweb.org

Wikis

• Websites anyone can edit!

• If you can use a word processor, you can use a wiki.

• Visitors can see a history of changes and revert to earlier versions.

Wikipedia

• Online encyclopedia• Collaboratively

authored and edited• Over 1 millions

users worldwide• Over 1 million

articles in English• Great resource, but..• Use with caution

www.wikipedia.org

Educational Wikis

• Collaboratively authored class texts

• Writing projects• Group projects• Sharing resources• Grade level teams• Subject area teams• Professional

Development

www.wikispaces.org/site/for/teachers/

Other Services

FURL.net - Annotate, save, and share bookmarks online!

Flickr.com - Upload, tag, and share images online!

Thinkfree - Create and share office documents online!

www.youtube.com

Social Networking

• Members have profiles

• May contain personal information

• Used to connect with others

• Often includes a blog, pictures, songs, videos, and messages.

www.myspace.com

Educational Uses

• Recruiting & Admissions

• 21st Century Literacy & Safety

• Educator Networks

www.isight-ed.com

MySpace

• Profiles• Pics, videos, blogs• Comments and

Messages• Links to friends• Search by school• Teens check often

www.myspace.com

Why MySpace?

• New “Town Square”• Teens gather with

friends online• Most are not there

to meet strangers• Most ignore adults• Most go online to do

good things

Why MySpace?

• Healthy social outlet• Physically safe• Teens develop their

identities• Coming-of-age

experiences• Networking skills• Creative Skills• 21st century skills

IM, Chat, and Text

• eMail is for adults• Instant Messages

(IM)• Chat Rooms• Text Messages

(Texting)• Comments

www.aim.com

Educational IM, Chat, & Text

• Allows just-in-time and on-demand help

• Flexible chat between classrooms

• Keep in touch with students and alumni

The Benefits

Engagement and Motivation

• Digital Natives already enjoy these technologies

• Interactive and responsive

• Personalized• Appeal to multiple

learning styles

Context

• Students access, process, and create

• Authentic Purpose• Authentic Audience• It’s about content

and communication - not the technology

Inquiry

• Students discover, explore, and contribute

• Authentic problems• Individualized• Empowering

Collaboration

• Students connect with peers and experts

• Interpersonal skills• Tools of the 21st

Century workplace• Results oriented

Reflection

• Students read, think, and compose

• Writing is learning• So is creating and

editing other media• Metacognition• Reflective Practice• And Feedback!

The Concerns

Information Literacy

• Relevance?• Source?• Agenda or bias?• Fact Checking• Trusted Sources

www.big6.com

Inappropriate Content

• Offensive, sexual, or violent content

• Due Diligence• Increasingly difficult

to filter• Appropriate

responses to the inevitable

Inappropriate Sharing

• Students may post:– Inappropriately– Unsafely– Irresponsibly– Provocatively– Illicit or illegal

behavior

• Students will post outside of school!

Threats and Cyber-bullying

• Students may post threats

• Threats that impact attendance or academics are a school concern

• Credible threats may be a criminal matter

www.cyberbully.org

Free Speech Concerns

• Students do have 1st Amendment Rights

• Parody is protected• We cannot control

students, we can educate them

Intellectual Property

• Academic Honesty• Copyright Law• Digital Millennium

Copyright Act of 1998

• Alternative licenses

http://creativecommons.org/ Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

Fraud and Identity Theft

• Students may put their families and friends at risk

• Students are at risk• Fraud• Theft• Identity Theft

www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Stalkers and Predators

• Most serious consequence of inappropriate sharing

• Predators do hunt children through online social networks

• Students can protect themselves

www.perverted-justice.com

A New Perspective

• Citizen Journalism• Citizen Police Work• Threats, suicides,

and risky behavior are often reported

• Sting operations catch criminals

• “My space is safer for teens than predators.”

Lack of Understanding

• Fear of the Unknown

• Some adults vilify technologies with many benefits

• Deleting Online Predators’ Act 2006

• Potential for rebellion and destruction of trust

www.saveyourspace.org

Proactive Strategies

Legal Protections

• Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)– Filtering, Monitoring, & Policies

• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)– Policies, Parental Consent, Protection of Info

• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act– Stiff Penalties for Offenders, National Registry

Keeping Students Safe

• Responsibility, Appropriateness, and Common Sense

• Planning• Discussions• Teachable Moments• A letter home &

permission slips

Guidelines for Students

• Do not reveal personal information

• Do not post provocative pictures

• Consider the consequences

• Consider the future

Code of Ethics

• Seek Truth and Express It

• Minimize Harm• Be Accountable• Respect Information

and its Infrastructure

Controlled Environments

• Class Blogmeister (Free)

www.classblogmeister.com

• November Learning Communities ($)

www.novemberlearning.com

Establishing a Defense

• A Chain of Command

• An Organizational Policy on Blogs etc.

• Transparency• Exploit the New

Medium

Police Demonstration

Detective Zach Martinez

Proactive Strategies

• Communicate with students

• Communicate with other educators

• Communicate with IT

• Communicate with the police

• Confront students who are behaving in irresponsible, inappropriate, or unsafe ways. Do not look the other way.

Q & A

Mark Wagner &

Detective Zach Martinez

Credits

• Laguna Beach Unified School District

• Orange County Department of Education

• Educational Technology and Life Corporation

• Laguna Beach Police Department

Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

References

Hewitt, H. (2005) Blog: understanding the information reformation that’s changing your world. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Wagner, M. D. (2006). An Introduction to the read/write web in education. Gifted Education Communicator. Summer 2006, Vol 37, No. 2.

References

Warlick, D. F. (2005a). Classroom blogging: a teacher’s guide to the blogosphere. Raleigh, NC: The Landmark Project.

Warlick, D.F. (2005b). Raw materials for the mind: a teacher’s guide to digital literacy. Raleigh, NC: The Landmark Project.

Warlick, D. F. (2004). Redefining literacy for the 21st century. Worthington, OH: Linworth Publishing.

Online Resources

Will Richardson’s Blog (Educator-Blogger)www.weblogg-ed.com

David Warlick’s Blog (Landmark Project)http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Danah Boyd’s Blog (UC Berkeley)www.zephoria.org/thoughts/

Henry Jenkins’s Blog (MIT)http://www.henryjenkins.org/

Contact InformationDetective Zach Martinez

Laguna Beach Police Department949-497-0360

Victor Guthrie, Director Information TechnologyLaguna Beach Unified School District949-497-7700 vguthrie@lagunabeachschools.org

Mark Wagner, PresidentEducational Technology and Life Corporation949-394-6071 mark@edtechlife.com

Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

Internet Awarenessand Safety

For Educators and Their Students

Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5