Though I'm not teaching online and I do not have access to the internet in our classes! I think it's the teacher's responsibility to raise the students' awareness about how to stay safe online. More than this, the teacher shall have control on the sites the students are accessing. This means that the teacher should be the person who helps the learners stay safe online. I strongly believe there should be some sessions to sensitize them beforhand. In the fiuture, if it happens that I teach online, I think that I will allot some important time to raising the awareness of the students, installing internet filters or special applications that help me foster my students' safety!

By the way, I've found this site and I think it is useful for the Free creative commons licensed audio, video sites : http://www.sitepoint.com/30-creative-commons-sources/
Hope you find it interesting!
Best Regards

As I look at these sites, I am going to be considering what this looks like for children ages 3-5. Most of these children are non-readers or are just beginning to read. For this age group, children need adult guidance when accessing the Internet. It's the adults' role to protect children and help them learn to protect themselves. Teachers need to preview sites that they want preschoolers to use. Of course, filtering programs would be important as well. Helping children distinguish between what is an ad and what is actual content would be helpful to. I would show them how to click the X if a popup appeared. And finally, I think children in this age group can and should learn about personal information and what is OK to share and what is not. I do like the messages in the links about going to a trusted adult if something makes you feel uncomfortable.

One safe way is to only use safe platforms like edmodo or schoology. I'll watch and read more before commenting further.

ow can we keep our students safe online? To keep our students safe on line, we should teach internet safety--the same way we teach road safety-often and allow students to demonstrate practice.
What do you do to keep your students safe? (If you already work with students online)-I don't work with young student, online. I would control the sites that they have access to.

What will you do in the future? (If you aren't currently working online with young learners)-I hope to use this new skill to encourage students to reading and create digital stories.

•How can we keep our students safe online?
Just as others have said, we have to intentionally teach internet safety skills, rather than assume that because kids are "digital natives" that they understand how to keep themselves safe. Critical thinking skills are a MUST here, in order to evaluate websites for authenticity, evaluate "risky" online communications, and to differentiate between ads and truly useful sites for learning or socializing.

•What do you do to keep your students safe? (If you already work with students online)
One small thing I recently noticed is that kids would use their last names, even if a site or upload wasn't completely private. We had a discussion about keeping our names private unless we're sending an email or doing something where only our friends can see the product. I try to have these discussions before we explore a new online resource, and to be proactive rather than reactive! I teach fifth grade and while I do sometimes preview sites, there are some situations in which I want them to practice searching the web as they would on their own at home. In those cases, we make a list ahead of time of how to know if a site is appropriate, safe, and helpful.

•What will you do in the future? (If you aren't currently working online with young learners)
Now that I have more resources (thanks facilitators!!) I will refer to the lessons and incorporate those concepts into my lessons. I think it also makes sense to have a "mini-unit" on internet safety in my elementary classroom, in addition to what the kids are learning with their tech teacher. It's good for them to hear similar messages from various adults. I also think parents need these resources, so they have some tools to use when teaching their kids.

To keep our students safe online we need to make them aware of the dangers of navigating online, and teach them to follow certain rules in order to be safe.
I work with my students online and I have had a nice experience working with webquests, so students work with certain sites I have chosen for them.
Thanks to the resources I've seen here, I will implement lessons on online safety from now on.

•How can we keep our students safe online?
Keeping our students safe online is an ongoing task. We have to constantly make them aware of the dangers. In their minds they think, it won’t happen to them, they know what they are doing, or they see no danger. We must stress this each time we assign a lesson/activity involving the internet. Sharing “real-life” situations should be part of our discussions with them. Also, it might be a good idea to have open discussion. That is, there may be someone who has experienced a situation in which they had to make a decision. They should know that safety on line is important for all of us, adults included.

•What do you do to keep your students safe? (If you already work with students online)
When giving an assignment I will select the websites or resources they are to use. When it comes to images/pictures, I will create a file of photos and they are to select from that file. I also work with the students to evaluate websites to determine if they are legitimate. The next thing is to monitor the students carefully while they are on the internet. I was able to take a course with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) about cyber safety. I gained information in this course that I was able to share with students especially centered around mobile devices.


•What will you do in the future? (If you aren't currently working online with young learners)
The resources that have been shared for this week has been great. I will share these resources with the teacher candidates because it is important that they understand the importance of keeping student safe on the web.

I am happy to see that you plan to share the resources with new teachers. I recently took a new teacher course . This topic was not covered at all. As teachers, we need to promote internet safety, especially if we give assignments that require internet usage.

