Assignment 1 findings

2006-10-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well I have finished the research and the assignment 1 (presentation) for ICT1100. There are a lot of things that I have learned since starting this project. Firstly I would like to state that I am far from a fan of group assignments!!! Why should I pay hundreds of dollars for a unit only to have to chase down group members in an ?adult? learning environment to do their part? Getting that off my chest has helped to reduce the tension and frustration and I will now continue with my findings.

As you may recall my assignment topic was "Issues around web access and use in K-7 classrooms". There are a number of "issues" that are of a concern too all users of the world wide web and especially children. In my opinion children by nature are trusting and blind to the dangers that exist in the wider community. The Internet, being the largely unregulated medium that it is has a plethora of information that is invaluable for learning, as well as the vast amounts of rubbish and inappropriate content. As teachers, to allow students to get on to this medium unprotected and unsupervised would be careless and a failing of the duty of care that we to provide.

Thankfully the Australian Government and the Department of Education and Training, Western Australia (DETWA) are aware of the dangers and have funded a site called Netalert Limited (http://www.netalert.net.au/). This site offers a number of education programs that are specific for ages 2-7, 8-12, 13-16 and youth through Netalerts cybersafe school Internet safety program. "Although teachers must protect students from inappropriate material online, it is event more important that they teach students search skills and skills to critically evaluate what they are reading online"(Department of Education and Training Government of Western Australia, 2006).

The programs; Netty's World, Cyberquoll are two programs that are relevant to students through the K-7 years. If the students progress is significant enough then I believe that Cybernetrix could also be used in the higher years of primary school. DETWA also offers a number of other websites that would be of benefit in teaching students about Internet safety.

Some of the main concerns that I could think of that I have either experienced as an adult using the Internet or that I have found through my research are:

Email - students need to understand the principals of email and the problems and dangers of its inappropriate use. Opening email that you do not know, opening attachments on email, sending email that contain inappropriate language or pictures, giving out your email address to people or companies on the net and sending bullying emails.

Computer Protection - there is a need to at least, inform students that there is software available to protect computers from viruses that are received via email, hackers and spyware. However, it is more important to advise students about how they can protect their computers from such attacks including not opening the unknown emails and their attachments, downloading of information of the Internet can also make computers susceptible to such attacks.

Personal Information - it is never wise to put up personal information on the Internet including name, address, phone number, email, school, bank details etc... Whether it be on a chat room or for a subscription or they receive an email claiming that they have won something. They need to be informed of the dangers by predators, scamsters, and other malicious people that surf the Internet too!!!

Quality of Information - students are now using the Internet for research more and more but they need to understand that anyone can write anything, from anywhere, at any time and leave it for as long as they want or delete it without notice(Place et al., 2006).

Plagiarism and Copyright - I was aware of rules regarding plagiarism, although one of the things that I still struggle with and was naive about are copyright laws that exist and that they are different depending on what country you come from. For myself as an adult to struggle with this concept it is, I am sure, the same if not worse for students. As teachers we will need to make sure that students acknowledge the source from where they get their information (plagiarism). The copyright regarding artwork, pictures, sounds etc... of the Internet is another major concern considering that some sites may say FREE, but are they??? We also need to be doing the same ourselves especially with the amount of teacher resources that are available on the Internet.

One thing that I struggle with is the companies that advertise the CD/DVD burners, ipods and other such media hardware and software as though it is fine for you to back up your vast quantities of CD's and DVD's. Fine I know that the sharing of files across the Internet may be illegal but thought that is was ok to back up our own software in case of fire, theft, computer malfunction. Here are the dangers facing our students as well!!!

Pornography & Inappropriate Content - this is one of the biggest concerns for parents and teachers. This can be reduced dramatically by use of kid safe web search engines like yahooligans, dib dab doo, wikipedia etc... but sometimes there is inappropriate content that seems to get past these and into the viewing space of students either intentionally or not. Sometimes innocent searches like Britney on google (not kid safe but very popular) will reveal something like this description of a website:

Britney Spears pictures, biography, posters
Britney Spears britney brittany spears cellulite perfume tit slip thong butt pregnant mp3 french interview toxic pics video naked nude breasts lyrics boob ...www.moono.com/html/britney-spears/britney-spears-pictures.cfm - 93k - 21 August 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
(Google, 2006)

A search through yahooligans offers no such inappropriate content. This is why teachers need to stay vigilant when students use the web and put measures in place like stating what search engine they can use, give them the search topic and preview possible search findings etc... There are many things a teacher is able to do to limit bad sites the main one would be not letting students just freely search through any old search engine as there are many.

