Tag: digital world

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Living in a Digital World

Today’s kids are growing up in a time of rapid technology growth and development. That growth is only going to continue, so it’s important that we ensure our students have the tools they need to safely and properly access digital media. We’ve spent the past few weeks talking about the 7 Cs of education, and up until now, we’ve only covered areas that could be implemented and taught without any sort of technology use. Our next “C” however, is completely reliant on technology: Computer Literacy. 

Computer literacy is a skill that must be taught and promoted in our classrooms today. With the ever increasing presence of technology in their lives, students need to be aware and educated on how to properly and effectively use technology. Being computer literate encompasses so much more than just being able to use a computer and navigate through the various programs and apps, though that is definitely part of it. People who are computer literate know how to gather, use, analyze, and create information using digital technologies. They know how to fact check information, and how to recognize a phony website. They are aware of the dangers of the internet, and know how to do their best to stay away from those dangers. Computer literate people know how to safely and responsibly communicate within the digital world. They are good digital citizens, and understand the power of technology. 

So, how then, do we encourage and promote computer literacy within our classrooms? We cannot simply place our students in front of a computer and expect them to know what to do and how to behave. They must be shown, and they must be taught. Below are some ideas you might consider using to foster computer literacy in your classroom:

  • Encourage students to use shared digital files to share information when doing a group assignment.
  • Role play or practice how to respond to a cyber bully.
  • Have students use critical thinking skills to evaluate an online source for accurate information. Show them what red flags might look like when they evaluate a source.
  • Teach social media safety by having students practice with mock social media scenarios. 
  • Emphasize the importance of keeping personal information private– full name, location, descriptions of physical appearance, passwords, financial information, and so on. 
  • Teach them that once it’s on the internet, it’s there to stay. Think twice before you hit “send” or “publish”.
  • For upper grades, teach students how to properly cite online sources.
  • Encourage students to create a digital presentation, complete with links, pictures, and appropriate citations.
  • Stress the importance of copyright. 
  • Teach them that it’s okay to gather and learn from information from other people’s writing, but it is never okay to explicitly copy someone else’s work. Plagiarism is never acceptable. To help them avoid this problem, teach them how to properly quote a source within their own writing.
  • Ensure that they know what to do if they encounter an online predator, and ensure they know the repercussions of being an online predator, and that is never okay.
  • Help them see the positive side of the digital world, too. There really is so much good that can come from technology; we just need to arm them with the tools they need to safely navigate the digital world.

Since technology is going to forever be a part of our lives, it just makes sense to ensure that we know the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. And because we are teachers, we have a duty to help our students understand how to be good, upstanding digital citizens.

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Internet Safety: Why it Matters

When I was in high school, the internet was just starting to really gain traction and become useful. Honestly, I still used my super awesome Encyclopedia Brittanica CD-Rom or a physical book for my research projects. I had to sit an listen to the obnoxious dial up noise while I waited for my computer to connect to AOL, and was very limited in my time online— because when your phone line and internet line are the same, you had to hurry so people could get through if they needed to call someone at your house. 

The internet was so new that we didn’t really understand the dangers that could be lurking with one single click. We were blissfully ignorant to those kinds of things. Public chat rooms were my favorite place to go online. I would spend as much time as possible chatting away with complete strangers, often sharing details about my physical appearance, location, age, grade in school, and so on. Yikes! 2025 me is appalled that 1997 me was so naive and open with people I didn’t even know. No one is at fault here; my parents and I didn’t know any better back then, but I can’t help but think about how unsafe that was. Knowing what I know now, I will make sure my kids know how to be cautious when online. 

Teaching internet safety begins at home. Today’s kids are exposed to the internet long before they even step foot into a school setting. Gone are the days where a computer had to be stationary; kids today have access to the internet via so many methods– iPads, phones, laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, and so on. Parents have a responsibility to teach their children what is and is not okay when it comes to online habits. Thankfully today, parents can set filters on their computers and phones. While these filters are not fool-proof, they do help. Online content can be sneaky and can find a way around filters— and so can kids who are determined to bypass them. 

Kids need to know what kinds of words to use in their searches. They need to know what kinds of websites and images are safe to explore. They need to know how to get out of an inappropriate website if they somehow stumble upon one. It’s imperative that kids today understand the dangers of interacting with strangers, and that they know to never give out personal information online. 

So how do parents and teachers go about teaching these kinds of skills? We model them! We allow our kids to be on the internet while we sit next to them, coaching them on what search terms to use, what websites are okay to go to, and so on. We let them sit by us as we are online, so they can see how we safely use the internet. 

Another way to teach internet safety is to talk about it regularly. We talk about the red flags, the kinds of words that will generate inappropriate search results, the kinds of things strangers might say if they are grooming a child, and so forth. Having open conversations about things that can potentially be a danger will help kids and teens to be more aware as they are online, and it will also help your kids to feel more comfortable coming to you on the chance that something does go wrong or does pop up. 

We ought to be careful to do our best to not make the internet sound like a super scary and terrible thing. Rather, we teach that it is a useful tool and amazing place that has potential dangers, and what we can do to protect ourselves if/when faced with them. 

In school, teachers and counselors can show videos or slide shows illustrating things kids might come in contact with. Librarians can help students understand what a reliable website might look like and how to detect false information. Students can be aware of their surroundings and can help to alert teachers if they see something amiss with their own computer or a classmate’s. 

The internet isn’t going away, and people with wrong intent will only get smarter and sneakier. Filters and “safe” phones can only stop so much. This means that we as parents and educators need to be sure that we are giving today’s youth the tools they will need to safely navigate a digital world. Together, we can arm kids with the power to conquer the malicious workings of those that aim to harm today’s kids. Together, we can be a force for good.