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General security Don't use public or shared computers for online banking or investment transactions. Don't give out your account password to anyone, even someone claiming to be from your online service. Your account can be hijacked, and you can find unexpected charges on your bill. Be careful about giving out your credit card number, phone number and home address. Never provide your Social Security number to anyone unless required by law. Email is relatively private -- but not completely. Don't put anything into an electronic message that you wouldn't want to see posted on a neighborhood bulletin board. Delete junk email without even reading it. Never download an email attachment from an unknown source. Opening a file could expose your system to a virus. Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them. These files can contain viruses or other software that can weaken your computer's security. Don't "unsubscribe" on unwanted, un-requested or unsolicited e-mail. That just lets the senders know that they had reached a valid email address. Don't sign up for free offers. Shopping online Know who you're dealing with. Confirm the online seller's physical address and phone number in case you have problems. Know what you're buying. Read the seller's description of the product closely, especially the fine print. Name-brand items at unusually low prices might be stolen or counterfeit. Know what it will cost, including shipping and handling. Never send cash. Pay by credit or charge card. If you pay by credit or charge card online, your transaction will be protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. Under this law, you have the right to dispute charges under certain circumstances and temporarily withhold payment while the creditor is investigating them. Check out the terms of the deal, like refund policies and delivery dates. A Federal Trade Commission rule requires sellers to ship items as promised or within 30 days after the order date if no specific date is promised. Phishing and identity theft You may receive emails that appear to be from a financial institution, bill paying service, government agency or other business that say something like: "We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click the link below and confirm your identity." Do not reply, and do not click on the links. The messages direct you to a website that looks legitimate, but it is a trick to get you to reveal personal information and passwords. Operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name. Forward these emails to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the email. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report problems. Email is not a secure method of transmitting information, so never use it to transmit financial information. Legitimate businesses should not ask you to send sensitive information by email. Area codes can mislead. Some scammers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and ask you to call a phone number to update your account or access a "refund." Because they use voice over internet protocol technology, the area code you call does not reflect where the scammers really are. Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.

Internet, as most of us know, is a large network of networks, which communicate with each other by means of data packets. Internet is regarded as the largest information base. Today, Internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. We depend on the Internet to update ourselves about current news and rely on the communication platform it offers to get in touch with our near ones. The information from all around the world is just a click away, thanks to the Internet. Internet has surely affected the society positively. With the onset of the Internet, access to information has become easy. Internet has served being an efficient and organized storage of information. Internet search engines are the best information retrieval systems that are functional over the Internet. Typing in a simple search query to a search engine fetches you thousands of search results. Moreover, the ranking strategies adopted by the search engines ensure that the most relevant results are delivered to you on priority. The search engines crawl over all the information that seems relevant to your search query. They retrieve the most relevant results in top order, thus helping you fetch the required information with great ease. Information is truly a click away! The Internet provides some of the most effective means of communication. Emails and instant messages have made online communication possible. Social networking and blogging websites and online discussion forums have proved being popular platforms of expression. People in different parts of the world can collaborate over the Internet. They can exchange views, share information and work together over the Internet. It was the development of the Internet that made online education and distance learning possible. Professionals working in physically distant locations can collaborate their efforts, thanks to the Internet.

This new reality helps us more clearly define the role that education must play in preparing all students for success in an interconnected world. The United States have invested unprecedented resources in education, betting that our outmoded, factory-age system can be fundamentally transformed to prepare students for the rigors of a global economy. 

 Globally competent students understand that audiences differ on the basis of culture, geography, faith, ideology, wealth, and other factors and that they may perceive different meanings from the same information.  They can effectively communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with diverse audiences.  Because it is increasingly the world's common language for commerce and communication, globally competent students in the US and elsewhere are proficient in English as well as in at least one other world language. Communicating ideas occurs in a variety of culturally diverse settings, and especially within collaborative teams.  Globally competent students are able to situate themselves in a variety of cultural contexts, organize and participate in diverse groups, and work effectively toward a common goal.

The latest form of identity theft doesn't depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one even has a bank account.

"If people are obtaining enough credit by fraud, we're back to another financial collapse," said Linda Marshall, an assistant U.S. attorney in Kansas City. "We tend to talk about it as the next wave."

Online companies use computers and publicly available information to find random Social Security numbers. The numbers are run through public databases to determine whether anyone is using them to obtain credit. If not, they are offered for sale for a few hundred to several thousand dollars.Because the numbers often come from young children who have no money of their own, they carry no spending history and offer a chance to open a new, unblemished line of credit. People who buy the numbers can then quickly build their credit rating in a process called "piggybacking," which involves linking to someone else's credit file.Many of the business selling the numbers promise to raise customers' credit scores to 700 or 800 within six months.If they default on their payments, and the credit is withdrawn, the same people can simply buy another number and start the process again, causing a steep spiral of debt that could conceivably go on for years before creditors discover the fraud

Virtual worlds are engaging, stimulating spaces where students can meet online for normal class activities, including lectures, discussions, case studies, projects, papers, exams, and labs.

A virtual world class differs from a traditional course management system, such as Blackboard or Moodle, due to the three-dimensional (3D) graphical setting, the use of avatars to represent the class participants, and the sense of presence that puts the learner within the scene.

Virtual world classrooms are no less real than other online class environments, and if used for synchronous class sessions, they may simulate a campus-based class meeting.

Respect others and their opinions. Your colleagues come from various backgrounds as they come together. It is important to respect their feelings and opinions though they may differ from your own. Consider others’ privacy. Be wary of your discussion topics and how private or open they may be. Keep in mind that all private messaging of any form is considered copyrighted by the original author. Pick the right tone. Since we depend on written communication in ESCnet, it is especially important to choose the right words to get your meaning across. For example, sarcasm is harder to detect when you read the words rather than hearing them. Be forgiving. If someone states something that you find offensive, mention this directly to that person and notify our system administrators. Remember that the person contributing to the discussion might be new to this form of communication. Think before you hit the send button. Think carefully about the content of your messages and posts before contributing them. Once sent to the group or the recipient, there is no taking it back. Grammar and spelling errors reflect on you, and your audience might not be able to decode misspelled words or poorly constructed sentences. Brevity is best. Be as concise as possible when contributing anywhere in ESCnet. Your points might me missed if hidden in a flood of text. Stick to the point. Contributions to a discussion should stick to the subject deemed important by the group admin or discussion creator. Don’t waste others' time by going off on irrelevant tangents. Do not type in all caps. Typing in caps is considered shouting or screaming online. Various studies on the topic reflect that it is more difficult and takes longer to read text that is typed in all caps. Avoid frivolous email. Don’t forward jokes, "chain letters" or unimportant posts to colleagues in ESCnet without their permission. Not only does it fill up their screens, but it may offend people who do not share the same sense of humor.