Protect your students online


Protect your students online

What measures do you take to protect your students on line?


 

Create a private wiki /blog - this is open only to the class -- eliminating the possibility to interact with a broader spectrum of people.  Possible mentors and contributors can be invited if you want to include more people. This is great for younger grades who need a more protected environment.

 

Do not disclose personal information - Encourage your students to use only their first names, and not to upload personal photos. Students who blog publicly use only first names and avators in place of photos.

 

Linking -  To dissuade access to the broader internet, encourage younger students to only link to internal wiki pages/blog posts.  For older students linking is a great way to teach information literacy and determine what sites are credible and what aren't.

 

Use RSS feeds / notification emails - so you know exactly what students are blogging/ editing

 

Filter out the JUNK - Whenever possible, show students how to turn on content filtering.  Search engines such as Google.com and Ask.com give you the option to turn on filters.  This eliminates some of the unwanted content out there, especially inappropriate images.

 

Learn about the security tools that are available to you - PBworks has many security controls to make your wiki as open or closed as you want.  Make sure you understand the tools before you implement them in your class.

 

Have parents sign a permission form -  This is a good example from Wes Freyers BlogParentPermissionForm.doc

 

Invite Parents to join: share the invite key - Encourage parents to participate - have them subscribe via RSS feeds or PBwiki notifications

 

Remind the parents and publicize your efforts in your school newsletter.  Show off your students sucessses while reminding parents what their children are working on.

 

Find partner teachers: Locate volunteers to read student pages /posts and comment on them.  This expands your classroom discussion, and let's the students know they're heard.  Include your principal!

 

On public computers