I loved the simple illustrative ideas in the article Internet Safety: Rules of the Road for Kids (Common Sense with Phineas and Ferb): kids live online and parenting means teaching kids how to use digital media responsibly.
1.How can we keep our students safe online? I believe in the power of examples.
2. What do you do to keep your students safe? Although I do not work with kids now, I tell my students not to: forward messages without deleting CC recipients and
use only first names and initials when creating new accounts.
3. In the future I will try to learn from best practices shared here.

I supervise students when they are looking for images or videos. I think google and you tube are completely unsafe, so are there any cool images/video sites they could use instead?

Yes,Laquita a special file sounds good and special website but I wonder if there a kiddie sites for images/videos etc.?

I think it is of high importance to raise children's awareness on how to use the internet responsibly and on how to respect each other material. I agree that the best way to do it is using examples especially with children. Another way is to use games. Using these sites are a way to teach students in a motivating way.
We as teachers should to check sites beforehand and if necessesary filtering programmes should be used.

I think it is of high importance to raise children's awareness on how to use the internet responsibly and on how to respect each other material. I agree that the best way to do it is using examples especially with children. Another way is to use games. Using these sites are a way to teach students in a motivating way.
We as teachers should check sites beforehand and if necessesary filtering programmes should be used.

I started pinning sites, videos, projects on e-safety http://pinterest.com/evab2001/e-safety/

I agree with everybody's way of thinking, as far as I've been reading here. I think all of you are right, we as teachers have a very important role in teaching them CONSTANTLY and REGULARLY about dangers, as Claudine says:'as road-safety rules', and as Danielle says too students have to develop a critical thinking, so now I have more resources (Claudine said so too)I can include them in my classes(Danielle said so too),even though some students don't have internet access at schoo(Jeea mentioned this)l but they have it at home or other places as well.
I saw videos mentioned here( Brain Pop Jr. Internet Safety or Common Sense with Phineas and Ferb) but also those mentioned in Google Literacy Tour and I found a mini video 'Steering Clear of CyberTricks' that I liked because as Michelle Worgan said:' sites that look real at first glance but if you know what to look for and understand the features of different types of serious websites, you can see the difference. So students have to know all these things.
As Cate Heroman said:'as I looked here, I'll be considering' more about it. I said: I agree with all of you.

I definitely agree with the idea of teaching young learners internet safety. I think this is a job we should be doing as educators. In the first place, we need to explore and discover safe and not-so-safe places before we can begin teaching. We need to be aware of basic rules that our learners need to know about private information e.g. age, pictures, address, last name, school, etc. This includes where they can be used and what needs to be done before you impart this information. And where you should NEVER publish it.
It also inlcudes what to consider when posting information on facebook and other platforms. Things like Cyberbullying need to be addressed: what is NOT allowed to be published, and what to do when you are a victim or know someone else who is.
It also entails how to react when kids run into content or situations that are potentially dangerous or age-inappropriate.

On the other hand, finding safe places for learners to explore and share is important. Some sites have already been mentioned, so I'll onlly add one: http://kidblog.org/

Great discussion and the idea of teaching young learners about internet safety. Perhaps you could use some of the tools in order to create some digital stories about e-safety?

There are lots of videos on You tube if you just type e-safety video but, often, the language is quite difficult for beginning young learners. This seems like a good opportunity to create some e-safety stories that would be very visual and easy for young tots to understand.

I hope some of you are inspired by this idea.

Stories are about language but they are also about teaching important concepts.

Because I´ve been teaching adults for so long I haven´t given much thought to this topic. However, I totally agre with my colleagues. It´s essential to keep the students safe online teaching them about the risks they run. Not only educators but also parents should supervise and control what their students, children do online. It´s the school and families roles. This discussion is very helpful to start you thinking about all the aspects of this problem and making you more careful in the future.

Hi everyone
Very interesting exchange of viewpoints . As regards the questions posed I think the first video show very interesting tips we can give our students about internet safety. What is more, the same tips can be used with teens as they sometimes give away personal information, which is not adviseable. No matter whether they are teens or young kids they tend to overrate or overvalue what they come across in the web.

Iforgot to include this link in my previous comment http://www.slideshare.net/rjbaxter/cybersecurity-3239120

I am not teaching students online right now, but I hope that will be an important part of my next job. I think a light-hearted approach is needed. Otherwise, younger students will be frightened and older ones will think they already know it all! As a parent, I am most concerned about my children being hurt by someone online or them hurting someone else. I think we need to be sure we are extending the idea of respect to their online identities. I am reading Ready Player One right now, and it raises some interesting questions for me about online identities and responsibilities. In that future world, online identities are pretty much all people have. More and more, in the real world, I think these lines are getting blurred, especially for older students. As much as I might like to be or think I should, I cannot always be looking over the shoulders of my older children. Like with all other things in life, we need to give them the facts, explain the perspectives, and trust them to do the right thing.

