Additional Task 5: Intenet Safety
Throughout the course we talked a lot about internet safety. It is very important that we ensure a careful behavior in the internet, that personal data needs to be protected and that we are informed about the manifold dangers which sometimes seem to be hidden online.
In respect to the KIM study, summarized in the additional task 3, we know that children use the internet on a daily basis and therefore, it is of great importance to teach them how to act save online. For us as future teachers this means that we have to keep in mind that especially children tend to think that the internet is harmless, since it is not a face to face situation. They tend to be more naïve concerning their activities online, most often they are not informed about possible dangers and think that everything happening online is to some degree not connected to “real life”. Thus, one of our most important tasks is to inform children about the hidden dangers the internet comes with and how to prevent themselves from those dangers.
A recent study of the EU commission (http://www.verivox.de) indicated that children tend to publish large amounts of personal data on the internet because they are not informed about possible traps and dangers.
A variety of video clips on TV and numerous articles concerning this difficulty prove how current this problem is.
In respect to the KIM study, summarized in the additional task 3, we know that children use the internet on a daily basis and therefore, it is of great importance to teach them how to act save online. For us as future teachers this means that we have to keep in mind that especially children tend to think that the internet is harmless, since it is not a face to face situation. They tend to be more naïve concerning their activities online, most often they are not informed about possible dangers and think that everything happening online is to some degree not connected to “real life”. Thus, one of our most important tasks is to inform children about the hidden dangers the internet comes with and how to prevent themselves from those dangers.
A recent study of the EU commission (http://www.verivox.de) indicated that children tend to publish large amounts of personal data on the internet because they are not informed about possible traps and dangers.
A variety of video clips on TV and numerous articles concerning this difficulty prove how current this problem is.
These problems obviously claim enlightenment and appropriate education from adults to ensure a better security of children being online. Of course parents should take responsibility for solving those problems, but at the same time it is really important to make it a topic at school. Therefore, teachers need to ensure that their pupils know how to behave on the internet and to make them aware of the hidden dangers of social networks, certain websites, etc.
As a teacher we need to talk about certain rules with the children and make sure that they understand why they should avoid certain things online. In course of doing this one can develop a chart with 10 most important rules that could be placed somewhere within the classroom and, therefore, ensures that they will not forget what is so important when using the internet.
In our New Media course we created a list with the most important rules pupils should:
10 most important rules for internet behavior:
1. Always use a safe password
2. Be careful with personal information
3. Never accept messages from people you don't know
4. Never meet anyone you only know online
5. Do not download software that your parents don‘t know about and allow
6. Don‘t open attachments from emails where you do not know the sender
7. Tell your parents if you are bullied online or if something makes you feel uncomfortable
8. Never bully anyone on the internet
9. Be careful with uploading pictures
10. Don´t visit inappropriate websites, videos, etc.
As a teacher we need to talk about certain rules with the children and make sure that they understand why they should avoid certain things online. In course of doing this one can develop a chart with 10 most important rules that could be placed somewhere within the classroom and, therefore, ensures that they will not forget what is so important when using the internet.
In our New Media course we created a list with the most important rules pupils should:
10 most important rules for internet behavior:
1. Always use a safe password
2. Be careful with personal information
3. Never accept messages from people you don't know
4. Never meet anyone you only know online
5. Do not download software that your parents don‘t know about and allow
6. Don‘t open attachments from emails where you do not know the sender
7. Tell your parents if you are bullied online or if something makes you feel uncomfortable
8. Never bully anyone on the internet
9. Be careful with uploading pictures
10. Don´t visit inappropriate websites, videos, etc.
