Digital Safety Reflection

The Digital Safety group project was a great refresher for the alarming issues in the Internet World. Although I had completed this project as an undergraduate, I found it beneficial to experience this activity as an educator. As I was reviewed through their beautiful and informative presentations, I am reminded of my responsibilities as a teacher. All of the topics are important for this unit. Teachers need to be aware of the different laws involving the Internet especially the fair use policy.

At the same time, teachers also need to be informed about the various scams that are living in the technological world. I agree with your sentiments about a group presenting on online gaming. This is an issue that would relate to my 6^th grade students relating to the most.  Another topic that I would like to explore is how to educate our students to be safe on their social media. It does not only have to be pharming and phishing. Students also need to be aware about what they post while learning how to avoid predators on the Internet.

It is my goal to teach about digital safety during the first weeks of school. Students will learn about cyber-bullying and the effects of this action. Throughout the last school year, I assisted numerous students that struggled as they deal with their own cyber-bully. This is a topic that I sympathize for the most. In Scientific America, the article links depression to cyber-bullying. It also states that the victim tends to suffer in silence due to fears of being punished (Pappas, 2015). These sentiments are shared in another article. Victims tend to feel that their school cannot help them. As a result, they develop depression, panic disorders, and the likelihood of suicide with males (Landau, 2013). It is my hope that as we educate students about cyber-bullying, it would create a comfortable environment that allows them to share their concerns. My plan to accomplish this goal is through team-building exercises while using tools like Nearpod. Nearpod is a great way to incorporate technology but at the same time, it also allows all students to participate in the lesson. Throughout the school year, I aspire to continue this goal through my team time class. 

So far, I had learned and gained a great deal of resource from this course. My group (pharming and phishing) enjoyed the interactive tools. I am used to lecturing with powerpoint so I found it satisfying that Emaze was fun and easy to use. I also enjoyed Quizizz as we are able to assess students in a fun but organized manner.

Landau, E. (2013, April 15). When bullying goes high tech. CNN.

Pappas, S. (2015, June 23). Social media cyber bullying linked to teen depression.LiveScience.