Schools are starting to embrace iPods, portable digital media players, as teaching tools. While some teachers have dabbled in podcasting -- like posting snippets of news broadcasts on school websites for students to download -- K-12 on iTunes U is billed as a way to bring content to a place where it can be searched and shared.

At issue: Should teens who send racy cell-phone pictures be branded as sex offenders?

"Today's child has a digital footprint the size of bigfoot (especially compared to us) and their online life is just as important to them as their "real" life. How do we keep our children safe in this brave new world? By educating them how to make the right decisions online and by modeling appropriate behavior on the internet. Yes that means we need to exist in the virtual world so we can see, hear, and participate in the main street of the 21st century."

[May 2008] Offers strategies for helping students make informed decisions, and become critical thinkers, savvy researchers and ethical contributors.

The code doesn't cover every possible situation -- nor does it say educators have unfettered use -- but it's aimed at providing clearer guidelines to help teachers and students understand when they can use material without seeking permission or making a payment.

On the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website consumers can learn how to avoid identity theft - and learn what to do if their identity is stolen and offers materials to use in your community.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) website is not only designed to provide useful resources about money management for teens, but it also provides information about identity theft and phishing scams.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) website offers identity theft and identity fraud information, services, and recovery aids, and includes links to Government Resources, National Organizations and Credit-Monitoring Organizations.

Google Latitude lets cell-phone users share their whereabouts with friends and family

Do kids really know who they are communicating with online? Posting too much personal information online makes it easy for internet users, posing as friends, to gather details about personal lives that could be used in unintended ways.

An experiment in using technology to help stop the spread of pandemics is about to begin in Japan, and its results could have implications for U.S. schools as well.

Researchers seek a better understanding of technology's effects on reading, learning

The challenge for many college administrators today is how can they put cell phones to work for both students and the college. In Palo Alto, Calif., home of Stanford University, developers of an iPhone application called iStanford 2.0 hopes one day to see the iPhone replace the campus ID card. The entrepreneurial Stanford students have already produced a suite of iPhone applications that access the university's course catalog, campus map and other resources.The application suite was rolled out in October and has already garnered national attention, including winning the $10,000 grand prize for AT&T's "Big Mobile on Campus" contest for best smart phone application. One of the student members of the firm said he hopes to see the iPhone replace student identification cards in the future.

A Q&A of how Seattle Schools are dealing with cyberbullying.

Short video of Internet Safety presentation at NECC 2008

Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed software aimed at turning cell phones into educational tools for K-12 students.

Tech companies are releasing new software products that monitor and police kids' Internet use, helping them avoid cyberbullying and letting parents know when it's occurring.

Solutions such as eGuardian could provide greater protection for kids, but at what cost (e.g., market profiling)?

Wireless online safety tips and resources are offered for parents.

School officials and cyberspace watchdogs are worried that the videos encourage more violence and sharpen the humiliation of defeat for the losers.