Responsibilities of Students, Parents, and Educators
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What are the responsibilities of using the Internet?
To be able to use the Internet students, parents, and educators must all do their part to completely ensure Internet safety. For parents and educators we must be vigilant in educating our children and students, and to also lead by example and practice what we preach. For students the key is to be responsible when using the Internet, just like going out with your friends is a privilege so is using the Internet and if you are not responsible when doing both you could find yourself in trouble! Here is what each of us can do.....
Responsibilities of Students:
Students, it is your responsibility to follow all the rules and regulations set forth by your school and by your parents. Remember using the Internet is a privilege not a right! You must follow your schools Acceptable Use Policy, visit sites that only pertain to the assignments given to you, and not engage in any Cyberbullying or other harassing material. You must follow all copyright laws, and understand the consequences of plagiarism. It is your responsibility to follow the rules, but the best thing to do is educate yourself on how to be responsible using the Internet.
Responsibilities of Parents:
Parents, the most responsible thing that you can do for your children is to monitor your child's Internet use. Another thing that is really important for you to do is TALK to your children about the dangers of using the Internet and how they can protect themselves. Below are some additional ways that you as a parent can be responsible and to ensure your child is also being responsible while using the Internet. To read more about each of these please check out this website where this information was located: Rules N' Tools
- Teach your children to never give personal information over the Internet, such as name, address, telephone number, password, parents' names, the name of any club or team he/she is involved in, name of his/her school, or after school job.
- Pay Attention to Online Photos: Know the type of photos your child is posting online.
- Know your kids’ online activities and friends.
- Supervise Computer Use: Keep your child’s computer in an open area of your home and be aware of other computers and other devices children may be using outside of the home.
- Keep the Lines of Communication Open: Use the Internet with your child.
- Act Like the Child: Search blog sites children visit to see what information they are posting.
- Limit and monitor the amount of time your child spends on the Internet.
- Establish online rules and an agreement with your child about Internet use at home and outside of the home.
- Virtual Parenting: Set-up the family’s Internet service accounts.
- Monitoring Software: Install software to manage where children go online.
- Exercise Parental Control: Implement Filtering tools.
- Restrict Access: Use privacy settings to restrict access to the child’s website.
- Be a Technical Geek: Secure the family computer by regularly updating the operating system and installing a firewall, and up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
Responsibilities of Teachers:
Teachers, our biggest responsibility is educate students on the risks of Internet use, monitor students to make sure they are obeying the schools AUP. But what else can we as educators do to ensure that our students are informed of their responsibilities when using the Internet? Below are some ways to help you teach digital safety, responsibility, and respect, courtesy of Learning Today
Gain Parental Support
Parents and guardians have been “dateline-ized” by horror stories regarding the social web, facebook, and other forms of social media. You must have parent and guardian support if you are to be successful in your approach. Bring the community in first. Inform and educate them on the amazing power of the read, write web as it relates to student achievement, global citizenship, and the future.
Teach Digital Citizenship
Students are no longer operating at the local or national levels. Citizenship lessons should reach beyond into the digital and global levels. Teach your students’ netiquette with the same importance that they are taught the rules of the road. We are not users but community members, stakeholders, citizens OF the web.
Empower Your Students
Help your kids develop a sense of ownership with the web. Allow them to be involved in the production of internet safety media. For example, check out http://supersocialsafety.blogspot.com. Kids review and report on the safety and practical use of websites, tools, and virtual worlds.
Combat the Myth of Anonymity
Teach your kids that behind every avatar or username there is a human being with feelings. We are never anonymous. Everything we do should have our name attached to it. Help your kids recognize the power of their digital footprint and give them opportunities to build and enhance their own.
Incorporate Social Media and the Power of the Read/Write Web in Your Classroom
Model responsible behavior and appropriate use of these powerful tools. Check out the Top 5 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom or the 21st Century Guide to Teaching and Learning for some ideas. Also, know that you yourself will not be able to see the power of these tools without becoming a learner first and a teacher second. So take time to build your own PLN and start contributing to the read, write web with blogs, wikis, and more.
What is COPPA?
COPPA is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. This was developed by the FTC to protect the privacy of children who use the Internet. Parents and educators this is definitely something that you should take the time to read about and teach to your students and children. To read all about COPPA please click here: COPPA
Users Rights and Responsibilities: Firewalls, Passwords, and Parental Safe Guards
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Firewalls:
A firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from the Internet or a network, and then either blocks it or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings. Even if you think there's nothing on your computer that would interest anyone, a worm could completely disable your computer, or someone could use your computer to help spread worms or viruses to other computers without your knowledge.
Links to Firewall Software and Resources:
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Passwords:
Why is having a strong password important? The stronger your password is the less likely someone can steal it! Strong passwords are important protections to help you have safer online transactions. The key to password strength is length and complexity. An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.
- Whenever possible, use at least 14 characters or more.
- The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better.
- Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often.
Below are some great resources for you to use when creating passwords!
Password Strength Calculators:
Password Checker
Ask the Geek Password Tester
Password Checker
Ask the Geek Password Tester
Password Generators:
PC Tools Password Generator
PC Tools Password Generator
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Parental Safe Guards:
Parental Safe Guards is also known as Parental Controls. These controls are used to ensure that your child or student cannot view things on the Internet that inappropriate. These controls also allow you to view what websites your child has been viewing online, check their email accounts, and their online activity. Teachers can also use Parental Controls for their students and adjust the settings for the grade levels!
Here are some great Parental Safe Guard Resources:
Internet Service Provider (ISP) can also Help!
ISP's like Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and AOL all provide great Parental Controls. You can contact your ISP online or by phone to find out what services your ISP provides for you. Common services that are offered are spam and email protection, firewall software, and parental controls.
Here are some ISP services:
Time Warner: Software that Time Warner Offers to its Customers
Comcast: Software Comcast Customer Can Use
How to Check the Validity of a Website
How can you and your children or students check to make sure that a website is valid?
The following six categories will help determine a site's validity:
AUTHORSHIP - Determining who is responsible for the information will be extremely important. Because anyone can publish a Web page, the user will need to take steps to identify the author. There may be times that a student author will be pertinent to what the class is studying, but other situations that will call for a more documented body of information. The author should be identified by professional qualifications, background, and credentials. You should be able to find out more info about the author by searching the web.
CURRENCY - Technological information changes very frequently, especially on the Internet. Educators need to determine if there is any stability to an Internet site so that the site is likely to still be available when trying to incorporate the material into lesson plans. The site should be updated regularly. The date of the updates should be visible on the website.
CONTENT - Because there are no reliable means currently available to set standards or to review information on the Internet, educators need to be able to assess the type of material located in a site to determine if the material is valid and appropriate for a classroom setting.
SITE DESIGN - The site should allow good access to information in an appealing but clear manner. The user should be able to navigate within thesite without getting lost and have the ability to return to the home page easily. Added features such as graphics and multimedia should enhance the content.
TECHNICAL ISSUES - Technical issues will influence the usability of a site. A site that may include outstanding content but that has overriding technical issues will not be usable within the scope of a classroom period. Similarly, students may not have much tolerance for sites that don't work.
To read more about each of these please check out the website listed below where the above information was obtained.