Contracts and Agreements - another way that students can be made responsible for what they do on the Internet are written contracts and agreements that students and parents must sign so that they can be held accountable for the material they view, download or send using ICT in the school. This will help to reduce the likelihood of students misusing the ICT tools in their school.

There are many dangers that face students when using the Internet either at school in K-7 classrooms or whether they go home to do research for a homework assignment. The need for teachers to educate students about the dangers that face them as well as how to avoid them is extremely important. The education program designed for use in our schools by Netalert Limited is one such way of informing the kids. This program will go a long way to educate about what is good and what is bad when using the Internet. The parents of these children may also require training on how to protect their children.

The Internet is a great tool to use in the classroom as it offers a vast amount of useful information you just need to know how to find it and how to ascertain if it is legitimate and appropriate.

Just one thing to consider as I finish here. The current trend with computer use at home is the viewing and use of video sites like Youtube and Eyespot. These sites have become very popular in all age groups but what about the content. Anyone including children can put home videos made in the bedroom or outdoors on the Internet for anyone to watch and although there is an avenue to report inappropriate material being posted, it does not stop it from reaching the eyes of impressionable youth. I am not an old person who wants to stop kids being kids as I consider myself a large child and enjoy having fun. I am just as concerned as the rest of the community about children being abused and taken advantage of.

So what are your kids doing on the computer????

Department of Education and Training Government of Western Australia. (2006, 15 October 2006). Safe Surfing Strategies. Retrieved 18 August, 2006, from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/safety/safe5.htm

Place, E., Kendall, M., Hiom, D., Smith, P., Joyner, B., Ayres, P., et al. (2006, 13 Jun 2006). Internet Detective: Wise up to the Web. 3rd Retrieved 10 August, 2006, from http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html

Google. (2006, 21 August). Britney. Retrieved 21 August, 2006, from http://www.google.com.au/search?q=britney&hl=en&lr=&start=20&sa=N

How about some more fish!!!

2006-09-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

So what do you think of these baby's!! Getting bigger and better but keep getting out done by Lawrence. Check out the big Pinky that he caught it makes my Pinky look like a baby (as you can see by my expression). It was my first Pinky so I am not too worried.

Issues around web access and use in K-7 classrooms

2006-08-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

As part of assignment 1 I have had to research the ‘Issues around web access and use in K-7 classrooms’. I have been searching the internet and have also spoken with the Information Computing Technology (ICT) Coordinator at a Northern Primary School to try to get an understanding of the levels of computer usage in Primary Schools.

To give some background it has been some 20 years since I attended Primary School and during my years I did not use computers as they had not yet been introduced into the classroom and were mainly used at the administration level. The first time that I can remember using a computer was my first year of Secondary Schooling and this did not include the use of the World Wide Web.

In 2006 however, ICT has been thoroughly implemented into schools in Western Australia and even more so, access to the Web. The use of ICT is in my view is common sense as the introduction or expansion in many facets of our society. To help the children’s smoother transition into society and become competitive in the workforce requires a sound knowledge and use of computers and software.

Many children now have access to computers at home as well as school and it is appropriate to teach them how to use the web to their full advantage whilst at the same time keeping them safe from the many traps and pitfalls that are associated with its use. Web access has become cheaper and its accessibility in schools and home is now widespread which in turn is introduced at a younger age.

Through my discussions and research I have discovered a couple of websites introduced by Australia’s Internet Safety Advisory Body at http://www.netalert.net.au/. The first of the programs that I will talk about is Netty’s World (netalert, 2005) at http://www.nettysworld.com.au/, which was designed for use by children aged between two and seven years. This program teaches children at a young age how to use the internet safely with the help of a teacher, parent or guardian. This site is an interactive site where children can follow Netty’s adventures into five different levels, which include the use of audio/visual components followed by a reinforcement activity.

The five levels include:
1. Exploring the net
2. Getting things off the net
3. Using smart phones
4. Putting work on the net
5. Making friends on the net

These five levels are then followed up by the reinforcement activity ‘Netty’s all star Quize’ (netalert, 2005) that informs children to:
1. Get help
2. Be nice
3. Think again
4. Stay safe & secure
5. Protect what’s private

Netty’s World is a good informative tool for young users and also allows the child to join ‘Netty’s Club’ which is free and allows the child to receive internet safety activities in the mail every two months as well as initial gifts. The site was fairly simple to use, however, it is best done with a teacher, adult or guardian.

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2006-08-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

ICT1100 My Experience

Assignment 1 findings

How about some more fish!!!

Issues around web access and use in K-7 classrooms

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