All About Online Safety

Hello Readers! Welcome to my second blog post. Today we will be talking all about online safety and how teachers can ensure that it is being observed in the classroom.

There is a wide variety of factors that are included in online safety, and therefore it is important for teachers to consider as many of these factors as possible when teaching students about online safety. A very basic example and a great place to start is to teach students what is appropriate to share online, and what is not appropriate to share online. Young students love to talk about anything and everything, and love to share information about their lives and in some cases this information may go into too much detail. Thus, it is critical that teachers stress the fact that putting information on the internet such as phone-numbers, home addresses, and full names can put students and their families in potential danger. One thing that I feel is a bit overlooked when considering internet safety is copyright infringements. Although it is not something that often puts students or the protection of their private information in danger, unknowingly violating copyright laws is something that can potentially one day get students into legal trouble if they do not understand what is and what is not acceptable to freely use on the internet. Even further, it is important for teachers to educate themselves on this matter, so that they will be able to model to their students appropriate use of material found on the web. I read an interesting article the other day titled The Educator's Guide to Creativity and Copyright written by Kelly Gallagher, Larry Magid, and David Sohn. In the article, the authors state "While copyright is a legal concept, learning about how it applies to teachers and students is important not just because of some possible – though unlikely – legal consequences. It’s about doing the right thing, establishing good habits, and ensuring that students are learning to respect the rights of other content creators" (Gallagher, Magid, & Sohn, 1). Teaching students about copyright laws not only helps them learn about how to use information properly, but also about how to recognize and respect other content creator

Because online safety skills aren't things that students are born with, it is critical that teachers instill in them basic skills of online safety, in case it is not something that is taught at home. We are living in a world where technology is being used more and more, and the risk of students putting themselves in a dangerous situation online increases. Therefore, though reinforcing rules such as "Keep personal information to yourself" may seem overused, it may save a student's life.  Thus, teachers and/or parents are responsible for scaffolding students into using the internet safely until they are capable of doing so independently. By teaching students digital citizenship skills, it will help them grow a connection to the world around them, and learn how to properly communicate with others. When we teach students how to communicate with others in a respectful and appropriate manner, we prepare our students for future circumstances in which they will likely have to work with people whom they do not always like or agree with. Therefore, teaching them at a young age not to be hateful or harass others online will help them learn the correct way to address other people online which will be beneficial to them when they are working in a professional environment.

I now have a question and a challenge for all of you! What is one rule of internet safety that you wish you were taught in elementary school? I challenge you to think of ways that you would effectively teach this concept/rule to your future students.