Internet safety is a big topic that spans all ages of computer users. Frequently, issues involving cyberbullying make headlines in the news media. What are some lessons you have developed with help from Thinkfinity resources to teach about Internet safety?
Have you all seen the new videos and resources from Common Sense Media? Resources are for both educators and parents, and themes include internet safety, social networking, cyberbullying, creating with digital media, etc. It's a really great collection!
The Virginia Department of Education has been involved with online Internet Safety lessons originally created with the Pokemon Learning League, and which now has been rescued by the Garfield Foundation. Jean Weller, the Virginia Thinkfinity group leader, has shared in one of her blog posts some great Thinkfinity lessons that relate to Internet Safety. She has given permission for me to provide some of her favorite Thinkfinity resources on the topic of Internet safety with the Thinkfinity Community.
For older students:
Naming in a Digital World: Creating a Safe Persona on the Internet (ReadWriteThink)
Copyright Infringement or Not? The Debate over Downloading Music (ReadWriteThink)
Identifying and Understanding the Fallacies Used in Advertising (ReadWriteThink)
For younger students:
Don't be Fooled by a Photograph (Xpeditions)
A Bad Case of Bullying: Using Literature Response Groups (ReadWriteThink)
Believe It or Not? (EconEdLink)
For parents:
And a BRAND NEW Digital Workshop, Digital Parenting Protecting and Empowering Kids
offered by the Thinkfinity Foundation
List compiled by Jean Weller
Hi Lynne,
Thank you for the list of web sites. I just came accross the Garfield site and downloaded the information. I teach K - 6th grade students computers. For the few next weeks I will have to be on a cart going into the classrooms. I will only have one computer to demonstrate and to teach from. I need to teach being safe on the Internet and using good manners while on the Internet. I will have to look at your suggestions to see how I can use them with my students.
Thank you for the information!
Jinny Hoden from NJ
I teach in a Computer Lab and have Kindergarten, First, and Second grade students. I use the website www.professorgarfield.com to teach about Internet safety. You go on the website and click on the Infinite Learning Lab logo. From there you have a choice of several lessons--Online Safety; Cyberbullying; Fact or Opinion; and Forms of Media. I have my computer hooked up to my smart board and so we watch the little video as a class and then I call individual students up to complete the "Try" and "Apply" questions. I have done the Online Safety lesson with the
First and Second Graders. It concentrates on not providing your personal information over the Internet. I have also done the Fact or Opinion lesson with the Second Graders. It concentrates on realizing that everything that is on the Internet is not necessarily a fact and you have to go to many resources to confirm information.
My students seem to enjoy this site. They get to watch Garfield in action and also interact with him.
Diana Sutfin
Fascinating, isn't it. Everyone, K through 12, enjoys Garfield and can learn from these lessons and discuss topics of cyber responsibility! Good to see you are teaching these topics to the youngest of our students. This is their future.
I have used OnGuard Online, which is hosted by the Federal Government. There are interactives about phishing ( and a great video of a guy in a business suit with a whopping dorsal fin sticking out the back), deciding whether or not to "friend" someone, etc. You can also order bookmarks and other print materials in English and Spanish. I usually use the OnGuard Online as a final review of an internet safety unit with 9th grade study skills classes. nsteens.org has a collection of pretty powerful first person videos - my chatty classes are pretty quiet for some of these.
Hi Carol - Thanks for the link to Nsteens. I particularly like that the videos are not all animated. I also found the student comments about each video interesting. Clearly these videos are having an impact on the kids watching them.
The other thing I found interesting about the student comments is that they are often written in chat speak. While the students are most likely sitting at a full qwerty keyboard with plenty of characters at their disposal, they still used text shorthand and abbreviations to express their reactions to the videos. I worry about this trend.
Fascinating stuff.
T.
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