Anne Collier has been writing about Family Internet issues through her weekly publication, NetFamilyNews for over a decade and her thoughtful opinions and analysis of noteworthy events are widely respected. Together with CBS Reporter, Larry Magid, she is co-author of MYSPACE UNRAVELED and co-director of the web site, CONNECT SAFELY.ORG. You can subscribe to her weekly publication. She also keeps a blog with timely updates in between publications.

Phenomenal global collaboration project involving students from 15 countries. Teaching assignment is replicated across continents. Last year's project, Rock n Sol, was featured in the California K-12 Technology Showcase. This year's project, "Are You Game" focuses on digital storytelling. Students collaborate to compose music, make movies, podcasts, and experiments and met in face to face video-conferences. Using Garage Band, kids annually create a collaborative song that has been touched in every continent in the world. Each week, each group contributes 30 seconds with a specific musical instrument. Even blind students are involved in the project.

Flash animation games in a aquarium theme from NetSafe.org [New Zealand] that teach kids [Age 5-11] about online privacy and cybersafety. Includes downloadable lesson plans for teachers

Thoughtful analysis of the Byron Report, provided by Anne Collier of Netfamily News.

This free five-part video series on Cybersafety & Internet Awareness for Parents & Educators was produced by the Orange County Office of Education [California] and is hosted by Mark Wagner & Victor Guthrie. It includes a clip with Katie Canton of Web Wise Kids, telling the story of her experience with a man she fell in love with in a chatroom, only to later discover that he was an online predator.

Flash cartoons based on Charlie's Angels that teach kids about how to stay safe on the internet [from the folks at Wired Safety]. Topics include: Cyberbullying, Predators and Strangers, Personal Information, Piracy, Cyber Citizenship, and Protecting your computer.

An effective school-based strategy to address the issue of online safety should include these six key components:
EDUCATIONAL USE - Schools must ensure that when students use the Internet, their activities have an educational purpose -- class assignments, extra credit work, and perhaps some high quality enrichment activities as a reward
SUPERVISION AND MONITORING Schools must shift focus from reliance on filtering to better supervision and monitoring.
MEANINGFUL CONSEQUENCES Misuse of the Internet must lead to a meaningful consequence -- but it should be recognized that suspension of Internet access privileges just causes more work for teachers. Requiring a service contribution to the school and establishing "close monitoring status" for all Internet use are preferable consequences.
ACCIDENTAL ACCESS TO PORN - All students and staff must know that if inappropriate material appears, they should quickly turn off the monitor or turn it so it can't be seen, and then report it. Following any incident or discovery, there must be a responsible assessment of culpability.
INAPPROPRIATE BLOCKING Selected staff in every school building must have the authority and ability to quickly override the filter to provide other staff or students access to sites that have been inappropriately blocked
INTERNET SAFETY AND RESPONSIBLE USE EDUCATION Schools must provide effective Web 2.0 Internet safety and responsible use education to students and parents.

Courtesy of the Computer Ethics Institute.

Great YouTube video on using Diigo.

AT&T Smart Limits™ brings together information about parental control features across AT&T's wireless, wired, broadband and video service. Includes tools in four areas: Wireless Smart, Surf Smart, Watch Smart and Talk Smart.

Be prepared to answer questions when the law seems to make little sense, when a law is inconsequential, when a law is widely ignored, or when breaking the law may serve a higher moral purpose. [Doug Johnson]

Teach copyright from the point of view of the producer, as well as the consumer. [Doug Johnson]

Fabulous School Assembly Program! Although the team is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, they travel and give presentations nationwide. They bring a sense of balance to all of the predator-based talks given by law enforcement. The creators of this project are graduates of Stanford's Learning, Design & Technology program and also have a background in film making. They have won numerous awards at local, national and international film festivals for their work and were a huge hit at the California League of Middle Schools Conference, last Fall.

You can see a video clip of Adina's Deck at: adinasdecktrailer

Except for the occasional plagiarized passage or unattributed reference in student research papers, most veteran K-12 educators have had little experience dealing with copyright issues in their classrooms. With the advent of the Internet, however, their need to know about copyright law and to understand its implications for such activities as Internet research, downloading programs and documents, creating class Web sites, and installing software on school networks has increased dramatically.

Meridian Education has been producing educational videos for over a decade. They recently released two videos in a series on CyberSafety and CyberEthics. They generously provide a 13-minute preview video clip that is actually quite complete and could be used in whole or in part at training sessions.

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.

2nd in the CyberCop Series, AIRDOGS was designed to show teenagers that online crimes have lifelong legal and social consequences for teens and their families. In the game, Luke is a teenager who shows great promise as a snowboarder. He needs money for gear and training, so he begins to counterfeit software in his basement. Players collect data and evidence to catch Luke's boss, who is the ringleader of the operation. The message of Air Dogs is clear: theft and extortion are crimes, whether you're 16 or 60. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]

With the proliferation of Web 2.0 tools, rapidly emerging technologies and portable electronic devices, your AUP may need frequent updating. In this section of the CTAP CyberSafety Project web site, you'll find helpful resources for all areas of consideration, including cell phone policies.

From the Center for Intellectual Property, University of Maryland. The Center for Intellectual Property provides education, research, and resources for the higher education community on copyright, academic integrity, and the emerging digital environment. The Center accomplishes its mission through the delivery of workshops and conferences, online training, consultations on campus, and electronic and print publications, and it provides continuous updates on legislative developments at the local, state, national, and international level.

Here is an ambitious effort by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District [California], which has 39 schools in the district. They have their own Online-TV Station! Check out their news section and how they presented AERIES to their teachers. Very clever.