It's been some time since I have posted any new updates. For my regular viewers, don't despair! I will be posting new info and analysis this week for you to read. I am taking a new class online and YOU get to be the beneficiaries of my research. That's right, you don't have to do any of the work, just read my findings.
Until then, check out this video about teaching with technology, and...
C You soon!
Jason :)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Safe Kids Vodcast
Here is a cleverly written vodcast on keeping kids safe created by Barbara Santora. Enjoy!
http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=2412&CID=206989
http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=2412&CID=206989
Utilize the Web 2.0 Benefits
Now that we have discussed concerns of privacy, security, and ethics in using Web resources, the following are several ways to utilize the benefits of the web while maintaining some degree of safety from hackers of information.
1. Cookies - go into your internet browser options and turn up the security level to only accept known cookies. You may also block downloads of unsigned Active X controls as well.
2. Subscribe to an antivirus software. McAfee is a good one.
3. Subscribe to an email spam filter. Your ISP should have this available to you for a nominal fee. Some internet subscriptions come with one as part of the package.
4. Your internet browser has an option to enter sites into a registry that you know are bad, so it will never allow you browse them. Conversely, there is a registry of "trusted sites" you may enter as well.
5. Keep your browsing software updated. New registries are constantly being added to new versions of your browsing software. Additionaly, keep you Operating System updated for the same reason.
6. Lastly, go to this Website (http://www.getnetwise.org/) to find tools and more information about staying safe online. They also have great how to video tutorials like this one to help keep kids safe online. This video is about changing preferences in Google to "Kid Safe" mode.
http://syn.getnetwise.org/flash/google-search-swf.swf
1. Cookies - go into your internet browser options and turn up the security level to only accept known cookies. You may also block downloads of unsigned Active X controls as well.
2. Subscribe to an antivirus software. McAfee is a good one.
3. Subscribe to an email spam filter. Your ISP should have this available to you for a nominal fee. Some internet subscriptions come with one as part of the package.
4. Your internet browser has an option to enter sites into a registry that you know are bad, so it will never allow you browse them. Conversely, there is a registry of "trusted sites" you may enter as well.
5. Keep your browsing software updated. New registries are constantly being added to new versions of your browsing software. Additionaly, keep you Operating System updated for the same reason.
6. Lastly, go to this Website (http://www.getnetwise.org/) to find tools and more information about staying safe online. They also have great how to video tutorials like this one to help keep kids safe online. This video is about changing preferences in Google to "Kid Safe" mode.
http://syn.getnetwise.org/flash/google-search-swf.swf
Web 2.0 Privacy Issues
Web 2.0 promises to give consumers the next generation of internet utility. However, there are pitfalls that come with such fast-paced change-privacy being one of them.
Web 2.0 applications such as Flickr, MySpace, and Digg, are just a few of a growing number of Web-based companies who are mining for information about you. Bit-Tech writer Will Harris sites some examples, "Digg knows what stories you've submitted, what demographic you're in, how other people in your demographic react to what you post. MySpace can break its users down by almost any statistic imaginable" He also states, "Flickr is perhaps one of the most interesting ones. Search for 'cat', and Flickr will record the most popular photo clicked. By associating the colour and picture data within photos with keywords used to search, Yahoo is slowly building a database of human identification (Harris, 2006)."
After hearing this, I get a little more uneasy about using these sites. I wonder what Facebook knows about me...hmmm! It kind of makes me think I should unsubscribe to all Web 2.0 applications altogether.
I guess it comes down to the tolerances of the end user. Do you mind if Yahoo, Google, and MySpace know everything about you? Who knows, maybe by knowing consumers' likes and dislikes, companies will be able to meet our needs and desires better and more efficiently. It's still too early to tell how positive or negative these changes will be.
In The Classroom
The biggest issues I've found in the elementary classroom are students being tricked by "the pop-up phenomenon" and students logging on to membership sites to play games. Regarding the later these "gaming" membership sites are off limits during school hours. Sometimes students will try to log on in spite of this school rule. Teachers must be constantly vigilant in the supervision of students while they are online. I've seen advertising Websites with a gaming section. When a child does a search for games, the gaming page of these Websites turn up in the results and children are lured in. A little snooping around in the site and we find pages that ask for personal information. Teachers, be sure you approve and inspect all sites your students will be visiting during school hours. A good idea would be to go to one of these sites in the beginning of the year and show students the personal information trap.
My personal philosophy about giving personal information is as follows. If it's a membership I care about I give the minimum required by the site. If it's a site I'm just curious about, I never give factual information. In my years of surfing and signing up, this philosophy has served me well.
In closing, I'd like you to watch a 5 minute video from YouTube.com about privacy in the digital age called Privacy and the Network of You. There are some very important points discussed which relate to how businesses think about privacy issues (YouTube, 2007).
