Internet Safety Assignment

What articles did you choose to read?

I read the articles by:

1. Ballard (Let Our Voices Be Heard)

2. Bednar (Things as They Really Are)

3. Charles and Dawn Graham (Technology and a House of Learning).

What were the three most important things you learned from the readings?

1. I gained a greater understanding of the spiritual implications of internet safety. There is so much more involved in it than just temporal or immediate consequences.

2. I learned that it is not enough to just apply internet safety in my own life or in the life of my family. I need to “make my voice heard” and openly and publicly be doing things to help others be safe and wise in their internet use.

3. I learned that if I’m not careful, internet and virtual reality can become my reality. I need to use it in moderation.

Describe the video resources you watched (name, content, hosted location/website, etc.).
1. PBS Documentary: (www.pbs.org)
a. “Growing up Online” Parts: 1,2,3(partially),4, &5.
2. Netsmartz: (www.netsmartz.org)
a. “Cyberbullying: Feathers in the Wind” (Part 1 of 3)
b. “Cyberbullying: You Can’t Take it Back” (Part 2 of 3)
c. “Cyberbullying: Broken Friendship” (Part 3 of 3)
d. “Julie’s Journey”
e. “Amy’s Choice”
f. “Tracking Teresa”
g. “Angela’s Experience”

What are the three most important things you learned from the video resources you viewed?

1. I learned how prevalent internet use is becoming. Our world is drastically different than it was just a few years ago.

2. Internet use is becoming an essential part of living in our world. There is no way I can fall behind the times without almost alienating myself from society.

3. I learned how important and essential using the internet is in many teen lives. You can’t just take it away from them. For some of them, that is their life.

Describe who you talked with (no names are needed - just a brief description of age).

I talked with my husband. He is 23 years old and currently in pharmacy school.

Describe what you shared and what the reaction of the person was.

I shared the article by Ballard with him, and also told him about all the movies I watched. I talked a lot about the PBS documentary, and what kinds of things teens were getting involved in on the internet. We had a discussion about the points we agreed with and things we have observed. He heard a couple of statistics he had never heard before that made him think: “Wow. That’s really bad,” or “I was not aware of that.” He found some of the information startling and almost depressing. He expressed interest in learning about more filters and blocks he could use on his computer to protect himself from seeing inappropriate things. He hadn’t realized how big of a problem internet safety was, and how many people are involved in it. We talked about things we wanted to do as parents do help protect our children.

What will you do differently now that you have completed this assignment? How can you use what you have learned to have a positive influence on those you teach?

I have learned about so many things I want to implement in my home as a parent. I realize that internet safety entails more than just cyberbullying, pornography, etc. Time is also a big factor. I need to be careful with how much time I spend on the internet. Moderation is extremely important. I have learned so many things that really make me want to do whatever I can to protect my students. The biggest thing this assignment did for me was developing awareness. I knew things were a problem, but I didn’t realize how bad of a problem they were, and how easy it was to come in harm’s way on the internet. Now that I am aware, I will not unknowingly put my students in harm’s way. I will also be able to teach them the things I learned or bring them to the resources I went to, so they can learn for themselves how important internet safety is and how they can protect themselves

Science and Math Challange

Here is the link to our group's science and math project. In it we descibe how to teach a kindergarten lesson on sound dynamics using a sound level meter.

http://sites.google.com/site/pletestsample/science-and-math-challange

Google Earth Tour

Here is a link to my wiki site. Here you will the virtual tour I created on Google Earth.

http://sites.google.com/site/pletestsample/virtual-tour-on-google-earth-1

Plan for Virtual Tour

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Sahara Desert	travel log:write a postcard	Polygon, ruler
2. Amazon Rainforest	tl: write descriptive words	YouTube Video
3. Himalayas	tl: write short story	Places
4. the Great Plains	tl:write descriptive words	YouTube Video, 360Cities
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	Sahara Desert, Africa

This plan will help fulfill the 3rd grade social studies objective: Describe the major world ecosystems (desert, plain, tropic, tundra, grassland, mountain, forest, wetland).

Cultural Influences in Utah

Story Board

For our story board project I will be doing a mini documentary. It will be based off of the Social Studies 4th grade standard 2, objective C, which is: Explore cultural influences from various groups found in Utah today (e.g. food, music, religion, dress, festivals). The project will have six to seven slides.

Personal Learning Environment

This blog will be my personal learning environment. Here I will post things that I am learning in all my classes as well as in other areas. By documenting what I learn I will be able to look back on it later, so I won't forget it. It will also document important information I will need to remember to be an effective teacher. It will organize and keep track of projects, papers, links to websites, ideas, and content knowledge. Doing this will help me build on my knowledge and make connections between all aspects and sources of my learning.