Chapter 7 - Reflection

Online safety and security is one of my biggest concerns with the internet. We have seen plenty of bad examples of this exact issue.

This chapter was a good resource for me. I had heard of CIPA and COPPA, but this provided a concise explanation for each of them. I am also going to check on the DOPA movement. As of the writing of the book, it had not come to pass.

Another section of this chapter that I appreciated was on Copyright and Creative Commons. I start explaining copyright in Kindergarten, but it will always be such a confusing issue. I like to put copyright information up around the school and tell teachers that copyright is much like CPR...you can never have too many refreshers.

I will definitely share the Student and Teacher Information Code of Ethics with my Technology Committee at school. It encompasses so much of what we are trying to get across to students. It is very well laid out nicely expressed.

I need to look at the FERPA site. I have a form for parent consent for use of student photos for educational purposes. It is very basic. I would love to update it and be confident that I have my bases covered. Having student photos posted to a school web site or blog is such a great thing. Unfortunately, it is not always the best idea. How sad is that?

I will also be checking out the My Space Safety Tips link. If it is good, I may suggest that we let parents know about it via our school newsletter. I truly think that if the children know that not only the parents, but friends, teachers, and many others are paying attention, they will act appropriately when using technology. Children need to know what is okay and what is not and what to do when they see/hear/read inappropriate content.

After doing so many on-line searches for this class, I have been amazed at how easy it is to all of a sudden find so many inappropriate sites! Even if I don't click on the link, some of the language and photos/drawing that are posted there to advertise the link are so bad. I am thankful that ASD has a blocking system that seems to work well. I have not had any "surprises" pop up at school.