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News coverage about a middle school student victimized by online and offline bullying has prompted a grassroots solidarity campaign. She's received over 1,400 letters of support so far, and it's serving as a teachable moment that no school should ignore. Olivia Gardner was just a sixth grader when the bullying began two years ago. Previously diagnosed with epilepsy, Olivia was tormented by her peers because of the disease. In school, they'd call her "retard." Online, they created an "Olivia Haters" page on MySpace and would use it to make fun of her. The school district eventually got involved, bringing in the families of the kids who were involved in the bullying, as well as holding a series of student assemblies on the problem. But it was too little, too late for Olivia, who soon transferred to another school.

Teachable moment/Good lesson for kids: online actions have offline consequences, even in the adult world.

An inappropriate comment has arrived on a student site. What do you do? How do you turn this into a teachable moment?

The author illustrates how he went about authenticating whether a Twitter plea for help (buried under rubble in Chile) was for real or a hoax. Great teachable moment not to believe everything you read. This story could be used to launch a classroom discussion.

Teachable moment about the significance of digital footprints and online reputation in today's job market, even beyond corporate America. This blog recounts the story of someone who advertised for a housekeeper on Craigslist, researched the job candidates' social networking history and then, reports on what they found.

Made a mistake? Own it, Fix it, Learn from it." Learn how this teacher developed a student contract and handled the consequences of computer hacking attempts by her students.

Students have always gossiped and complained about their teachers. But in cyberspace such behaviour can take on a life of its own. Cases of cyberbullying are opportunities to teach about responsibilities, consequences and healthy relationships. Employers are starting to check prospective employees' online habits: your resumé is one thing, but what kind of person are you online? We all leave digital footprints.

Teachable moments. How one teacher dealt with cyberbullying in his classroom.

Teachable moment: In addition to the three important lessons, the teacher guided students through a process of creating and posting their own version of appropriate rules for cell phones in school. Over five dozen student comments are posted. Interesting stuff.

Higher ed requires incoming freshmen to take Composition and some form of math, and so, too, should universities require students to take a course that helps them identify reputable information in the vast expanse of the web.

In November 2001 the National Capital Commission, the Crown corporation responsible for planning and developing Canada's National Capital Region, caused some controversy when they published a promotional brochure for the city of Ottawa that featured a digitally enhanced photo on its cover.

A blogger recounts the story of a woman's search for a housekeeper. After checking the work resumes of the most promising candidates, she googled each person's name. The results illustrate the need to manage your personal identity online and could be used as a good teaching example for kids.

A good demonstration of information that both teens (and adults) divulge online that could be used against them to commit home invasion crimes: just type in the words "headed to" in the Twitter Search Engine and watch how many people indicate that they are not home!

How one person's rant against his own company in a public media forum brought far more attention than he desired.

Original coverage of the Olivia Gardner story in the San Francisco Chronicle. See: Bullied girl finds comfort in letters from hundreds of strangers, a campaign begun by two Mill Valley sisters in 2007.

Olivia's Letters is a lesson plan about bullying and cyber bullying that is designed to develop empathy and bystander awareness in children and youth. It was inspired by a cyberbullying incident in Marin County, CA. Two Mill Valley teens empathized with the young girl who had been victimized and took it upon themselves to start an "Olivia's Letters" campaign to boost her spirits. Their actions resulted in over 14,000 letters to Olivia from people across the country and around the world.

The Today Show interview with Olivia Gardner might be a useful addition to the lesson plan on Olivia's letters.

The Today Show interview with Olivia Gardner might be a useful addition to the lesson plan on Olivia's letters.

Video interview with Olivia Gardner on the Today Show. Fourteen-year-old Olivia Gardner gets encouragement from other teens. People around the world are pouring their hearts out and offering words of encouragement and sympathy to a Northern California teenager who was taunted and teased so mercilessly that she stayed up nights thinking of ways she could kill herself. Thousands of letters have arrived already since word spread in the media and in cyberspace about the plight of 14-year-old Olivia Gardner.

This is why I don't share the photos of my children online in public places. After one pic of a child at school was favorited in this way, I took the pic down and am ridiculously vigilant about checking to see how many photos have been favorited and which ones to see if there is one that some sicko has looked at. This is an article I'm going to share with my digiteen dream team! It is an important one to share!

In January 2009, Alex Couros received an email notice saying that a few of his Flickr photos had been favorited. These particular photos were of his children, mostly of his daughter. Every time this happens, he goes to see who the Flickr user is, and most of the time, it is a family member, a close friend, or someone he know through Twitter (or other social network). He did not recognize the user in this particular case, and when he went to see their photos, the Flickr message alerted him that none of the user's photos were available. Seeing as his photos had been favorited, he went to see what other photos had been marked as favorites by this user.