The websites provided above are simple and user-friendly. 'Awareness' of internet safety is very important. The research project that I am currently working on involves telecollaborative learning between primary aged students. Therefore internet safety would be a very big part of planning this project. I hope to use 'Edmodo' in order to create awareness of internet safety as well as copyright laws during the planning stage of the project.
My favourite search engine to find creative common images is Photopin. This is mostly because I am able to access images from cultures around the world.
In terms of music, I shall keep you posted! :-) Thushara

Hi there, so far, I have only watched an interesting cartoon video about Internet safety. I will definitelly show it to my own sons (age 7 and 9). I didn't have time to read all your comments, but I will as soon as possible. Anyway, what I liked about the video is something we do with our own kids.We talk to them all the time. INternet safety is not a taboo in our house. Our boys know English very well, esp. older one. We told him never to give any personal informations about himself when playing MInecraft online with others. If he wants to download something, he needds to ask us and so on. He usually chats with his cousin, but there are others in the game that want to chat, so we did allow him but we also warned him just to talk about the game itself, if the person by any chance ask him lots of personal questions, and he feels uncomfortable, he should tell us immediatelly. It is difficult to have all this under control, but we cannot stop kids using the computer or Internet, we need to talk to them how to stay safe, but we also need to teach them about Netiquette as well. So far, our sons follow the rules and I check their History from time to time. Hubby installed Parental control software, but I still can't stop my younger one from watching too many youtube videos. The good thing in watching youtube game tutorials is that he almost speaks English as a native, the bad sides is that he learned how to swear in English, and this is what bugs me. He knows that is not correct, but still teases him mother :)

Thank you Shelly for the link! It will be useful.

It is highly illuminating to read the opinions above. I think that parents and teachers should tell their kids/students about possible dangers and Intenet tips before accessing the web. Learners should be encouraged to use reliable web tools and content pages which could fasciliate the completion of their tasks and avoid pages which lack content and data. Talks about safety rules should be delivered by teachers and parents such as blocking unreliable or unfriendly users; using the right settings to make a personal account like Facebook, for instance, more private. Not to mention the refusal of strangers in indicidual accounts to avoid abuse and unfriendly interactions-

Hi! It's really interesting having watched the videos and read the comments. I entirely agree with most of the comments. We, teachers, parents - grown-ups - have the whole world in our hands so as to check what our kids are using and watching. Sometimes young learners don't see the importance of being safe or think nothing will happen to them... it's there when we have to "lead the way" and show them this kind of material.

How can we keep our students safe online? What do I do as a teacher?
My students are 10-14 years old. This is what I do:
1 Students learn to introduce themselves:
- first names only
-no portrait photos - if they want a personalized picture to represent their comments in a discussion, they can choose a picture they like or create an avatar picture)

2 I constantly remind them about the importance of keeping the information about their passwords to themselves.

3 I carefully choose webpages to use with students. I only recommend the pages safe for kids.

4 I try to teach students to evaluate pages they visit when looking for information. This is the most difficult part and I don't think teachers can do it without a lot of help from parents.

5 I respect copyright and give credit to the authors. I teach about copyright and plagiarism.

6 I involve parents. Teachers can't be the only responsible for children. There are “Parent permission“ forms to be signed and I encourage them to contact me and take interest in their children's work.

Of course, students often forget about all the above mentioned important things, but I keep reminding, teaching and setting a good example.

As many of you have so rightly pointed out, the role of parents is crucual. Can you add your ideas here about how you educate the parents?

Shelly's slide presentation is a great starting point please review it http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/getting-parents-on-board-with-technology-in-the-classroom and think of any other ideas; for example how to make parents aware of the dangers and how to show them some of the results of being indifferent or unaware

I always try to explain my students how important it is not to give out personal information on the internet and not to make friends that they do not know.I usually illustrate them through examples and I ask them quite often if anything "strange" has happened in their online communities.
However, parents is the biggest problem as they are not aware of the dangers and most of them they do not know how to help their kids use the internet in a smart way. To my mind it is crucial that we, teachers start teaching first parents and then children,

Hi everybody,

I have watched the two videos and read some of the comments and I admit I agree with most of them both as a teacher and as a mother.

