The Digital Divide Presentation: Keeping Up with Our Students
featuring High Crimes Bureau, Illinois Attorney General's Office, with perspectives from GBS staff and students
CAUTIONS & INFORMATION
Note that today, many of our students are spending time on facebook.com and youtube.com. Facebook is a site considered by students to be private to our students, but it is easily accessed by anyone. Parents are encouraged to look at their son or daughter's pages and provide guidance. Students should consider pictures and content to be permanent and public at all times. If you log on at http://www.facebook.com/, you can create your own account and search for your son or daughter's name. If you find a page, please look at content with them and provide your guidance.
The other site http://www.youtube.com/ is one that videos are being uploaded to and downloaded from at staggering rates. This site offers entertainment and positive aspects, but students should be cautioned that anything posted is public and permanent. Caution should be observed.
Below are links to inform parents, teachers and students. They provide information that can be accessed before and after our March session. We will keep this site up-to-date with information to continue to narrow the digital divide.
REASONS TO LEARN MORE
Why Parents Must Mind Myspace - MSNBC with video to introduce you to the ideas to be presented March 8th. Go to this link and click the "Launch" button under the picture. This will open a new window in which the actual segment will follow a short advertisement.
Teen's Online Language Leaves Parents Baffled - MSNBC article on the need for parents to know the shorthand used by our students.
PARENT AND STUDENT RESOURCES
http://www.ag.state.il.us/children/internet.html - Illinois Attorney General's Office's resources for Internet safety.
http://www.blogsafety.com/ - A useful site where teens, parents, teachers and adult bloggers can learn about the benefits of safe blogging.
http://www.safeteens.com/ - A site for teens and parents to learn how to use the Internet safely. No preaching is included, just good advice.
http://wiredsafety.org/ - A site to help keep teens safe on networking sites.
http://www.wiredwithwisdom.org/ - Web Wise Kids Home Page with a "For Parents" section.
http://www.isafe.org/ - This organization is active with schools and communities and has many resources and good advice to share.
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm - The FBI parent's guide to Internet safety.
http://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/children/internet.html - Illinois Attorney General's Office Internet Safety site.
WEB SLANG SITES: What does "POS G2G" mean?
http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm
http://webslang.blogspot.com/
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
EDUCATIONAL USES
GBS teachers use threaded discussions via the Internet to elicit responses that are well thought out and that cause more in-depth reflection before response. Teachers report that "quiet students" gain a voice in this medium that is powerful and different than in-class discussions.
Teachers also utilize online quizzes, reading reflections etc. and will certainly utilize blogs in the near future. We are finding that interactive communication paths created online are powerful and likely a part of the preferred future of our students. Many GBS teachers see this form of communication as viable and valuable.
STUDENT PERSPECTIVES
GBS students have shared that they keep up with friends and make new ones using Myspace.com and Facebook.com. They make new friends at GBS and across the world. They share that they frequently IM to keep in touch and to study together. As we will discuss, these sites are not "bad," but they require students to reflect on the ease with which people can access their personal information and the dangers this can create.
As you will hear, our Student Council communicates using Myspace, because if we use it, people are certain to get our message. Students check their Myspace accounts more frequently than they check their email. Apparently, there is even a Tommy the Titan Myspace! It does keep our students "in touch."