Web Privacy Links:
Help Safeguard Your Privacy on the Web
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/privacy/config.mspx
JUNKBUSTERS Alert on Web Privacy
http://www.junkbusters.com/cgi-bin/privacy
Privacy and Profiling on the Web
http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-Web-privacy
Google search results for "internet privacy"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=internet+privacy"web privacy"
References
Harris, Will. Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy
http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1
YouTube.com. Privacy and the Network of You/Sun Microsystems.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-vfXv5I_N-o
Web 2.0 applications such as Flickr, MySpace, and Digg, are just a few of a growing number of Web-based companies who are mining for information about you. Bit-Tech writer Will Harris sites some examples, "Digg knows what stories you've submitted, what demographic you're in, how other people in your demographic react to what you post. MySpace can break its users down by almost any statistic imaginable" He also states, "Flickr is perhaps one of the most interesting ones. Search for 'cat', and Flickr will record the most popular photo clicked. By associating the colour and picture data within photos with keywords used to search, Yahoo is slowly building a database of human identification (Harris, 2006)."
After hearing this, I get a little more uneasy about using these sites. I wonder what Facebook knows about me...hmmm! It kind of makes me think I should unsubscribe to all Web 2.0 applications altogether.
I guess it comes down to the tolerances of the end user. Do you mind if Yahoo, Google, and MySpace know everything about you? Who knows, maybe by knowing consumers' likes and dislikes, companies will be able to meet our needs and desires better and more efficiently. It's still too early to tell how positive or negative these changes will be.
In The Classroom
The biggest issues I've found in the elementary classroom are students being tricked by "the pop-up phenomenon" and students logging on to membership sites to play games. Regarding the later these "gaming" membership sites are off limits during school hours. Sometimes students will try to log on in spite of this school rule. Teachers must be constantly vigilant in the supervision of students while they are online. I've seen advertising Websites with a gaming section. When a child does a search for games, the gaming page of these Websites turn up in the results and children are lured in. A little snooping around in the site and we find pages that ask for personal information. Teachers, be sure you approve and inspect all sites your students will be visiting during school hours. A good idea would be to go to one of these sites in the beginning of the year and show students the personal information trap.
My personal philosophy about giving personal information is as follows. If it's a membership I care about I give the minimum required by the site. If it's a site I'm just curious about, I never give factual information. In my years of surfing and signing up, this philosophy has served me well.
In closing, I'd like you to watch a 5 minute video from YouTube.com about privacy in the digital age called Privacy and the Network of You. There are some very important points discussed which relate to how businesses think about privacy issues (YouTube, 2007).
Web Privacy Links:
Help Safeguard Your Privacy on the Web
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/privacy/config.mspx
JUNKBUSTERS Alert on Web Privacy
http://www.junkbusters.com/cgi-bin/privacy
Privacy and Profiling on the Web
http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-Web-privacy
Google search results for "internet privacy"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=internet+privacy"web privacy"
References
Harris, Will. Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy
http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1
YouTube.com. Privacy and the Network of You/Sun Microsystems.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-vfXv5I_N-o
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Web 2.0 Ethics
There are many ethical battle raging online about "user rights" when using Web 2.0 applications. Pramit Singh of mediavidea found a quote from a commenter on Slashdot who writes, "This is not about 'your rights online'. LiveJournal is a private company, not a govenrment agency.
Their web site is private property, and it is not a monopoly.
To speak of 'rights' on their web site is sort of speaking about rights at K-Mart. You don't have any. If you don't like what K-Mart does, you leave and go to their competitor." (mediavidea, 2008)
Copyright material is another complicated issue which falls under the umbrella of ethics. Online content is streaming into our lives at such a high rate speed, it's hard to know what is, what isn't, protected. Luckily there are resources out there that will help to clear the air about educational fair use agreements. Here is a link to a guide for teachers on fair use. http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html (jeffco, 2008)
Creative Commons is adding a new dimension for sharing content for free. Here is a YouTube video which explains Creative commons link between copyrighted and public domain.
The bottom line for classroom teachers is having conversations with your students. When students are aware of ethical issues, they are more informed to make correct choices when using online content. Following is a link to a lesson plan for elementary students as students consider possible ways to copy others' works using the Internet and learn that many forms of copying are illegal or unethical.
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/68_09.asp
References
mediavidea, Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/08/whose-rights-online-20.html
Jeffco County Schools copyright guidlines, Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html
Their web site is private property, and it is not a monopoly.
To speak of 'rights' on their web site is sort of speaking about rights at K-Mart. You don't have any. If you don't like what K-Mart does, you leave and go to their competitor." (mediavidea, 2008)
Copyright material is another complicated issue which falls under the umbrella of ethics. Online content is streaming into our lives at such a high rate speed, it's hard to know what is, what isn't, protected. Luckily there are resources out there that will help to clear the air about educational fair use agreements. Here is a link to a guide for teachers on fair use. http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html (jeffco, 2008)
Creative Commons is adding a new dimension for sharing content for free. Here is a YouTube video which explains Creative commons link between copyrighted and public domain.
The bottom line for classroom teachers is having conversations with your students. When students are aware of ethical issues, they are more informed to make correct choices when using online content. Following is a link to a lesson plan for elementary students as students consider possible ways to copy others' works using the Internet and learn that many forms of copying are illegal or unethical.
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/68_09.asp
References
mediavidea, Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/08/whose-rights-online-20.html
Jeffco County Schools copyright guidlines, Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html
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