As far as my experience is concerned, I started using a class blog and Edmodo a couple of years ago. I teach English to 10-14 year-old students. The first things I asked my student is not to use photographs; instead we tried a website to create cartoon avatars. Then I asked them not to give personal information, such as address, telephone numbers, etc. Unfortunately, even if at school there are specific programmes for teaching kids internet safety (with experts from the national internet police authority), many of them still use Facebook with lots of pictures and tags with full name and lots of personal information.
This year I am in a new school and my students have never used Edmodo (even if most of them and their parents are on Facebook). It took me a couple of months to have my project of using Edmodo in my classes get approved by the school principal, but I'm going to start next week. I'm going to ask for parents' permissions and then I will teach the kids how to use Edmodo. In my letter to parents I explained the rules the students will have to follow to be part of the virtual class, but I know I will have to give a lot of extra explanations. Sometimes the parents who are afraid of the use of Internet in school activities don't know what their kids already do with their smartphones in their free time.

I like the idea of using cartoon avatars instead of photos.

Hi everyone,

After watching the videos and reading some info, I have come to the realization that things should never be taken for granted. Even though we might assume many facts about our kids, since they are more skilled than us, digitally speaking, we should always incorporate our adult perspective. In my opinion, the best way to keep our kids or students safe is by speaking to them constantly on this subject matter, and also becoming role models for them. We can block sites or search engines, but it goes far beyond that. Anyway, giving them certain specific, to-the-point tips should be very helpful, such as using avatars instead of uploading a picture of themselves, and never reveal their passwords to anyone, not even their best frinds!!! (which is hard to get). As teachers, using games that deal with internet safety is a good idea, thus helping them become skilled in the area. I'm not currently working with kids, but I do work with trainee teachers that work with them, so I think it would be a great idea for the future to include some content on internet safety in the ICT unit of my seminar. So, I insist, I still think that the best idea is to make children aware of online dangers, talk to them and explain the facts with games and examples.

Here are more cybersafety resources, presentations and articles http://fuse711.edublogs.org/cyber-safety/

While not in the classroom currently, am also very interested in/doing work connected with preschool/K aged children and technology use. Agree with the points others have raised, that it is very important to have conversations with families with young children that provide resources not only about Internet Safety, but also media "diet" and balance. I enjoyed viewing the video examples shared and am also glad to know of additional resources suitable for sharing with parents of young children, so am glad these are being collected/organized.
Common Sense Media has a lot of information and resources on not only Internet safety
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/internet-safety but media use generally. Wondering if they will create some curriculum toolkits such as these http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum/grades-k-2 that include suggestions/considerations for preschool aged children.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children Technology & Young Children Interest Forum website has some links about Internet Safety http://www.techandyoungchildren.org/home.html#internet that might prove interesting to explore.

I do agree with an Internet safety . We should inform our students about it and tell their parents too/Because sometimes parents don't know how to tell their children aboit safety.

Hey everyone,
An important part of keeping our kids safe is modeling these skills and strategies to our students. As a general rule, I have my students use first name only, I tend to use text more than images and try to stay away from video recording of my students, at least when the students are posting. I make sure to use services that moderate student posts and comments. I love to use kidblog as my blogging platform and edmodo in a closed classroom. Well those are my tips, and yours?

Hi,

I am still trying to catch up with such a wealth of things going on in this course so I will leave a comment here (even if I am not sure anybody will come back here)
I have managed to see only one of the videos - the one with Brain POP. However I found one on Youtube from Common SenseMedia which I liked, I think it is nice to have real kids talk about internet safety. here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd520wZZGDE
I especially like Rule 5 and 6. Rule #5 is the Golden Rule> if you don`t want something done to you, don`t do it to others. #6 is even more sensible:) - don`t spend all your time looking at a screen, get a life!
Otherwise I strongly agree with Lucia and Jose and thanks Bonnie for the great links!!

Thanks for the wealth of wonderful resources from the moderators and others related to internet safely. I prepare future teachers and teachers currently in the classroom so the resources and ideas of all will be very helpful. I particularly got to thinking about the the point raised by several about working with parents. If you have not viewed Shelly's slideshow, I would encourage you to do so. It raised important issues about interacting with parent such as engaging them in well-planned workshop activities and use of the tools (not just telling them). Shelly, is the “Acceptable Use Policy” that starts on page 33 something we can access? It looked like website address along the side of the page, but I could not read it. I would like to engage my students (future and current teachers) in a discussion of internet safety with attention to partnering with parents, something I have not discussed in any detail to this point in class. Thanks again, all!

One of my pet peeves has nothing to do with the Internet, but is still a way for predators to stalk children. In the US (don't know if common in other counties) people have little families on their back window of their car so you know if there is a dad, mom, and children. This gives away too much information to others. Also families love to have the picture of the sport or activity that their child is involved in with their name (football with Chad #14 or megaphone with Shelly). Gives out way too much information so people can see and come up and start a conversation with "private" information that is not private.

