Group items tagged

One of the most dangerous, insidious aspects of the Internet is the targeting of children by online sexual predators. These criminals employ a series of clever, manipulative tactics to reach out to children in an effort to get them to meet in person. Any parent with children who use the Internet should be aware of the strategies employed by online predators.

Services like Twitter and Plurk let people post very short messages (140 characters or less) to their friends and acquaintances. Founded in 2006, Twitter has attracted millions of users who keep people posted about what they're doing and thinking. It can be as simple as "I'm standing in line at the grocery store" to as profound as a quick comment about a political candidate, a world event or a new book. There's even a video spin-off of this concept called 12 Seconds that allows people to post video clips no longer than 12 seconds.

A court case upholds administrators' rights to discipline a student who used derogatory language on a blog, but questions arise. In Doninger v. Niehoff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in May that a Connecticut school district that disciplined a student for vulgar and derogatory remarks made off-campus did not violate her free speech rights.

A new state law in Kentucky now requires the state Board of Education to develop disciplinary guidelines for bullying. Under the bullying law, the legal definition of harassment would be changed to include student behavior that causes physical harm, intimidation or humiliation for fellow students. The AB 91 law also says bullying can be done and cause harm to a student through the Internet, phone or by mail. It also elevates bullying to a criminal offense - a class B misdemeanor.

Last year, the Court ducked an opportunity to determine in Morse v. Frederick whether public schools have authority to restrict student speech that occurs off of school grounds. The Court's refusal to address this issue was unfortunate. For several decades lower courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, however, courts have struggled with this same question in a new context -- the digital media. Around the country, increasing numbers of courts have been forced to confront the authority of public schools to punish students for speech on the Internet. In most cases, students are challenging punishments they received for creating fake websites mocking their teachers or school administrators or for making offensive comments on websites or instant messages. More often than not, the lower courts are ruling in favor of the schools.

"The lawyer for a Missouri mother accused of creating a fake MySpace page to harass a 13-year-old girl is arguing that charges should be tossed out of court because if she is guilty, then so are millions of Internet users every day."

The Future of Reading: Digital Versus Print.
This is the first in a series of articles that looks at how the Internet and other technological and social forces are changing the way people read.

These are my notes from Kevin Honeycutt's breakout session titled "" at the TTT conference in Wichita, Kansas, on 12 June 2008. Kevin's online safety website is mysafesurf.org. MY THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. I'm recording this session to share as a podcast later. My notes from Kevin's keynote this morning are also available. Kevin's main website is kevinhoneycutt.org.

NETS for Teachers 2008
Unveiled June 30 at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in San Antonio, ISTE's revised National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers mark a significant overhaul of the group's original teacher technology standards, which ISTE introduced in 2000. The revised framework focuses on what teachers should know to help students become productive digital learners and digital citizens.

What is the best way to open a discussion with your children, on a complicated subject such as online safety? Can Mom and Dad get "it"? In this article, Norton's Internet Safety Advocate Marian Merritt introduces easy ways to help you start "The Talk", and keep the dialogue going with your family. Includes 5 questions you should ask and talking tips to guide you in the conversation.

This book was written by three school psychologists, all certified in Olweus Bullying Prevention training. They have applied their knowledge in that area to "cyberbullying." If you are an educator or a parent of an adolescent, this book is a must read. As the authors have stated, the impact of students using computers, etc. has had not only a positive but also a negative impact on the learning environment and safety issues within our schools. Cyberbullying in its infancy is creating an epidemic of problems. Awareness of the problem, what schools and parents should do to address cyberbullying, how the different states and schools systems view cyberbullying, and current resources are discussed by the authors. It is a compilation of the most current research.

It is very important to review this case and learn what can happen to prevet this sort of behavior.

This horrific attack that was videoed and posted on youtube for attention brings many questions and the public spotlight again goes onto the digital world we are creating. It is making its own "rules" which really aren't any. It is time for educators to speak out or be spoken to about what to or not to do.

Fighting cyberbullying isn't just a technical problem. We need to educate children and young people to anticipate, recognize and deal with risks and problems as and when they arise. Children and young people will continue to give out their personal details so they need to be taught more about the management of personal information, both their own and other people's. More importantly they must be encouraged to become emotionally resilient in all areas of their daily lives.

More evidence that kids do not understand what is private in a networked society.
Police have used a law intended to keep pornographic magazines away from children as the basis for arresting four middle-school students accused of using cell phone cameras to snap nude photos of themselves and exchanging the images. Your students should know that exchange of nude photos [another form of cyberbullying] falls under "child pornography" laws and if prosecuted to the full extent of the law, they could spend time in juvenile hall and be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of their life.

An excellent project for elementary students to connect with other classes.

A great way to get started with technology is to join in an exciting project. this project by Susan Silverman was designed using the principles of Universal Design for Learning. I've heard her present and she is a pro. (Along with my friend Jennifer Wagner.)

Non profit organizations like this encourage internet access in underprivaleged areas. This is great.

HotCity Wireless, a non-profit organization, has been established to promote the use of low-cost wireless technology as a media and tool for economic, social and educational advancement to underprivileged citizens in the Philippines. Organizations such as this that work to provide access should be encouraged. Wow!

Digital Etiquette page made by students on the digiteen project.

The page made by the digiteen students on digital etiquette. Although this page does not have the hyperlinks that it should have, it does have other great information.

Using mobile phones with students

[CoSN Conference, Mar 2008] Author Daniel Pink discusses what it will take for students to succeed in an outsourced and automated world--and how schools should change their approach to education accordingly.

New safety rules from Telestra aim to give parents a tool in the fight against cyber bullying, with many struggling to understand what they can do to protect their children.Families should learn how to report cyberbullying and to work on building trust about discussing online problems. The article gives five suggestions for how adults can become an internet parent:
Familiarize yourself - talk with your child about their use of the internet.
Explore - websites and technologies yourself.
Restrict inappropriate content and consider parental controls such as filtering.
Talk to your child and encourage open communication
Know - be aware of the potential dangers and know where to report potentially illegal or inappropriate behaviour online.