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Great YouTube video on using Diigo.

Courtesy of the Computer Ethics Institute.

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.

All you need to know about copyright use and citations.

A free-to-play "alternate reality game" from the UK commissioned by Channel 4 Education that is intended to give teenage players a personal encounter with everything from identity theft to cyber stalking. Kids (age 14-16) explore websites, search for clues, receive phone calls, chat on IM, and tackle puzzles and mini-games. Through thirteen challenges, (each lasting 10-20 minutes) and a dramatic storyline, they find out who they can trust and who they can't.

Fcebook describes these staffers as an internal police force, charged with regulating users' decorum, hunting spammers and working with actual law-enforcement agencies to help solve crimes. Part hall monitors, part vice cops, these employees are key weapons in Facebook's efforts to maintain its image as a place that's safe for corporate advertisers-more so than predecessor social networks like Friendster and MySpace.

When it comes to texting while driving, teens are a particular risk group considering that, according to Nielsen (PDF), "The average U.S. mobile teen now sends or receives an average of 2,899 text-messages per month" and apparently some of those texts are being sent and read from behind the wheel.

Because cyberbullying is such a new phenomenon, school and law enforcement officials in the United States and other countries are still sorting out the legal technicalities. "Most of what is done online is protected as free speech," says Frannie Wellings, policy fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC.

On June 30th, Missouri governor, Matt Blunt, signed a bill updating state laws against harassment by removing the requirement in the legislation requiring that such harassing communication be written or made over the telephone. Now, harassment from computers, text messages and other electronic devices may also be considered illegal. The amended law also requires school boards to create a written policy requiring schools to report harassment and stalking committed on school property to local police, including such done via the Internet.

Physical and verbal bullying among students are problems well known to teachers and school administrators. This article examines some of the literature on the topic of cyber bullying and provides information on its prevalence, the definition of cyber bullying, communication technologies, legal considerations and suggestions for dealing with the problem.

Social networking Web sites and other technologies enable schoolyard bullies to pack a bigger punch. Advice and concerns from Nancy Willard and other experts in the field.

Bud the Teacher and Stephanie Sandifer are planning an I read blocked blogs day. This is going to be an event for educators advocating access. It would also be a great time to talk about ways to monitor when you provide access. This also happens to be the first aspect of ad4dcss and we've listed it on the wiki. They have shirts that people can get and buttons for your blog.

This is going to be a great project.

MISSING, from Web Wise Kids, is designed to SHOW rather than TELL children about online safety. It's a fun and positive way to teach children how to avoid danger on the Internet. The interactive software adventure tells the story of Zack, a kid in Vancouver, Canada who forms an online friendship with Fantasma. This guy is so cool - he has an online magazine about beach life in California and he sends Zack great stuff, like graphic arts and software. Little does Zack know that he is a predator. After Zach agrees to go to San Diego to be with Fantasma, players work with a detective to find and rescue Zack and arrest Fantasma. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]. Note: Local middle school science teachers have successfully worked this program into their science curriculum since solving the game involves researching and collecting clues.

This video from WebWise Kids tells Katie Canton's story and is excellent to use in class with students. When she was 15, Katie met a 22 year old guy in a chatroom and fell in love. Only after playing the game MISSING with her family, did she come to realize that "John" was an online predator. He is now serving 20 years in prison, after Katie worked with the police and turned in evidence against him. Katie has become an articulate spokesperson for Web Wise Kids and she speaks at school assemblies to advise other kids. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can download Katie Canton's story here. When she was 15, she met a 22 year old guy in a chatroom and fell in love. Only after playing the game MISSING with her family, did Katie come to realize that "John" was an online predator, who is now serving 20 years in prison. Katie has become an articulate spokesperson for Web Wise Kids and she speaks at school assemblies to advise other kids.

In 2005, over 20 billion music files was downloaded illegally. The music industry is trying to come to rights with the problem by working on new and better solutions for legal downloading. The purpose of this site [from Norway] is to work as an eye-opener and to raise a debate around the attitudes towards illegal downloading of music. The campaign site is a movie, especially made for the net, mixed with interactive exercises. In addition to the movie, there are 11 clickable myths & facts.