If we are talking about internet safety I'd like to ask you if it is safe to sign up to different sites using one's Facebook account - it seems so much easier and faster than to go through the registration process. What do you think?

Thank you for the links to videos on internet safety. I had my family watch them. My husband I and gave simple tablets to our children for Christmas and we are regretting it because of the issues surrounding monitoring activity and limiting time that the kids spend on them. All the information out there on the web is overwhelming and I want to keep up with my kids, but I sometimes feel like it is an impossible task.

How I protect my students?
My students are 15-18 years old. I did a survey and we played a game with cards to find out about their knowledge and feelings on online safety. Most of them know the rules but they don't always keep them. So my job is to constantly inform them on the dangers and on the other hand use the internet for pedagogiacal reasons. For example in the school blog they know we should post only group photos and I get the written permission of their parents. So I try to guide them in the right use of networking. Netiquette is also important and we discuss about it.

I just watched Shelly's presentation for parents. I think it's valuable for the parents. I current teach students who do not have access to technology at school, only at home. We talk to the children generally about not playing too many computer games, but not about how to use the technology properly. Parents' education would be the best answer for our age group.
Another aspect of 'acceptable use' is remembering parents are also setting an example for how to use technology. Children will learn from their parents example. If parents are crossing boundaries with privacy and or harassment, children will grow up to do the same.

Hi, I am not in the classroom full-time anymore but I do spend time with students and discussing with teachers. Online safety is so important and I was very particular when I talked to my students (usually grades 3 or 4) about the importance of online safety. They were trained to NEVER use their real last name or their real address. There were times that they did not put their real birthday in either often they would use my birthday.

When it came to their last name I gave them a choice to:
1) given them the opportunity to make up a last name but I had to approve it
2) use my last name - I got this idea from another teacher somewhere (sorry don't know where) that she was more comfortable doing that method. I thought it had definite possibilities.
3) this was one that I chose quite often especially when working with a larger group of classes and that was use our classname/grade level as their last name. For example my class last year was Year 4A. That would become their last name.

Internet safety is very important to revisit several times a year just to review. Having older students create a video or some sort of digital format (not powerpoint) for younger students. A way this could be done is Grade 5 makes the video for Grade 4, Grade 4 for Grade 3, Grade 3 for Grade 2 and if you want to Grade 2 for Grade 1 though at my present school Elementary is Grades 2-5. An advantage of this approach is that every student must actually teach about internet safety to another grade. They must think through their plan, make it understandable to the age group they are going to be sharing with and it makes the teach aware as far as assessment who has developed the understanding. Also, creating something for parents is also another approach.

I have always felt that if we start at the younger grades and work our way up the same way we do with academic subjects we will have a strong foundation.

The resources that have been shared are excellent.

The digital era is ever changing...and probably while overconcerned about catching up we fail to pause and reflect upon the fact that we and our students are being exposed to the world. Those who are here have the burning desire to keep learning in order to spice up our lessons but, as we spend endless ours doing so...there are others, less altruist, ready to pervert what we do or who we are. I agree with yuo all that it is a must to discuss these issues in class and help our teens care about themselves in this new environment.

Hello dear collegues,
I'm a little behind since I haven't been able to read browse the platform so far. Anyway, today I've been trying to catch up.
I've taken down notes on your greta ideas on internet safety. I must admit that I personally don't pay much attention to it. However, after this deep analysis I've gatthered plenty of ideas.
I agree with one of the posts above: the language of some videos may be a bit harsh for young students, therefore, making them crete their own "safety rule list" seems to be a great idea.
I'll go on wit something else!
thanx for sharing your views!!
stella :-)

How can we keep our students safe online?
You have to keep an eye on them and watch them closely when they are working. Also, you can have your setttings just for the students to be able to do research and study.
What do you do to keep your students safe?
You need to set up their computers that way the students are not able to browse too much outside their research. It is very important that setting such as chat rooms and similar places are disabled to them.
What will you do in the future?
I will keep a very tight security during their work time in the computer. It is very important to try to keep them focus and have just the essentials for them to work.
Sorry, I haven't being able to catch up but will do it for now on.

It is very difficult to watch over the children all the time when they are doing research or working online. But, it is very important that we keep them on task. Therefore, to my experience the best choice is always to have them just doing research nothing else such as chatting or browsing other websites, downloading music or videos. Teachers should be aware of how to handle the settings for the students that way they are going to work just on their homework in a safe environment. We should revise the settings periodically.

Good I share your opinion