Internet Safety Case Study 3 (safe and sane social networking)

Profile of Chris Taylor:

Chris Taylor was recently laid off from his job as a teacher at a private elementary school. Over the

past two months, he has applied for a number of jobs, but has not received a single call for an interview. He is surprised by the lack of response, since he has nearly 10 years of experience in the classroom and has excellent references from two previous employers.

One of the things Chris has filled his free time with since losing his job is social networking: He has set up an account on all the most popular sites. Chris says the time he spends networking is a good way to connect with old friends, meet new ones, and even find a new job. He has also started a blog, where he posts nearly every day.

One thing that Chris enjoys about social networking and blogging is the opportunity to express himself. In his professional life, he has always felt like he had to keep his opinions, beliefs and thoughts to himself. Now, he frequently writes openly online about his political and religious views, his romantic relationships, and some chronic medical issues he’s dealing with.

The only negative experience Chris says he has had online is that one of his new “friends” has been sending messages every day to his personal email address. He’s also been calling Chris and leaving unpleasant voicemail messages. (He was able to find his home phone number using information Chris revealed, intentionally or not, online.)

What could Chris do differently to avoid certain consequences of his social networking?

Follow-up

Work in groups of 3-4 and look at the all authentic statistic material above which is related with the previous activity. Discuss the difficulties the learners may have with the material and strategies used to overcome it. Brainstorm and list Internet Safety tips students have learned thus far. Could use think-pair-share. Make predictions in 1 page report.

Microsoft conducted a research poll this year via its MSN site and the statistics it has revealed, published in early February of this year (2013), should leave every parent, adult, educator, law enforcement official and government office highly concerned!

Here are the highlights:

The Good News

· 87% of parents reported having had a talk with their child about online safety issues.

· 85% of children report limiting access to their social media sites to friends and family only.

The Bad News

· Only 36% of parents use parental controls or web filter software to actively protect their children online.

· 39% of children admitted to using online sites or playing video games that their parents would not approve of them using.

· 67% of children clean their cache so that parents can not check their history to see where they have been online (with a good filter installed parents could still view the history!).

· 36% take absolutely no action to limit or monitor Internet use in their home.

· 44% of parents were not aware of whether their children use privacy setting in their social media profiles to keep strangers out.

· 15% of children admitted to doing something online that was intended to be hurtful to someone else (cyber bullying) (http://www.optenetpc.com/blog/parental-control-software/statistics-of-home-internet-safety-highly-concerning/).

Make a Powerpoint presentation on the topic “Stay safe on the internet for different stages of education: difficulties and ways of their overcoming”.

At the end all learners should fill special table “Evaluation of the Action Internet Safety lesson” by giving feedback which helps teachers to improve future presentations by giving their opinion.

Assessment

Consider your favorite WEB SITE focusing on whether authentic information is given in it, and how much of critical awareness information is presented in the site.

Select material and work out the activities for young learners taking into consideration tips of internet safety (school, college, lyceum). Take into consideration the given criteria in the guidelines.

Independent work:

1.Create the useful vocabulary on the theme “internet safety”. You can use any book as a guide. (also useful material available in additional source https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2801920?hl=en)

Write a journal entry type of story about their personal views on cyber bullying. Create ways to help those who have been victims of cyber bullying. Write their own list of benefits and dangers associated with internet use.

1. Work with that table and do all tasks in it.

Social Media or Anti-Social Media?