Internet Safety

The focus of this week's lesson was Internet safety. Exploring the dangers of the Internet has been extremely revealing in presenting a great deal of useful and scary information. As scary as the Internet can be, it is one of the greatest resources that we will use to teach and that our students will use to learn. It is for this reason that this week's lesson is so important. As future educators, we must be aware of the present dangers on the Internet. We must also know how to evaluate websites and keep our students safe.

I had a lot of fun doing the Website Evaluation WebQuest. I learned important evaulation techniques for determining the authenticity of websites and the information presented on them. I was able to formulate questions to ask myself to properly evaluate websites that I come in contact with. I think my favorite part of the WebQuest was exploring the websites for kids. I had so much fun watching the adventures of the Cyber Pigs and getting my personal Web License. I am so thankful for websites like NetSmartz and Media Awareness Network. These websites are places where children can learn important information about Internet safey in ways that are engaging and fun. I also enjoyed making my very own Web Activity. It is so awesome to go to my UEN page and see the activity that I made posted there for all to see. I hope that when I become a teacher, I can use my Web Activity in my classroom to educate my students on the importance of Internet safety.

I plan to use what I have learned in this lesson to utilize the Internet in my classroom in a safe and productive way. The Internet will be a predominant teaching and resource tool in my classroom. I want my students to know how to use the Internet safely and also how to discern between websites that present accurate information and those websites that present false information. I also hope to educate the parents of my students so that they will be able to keep their children safe while using the Internet at home. The Internet is very dangerous. It is also the greatest resource of our time. We should not be scared away from the Internet because of its dangers. Instead we must learn how to use it safely and get the best information available from it.

For my video reflection this week, I was able to find the video entitled We Didn't Start the Fire on Teacher Tube. I love this video. It is 4 minutes and 44 seconds of important people, dates, and events in U.S. History. The information in this video is presented in a way that is engaging and fun. The video left me feeling pride for our country's history and excited to know more about it.