Safety Tips for Blogging
Now that I have done some research on blogs and have thought about incorporating blogs into my classroom, I realize I need to start with the most important step, which is blogging safety. When using blogs, it is extremely important that we are eliminating risks and keeping our students safe. After researching safety tips for blogs, I came across a terrific article by Microsoft called, Safety Tips on Blogging. This article is very informative and suggests ways we can protect our kids online.
SafeKids, is another site that can be used to discuss the importance of safe blogging. This site was created essentially for teens and provides ways to safely search the web.
Not only do students needs tips about blogging safely, parents need to understand the importance of internet safety as well. As parents, it is essential that you are proactive about teaching your children about the proper uses of the internet. I know many parents struggle with the thought of allowing their child/children use the internet. Think Before You Click, is an article that provides parents with extremely important tips that will ensure the safety of your child while using the internet.
After researching and reviewing a variety of resources I truly believe that incorporating a blog into the classroom would be extremely effective. I am excited to have a better understanding and a good idea of the first steps I would take to implement one in the classroom.
Safety is the number 1 issue when dealing with blogs and/or website. Teachers and parents both need to make sure that students do not accidentally go onto another website and read/see something that they shouldn't. Another question that teachers and/or parents should be wondering is "who can see my students/child's blog?". Privacy settings is a must when working with children. We don't want strangers getting in contact with our kids.
ReplyDeleteI research the links that you provided. My favorite one was the Safety -tip by Microsoft. They provided useful information, and Microsoft is a very reliable source. I'll be sure to research them further when I want to do a blogging activity with my students.
I don't believe students understand the danger of posting to the internet. I know that my teenage students often tell me about things they have posted on their own social media pages that are inappropriate, or possibly harmful to them. We had a 90 minute assembly earlier in the year about the importance of internet safety. The presenter talked about everything from online bullying to sexting to including too much personal information on profiles. I think that it was an eye opening experience for the students, but overall don't think that it changed their behaviors much. My students are teenagers, and with that age often comes a false sense of invincibility. One would hope that students would be appropriate on a class blog, but you can never be sure. It is critical that guidelines are set, that the students are aware of them, and that the parents are also on board. That is the best way to create a safe online environment for student work.
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