week 14 PLE

I completed the Course Evaluation on Route Y, the course feedback survery, and told Nicky the only thing that was missing from my grade.

and I already posted my reflection.

Internet Safety Reflection

1. I chose to read the article “Mixed Signals” from June of 2001in the Ensign. This is a quick guide to the appropriateness of the media that we are using. The message is that the Bretheren of the Church are warning us to be careful of what we choose to participate in with music, the interenet, and television and movies. They say that our choices can either be uplifting to our souls, or damaging depending on the content of each.

2. I watched the ikeepsafe videos, all of the netsmartz videos, most of the PBS documentary videos, and Katie’s story on webwisekids. All of these dealt with some aspect of internet safety, whether it be not giving out personal information, not meeting strangers online or in chat rooms, cyber bulling, and inappropriate material. All of these were very informational and made me realize how easy it is to get information about a person if they want to online. If our kids are not being safe on the internet, they can willingly or unwillingly be putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.

3. I took away a lot of very useful information from the videos and the articles. First of all, I was shocked that is was so easy to accidentally give out too much information. I think for this reason we need to be very explicit with the students about what they should not post, such their names or even gender. I was also impressed by the sheer number of youth that are participating in these activities. So many children are on social networking sites and chat rooms and spend SO much time on them. I think that we should counsel them to not spend too much time engaged in these activities. Many of the articles stressed the point that the internet is a great tool. It can be a great resource to have and use, if it is used properly. I think we really need to remember that as teachers. We need to give our students opportunities to be on the internet, but stress to them the importance of being responsible on it. If they are taught well enough, then the internet will be a great activity to use in our classrooms.

4. I shared the information I have learned with a mother of 10 children. She has one child still at home and several grandchildren that come and visit on a regular basis. Most specifically, we talked about preventative measures that could be put on the computers to help protect children from inappropriate material and too much access to the internet. This was something that this mother has really taken seriously. She told me that several years ago she looked into the best way to take preventative meausures for these dangers. As a result, she has filters placed on the internet and a password required for logging onto the computer. That way she knew who was on the internet and when because these were the only computers in the house; there were none allowed in the bedrooms or private rooms. She is just as concerned about these issues for her grandchildren as she is for her children and is going to keep all these measures on the computers for them. She was very informed. I was surprised at how big of an issue this was to her, and I was glad because I think it should be for every parent.

TPACK Report