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This article offers seven things all adults need to know about social networking sites like MySpace.
1. Social networking is enormously popular with young adults.
2. Friends are probably just that.
3. Blocking sites at school won't keep kids away from MySpace.
4.Some degree of danger does exist for MySpace users.
5. The MySpace organization is working toward a safer online
6. Teachers might want to check to see if they have had a MySpace account created for them.
7.MySpace and social networking have value.

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

BBC article about the dangers of students using proxy servers

Students aren't getting enough instruction in school on how to use technology and the internet in a safe and responsible manner, a new poll suggests. Released by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and supported by Microsoft Corp., the survey found fewer than one-fourth of U.S. teachers have spent more than six hours on any kind of professional development related to cyber ethics, safety, or security within the last 12 months.

The reported behavior improvements aren't universal, however. The study shows the biggest improvements in behavior took place among children in low-income households; experts speculate that the declines in bullying are probably confined to schools that have mounted coordinated programs to halt it.

Brainpop's new unit on Digital Citizenship covers topics like computer viruses, cyberbullying, blogs, copyright, digital etiquette, privacy, online safety, plagiarism, and social networking in their familiar format with Tim & Moby. And best off, it's all free.

Suggested classroom use (4th-10th grade): writing, literature, history, technology/computer teachers, character education, leadership classes. Additional use: school-wide assemblies, school broadcasts, district streaming, counselor sessions, "back to school" programs on cheating/plagiarism, college prep, in preperation for assigning a major writing assignment,

Blocking access to these tools in classrooms discourages student-centered learning, leading education technology consultant says

It's hard enough to make sure the data you send and receive is safe when you're at home or at work. But traveling brings a whole new set of hazards: from publicly accessible computers to unprotected wireless networks to crowded and pickpocket-plagued airports.

From Simple K-12: Six hours of online curriculum for teens and teachers, designed to meet technology plan goals and government mandates. Includes 29 online lessons that can be customized by each teacher. Six hrs of Internet Safety curriculum with optional assessments and quizzes to measure student understanding of material.

provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.

The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research - and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions.

Technology not only changes how we write, but it also changes what writing is. Education will need to re-evaluate which writing skills teachers should pass to their students. Digital graphic writing is one genre students need to be fluent. Comic Life is the "word processor" of digital graphic writing.

If a stranger came up to you on the street, would you give him your name, Social Security number and e-mail address? Probably not. Yet people often dole out all kinds of personal information on the Internet that allows such identifying data to be deduced.

NCSA teamed up with USA Today Education Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security to develop seven lessons during the 2009-2010 school year targeted at 8th-12th graders. Lesson plans use recent news stories about cyber security issues.

This section contains links to a variety of scenarios of ethical and unethical technology use by students. The scenarios will include discussion questions and brief commentary.Doug welcomes real receiving real incidents from your experiences as a library media specialist, teacher or parent that would make good discussion starters.

Teen Tech Week is a national initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The purpose of the initiative is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries. Some great ideas here for activities with cell phones!

When is a phone not a phone? In the hands of children and tweens, today's cell phones are primarily used as text messaging devices, cameras, gaming consoles, video viewers, MP3 players, and incidentally, as mobile phones via the speaker capability so their friends can chime in on the call. Parents are getting dialed in to the social media phenomenon and beginning to understand-and limit-how children use new media

Chatroulette allows people around the world to see each other and chat via text or audio. Users can click "next" to skip from person to person, never knowing what the next image will be. But this unregulated freedom presents serious safety concerns for children. Violent and sexually charged images frequently turn up on Chatroulette, according to Sam Anderson, who chronicled his experience on the site for New York Magazine.