HISD Cyber Safety Initiative

Amanda Jostajost@houstonisd.org

August 2010

Educate our students about Internet Safety

We must

Why educate our students?

1. It’s the Law

Title II: Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act

A school or library must certify that as part of its Internet safety policy [the school district] is “educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response.”

Broadband Data Improvement Act – Passed Oct. 2008

Why educate our children?

2. It’s the Right Thing to Do

Online usage is high among our students 93% ages12-17 go online – 63% daily 64% have personal content online Online harassment can begin as early as 2nd

Grade

Is Internet safety really a problem?

http://pewinternet.org/

Three Focus Areas:

Appropriate Online Behavior Social Networking Cyber Bullying

What do we need to teach?

Appropriate online behavior is a broader topic which includes Cyber Bullying and Social Networking but also includes ethical behavior on the Internet as well as topics covered in the HISD Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

Appropriate Online Behavior

Use of a website designed to allow multiple users to publish content about themselves and connect to other people. Information may be public or limited to people identified as “friends”. Sites may include text, images (http://flickr.com/), video (http://youtube.com/) or other media.

Social Networking

“…bullying through email, instant messaging, … chat room, … website or gaming site, or through digital messages or images sent to a cellular phone.”

Kowalski, R. M., Limber, S. P., & Agatston, P.W. (2007) Cyber bullying: Bullying in the digital age. Malden, MA, Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4051-5991-3

Cyber Bullying

“Cyberbullying is not an uncommon occurrence among teens… Slightly more than four in ten teens (43%) report that they have experienced some form of cyberbullying in the last year.”

Cyber Bullying

HISD TechApps HAPGs HISD Cyber Safety Website Lessons and Materials from various sources

What resources are available?

Grades K-8: 1st grading cycle High School: Computer Science and Web

Mastering: 1st grading cycle

TechApps HAPGs

• www.houstonisd.org• Log in to the portal• Departments > C > Curriculum• Cyber Safety Teacher Resources

HISD Cyber Safety Website

Login to the Portal

C for Curriculum

Curriculum

Cyber Safety Resources

EasyTech – K-8 Interactive lessons, plus discussions, activities, and journals http://www.learning.com

NetSmartz – Multimedia. Good for large groups and parent presentations http://www.netsmartz.org/education/

CyberSmart – No computer needed, good for non-lab settings, black-line masters http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/lessonsbygrade/

iKeepSafe – videos and other useful resources for elementary and teens http://www.ikeepsafe.org/

i-SAFE – Lessons and videos. Materials can be used until 2/23/2011 https://auth.isafe.org/subscription/registration/?ivc=IVC04123

Lessons and Materials

Ages Special Populations

Differentiation

English Language Arts Social Studies Health Other ideas?

Integration

• Faux Paw from ikeepsafe.orghttp://www.ikeepsafe.org/assets/videos/fauxpaw_1.swf

• Feather in the Wind from netsmartz.orghttp://www.netsmartz.org/stories/feathers.htm

Who will teach this content on my campus? When will this content be taught? Where will this content be taught? How will this content be taught?

◦ Setting◦ Groupings◦ Materials

So what?

Stay positive – Research shows scare tactics are less effective.

Reinforce all year – Reinforcement makes concepts more readily accessible to students when they need them.

It’s everyone’s job – All teachers are responsible for cyber safety strategies.

Teaching Tips

Contact me at ◦ Amanda Jost ajost@houstonisd.org

Check out our HISD Cyber Safety Website by logging into the portal and going to the Curriculum Department. Several Cyber Safety Links will be there.

Questions?

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