Internet Safety Interview

After watching videos and reading talks about internet safety, I talked to my 15 year old sister. It was a really good experience. I asked her what she knew about internet safety and the only thing she could think of was how my dad puts parental control on our computer. So I talked to her about what I had learned about Cyberbullying online. I told her about the PBS Documentary I had watched about the boy who was bullied at school and then came home to the internet to be bullied even more. I told her his story about how he had been exposed to websites that encouraged suicide and how he eventually committed suicide because of the bullying he had experienced. We talked about how when you are online people will say whatever they want because they are not face to face to you. She really agreed with me that she didn't like that. She shared with me how she had been bullied on facebook by a boy from school because he wasn't afraid to say whatever he wanted. It makes me sad to see that it is happening to even my own sister. But she explained how she dealt with it and how he doesn't bother her anymore.

We also talked about how grateful we were that our dad uses parental controls on our computer because it protects us from alot of bad things that are out there on the internet that you might accidently come across. She shared how in her photo class in high school they work alot with the program photoshop and they are required to find pictures of celebrities on the internet to use in photoshop. Sometimes pictures come up that she does not want to see and she is grateful that because we have parental controls on our computer we don't have to worry about those pictures coming up.

It was a really good experience talking with her because she was really open with me and I was able to share with her some of the concerns I have about the internet. It was also good to see how she was grateful for the parental controls just like I am.

Two BEST ideas...

After watching the other project presentations, there were two ideas that I really liked and would like to use in my own classroom. I really liked the idea of putting the digital camera in the hands of the students. This is such a great idea because students can become familiar with the technology and they can see evidence of their work and be excited about the learning. It would be a great idea to put together a scrapbook of all the pictures the students took.

The other idea I liked best from the presentations was using the Premethian board (or Smart Board) to do a shared reading. This is great because you can high light words that you are focusing on, and everyone can see the text. You can have students come up and highlight the word family you are teaching.

I also thought it would be a great idea to use the Smart Board to type notes instead of writing it out on the white board (which takes forever). Students get so excited about using technology in the classroom, and I feel much more open to the idea of using it more in my own classroom.

What I learned from watching others' project presentations

One thing I learned from watching other people's project presentations is the importance of the students getting to use the technology themselves. There is much more learning going on when the students are exploring the technology and learning things on their own. The information becomes solidified for them. Lewis said that if he did the project again we would have let the students explore Google Earth, and I think that would be a great idea.

Reflection on the Media Readings

For my fourth reading I read: "The Message:Mushrooms, Music, Movies, and Magazines" by Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. It compared the media to mushrooms- just as there are there are some mushroom that are edible and delicious, there is music and movies that are uplifting and "virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy". On the other hand there are mushrooms that are deadly poisonous and the most poisonous are the one that do not show symptoms right at the beginning. There are mushrooms that look like safe mushroom, but are poisonous. It is the same with dangerous media- the most deadly are the ones that slowly poison us a little at a time.

The most important thing I learned from these articles is that you really have to watch what you listen to or view. And it is vital that you take safety precautions in your own home when you have a family. I also learned that no matter how many safety precautions we take, our children are still going to be exposed to the internet, so we must teach them how to avoid the evils of the media when they are directing themselves.

From reading these articles, I have realized that I do not want to have television in my home. Movies are fine because as a family we can decide what movies are appropriate and which are not, but most t.v. shows are full of poison. In my home I want to keep the computer out in the open for everyone to see. I want to put parental control on the computer so that my children will be protected from pop-ups and dangerous websites. I also want to teach my children all of the wonderful things that are available through the media.

From the things I have learned I can influence others to recognize the evils of the internet and different safe precautions they can take to protect themselves and the people they love.

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