Understanding Digital Safety

          Fair Use Practices, Digital Safety and Privacy, Cyberbullying, and Phishing and Pharming are all relevant topics for any level of education. I feel that training should be in place for anyone wishing to purchase or renew their internet service and anyone purchasing a digital device. Many people use the internet as a way to physically disconnect with people, which can be the start of something grim. Predators freely reign and attempt to lure in those who are naïve, which in many cases are children. Anyone can be a victim if they are not aware of the warning signs of criminals on the prowl. Additionally, not everyone realizes the internet is highly traceable, and one can be held accountable for illegal usage or downloading of copyright materials. One week of presentations on the above topics are just enough to get by, but there are so many layers of right and wrong on the internet.  

The digital world is both useful and harmful, and many parents who grew up in the early stages of the internet were not prepared for the present dangers. According to Kidguard, it is crucial for parents to be knowledgeable and aware of how the digital world is run, how their children are using the internet, as well as slang and outlets of social networking. In some cases, children’s lives or safety can be at risk (Kidguard Editor, 2017). With technology advancement in the classroom, it is even more imperative that teachers supplement students’ knowledge of being safe on the internet and etiquette while online. What would seem like common sense, children should constantly be reminded not to trust everyone and everything they come across on the internet.

The level of exposure to digital tools depend on schools’ resources. Some schools have take-home devices, leaving children to have constant access to the internet, and other students have limited hand-on time overall. Hertz (2011) points out there are 6-year-old students who are participating on social media and online gaming, and teachers’ responsibilities include teaching socialization skills, importantly, appropriate behavior online (Hertz, 2011). The inclusion of technology tools in the classroom can be used an opportunity to address digital citizenship. Using social media and blogs to post students’ assignments and feedback are chances for students to practice their digital citizenship in the classroom setting.

This assignment of digital safety was definitely an eye opener for some things. I personally did not know what Vishing and SMiShing were. Fortunately, my spouse has been in the technology field long enough to keep our family aware of the dangers. I would add creating a Facebook page and going live with these presentations. I feel parents and guardians need to be aware of all of these topics despite their children’s ages. Another complimentary component to this assignment could be for any user to question and test the legitimacy of websites. One basic approach everyone should take when using the internet is the attitude of questioning what websites or “friends” want. Using that approach can help raise awareness.

When I am in the position to teach my students about digital safety, I would first take a poll of their current knowledge of digital safety. We would go over quickly what they already know and create presentations of things they did not know. Parents and other students will be invited to these presentations, and it could be a grade level presentation. I would collaborate with my peers to create an online blog where our classes can practice digital citizenship. Additionally, I would have the class create fliers of the dangers to be posted in our classroom and sent home.

My group used Whatsapp, Google Docs, and Powtoons to complete our presentation. Powtoons was not completely user friendly. We were able to work on our presentations remotely. When it came down to recording our voices, each time the presentation was updated, it needed to be resent to the group. The basic version only allowed twenty seconds per slide, which not enough time to describe our slides. Overall, we liked this tool, but we will look for other options in the future.

I learned a lot from this assignment and was understanding the presentations from the perspective of a future teacher and parent. The visitors added more pressure to the assignment, but I think parents and future teachers would benefit more from our work. Perhaps opening the audience to the university could be beneficial.

Kidguard Editor. (2017, January 24). Stop cyber bullying: how to talk to your child about online safety and cyber bullying. Kidguard. Retrieved from https://www.kidguard.com/cell-phone-monitoring-and-gps-tracking/stop-cyber-bullying-talk-child-online-safety/

Hertz, M.B. (2011, October 12). Teaching digital citizenship in the elementary classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-citizenship-mary-beth-hertz