Posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Parry Aftab's Blog: Facebook Dangers: Site Upgrades Safety Measures, Rejects Panic Button - ABC News
Parry Aftab's Blog: Facebook Dangers: Site Upgrades Safety Measures, Rejects Panic Button - ABC News
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Teacher Tuesday
Welcome to my first edition of Teacher Tuesday. Here, I'm going to feature a website to help teachers and homeschoolers learn easy new ways to include technology within their learning experience.
The first website review is Kids' Vid: Video Production for Students. "Kids' Vid is an instructional web site that gives teachers and students the tools necessary to implement video production in the classroom. Video production can be intimidating to the novice. Not to worry. It is nothing more than a method for recording research and expressing creative ideas. Video production, if properly implemented, is more than a new toy for students. It provides the tools and the means for students to create and display serious work in a new, exciting and engaging way that is appropriate for all age groups and abilities. This is a place for serious fun."
What I like about it is that it makes video production easy and fun with easy to use tips, advice from other kids, and classroom ideas to get you started.
I taught video production last year, and the kids had a ball (so did I), but it doesn't have to be a separate class, you can use it in History, Science, Language Arts, Music and more. All it takes is a little know how..
Have fun!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Where My Students Play Online....
Last week, I asked my previous students (Jr. High age) what some of their favorite online sites are, I then told them they had to be family friendly sites, so that I could review them myself and share them with others.
So where do kids hang out online other than Facebook and MySpace (I told them those two didn't count, because those two were already known about)?
After some discussion over lunch, they agreed on two sites in particular that they really like spending time on.
The first site is called Poptropica.com, I talked about it a little in my last blog. The site is free, but there is also a paid membership that offers more access to the offerings of the site. Check out this brief video on Poptropica...
So, while you are exploring the many islands of Poptropica, collecting different items needed in a game or competing with others, you can also chat with other Poptropicans. However, what I really like about the chatting aspect of Poptropica, is that, "Poptropica uses a pre-scripted chat system. This means that users are provided with question and answer options to choose from in order to communicate with each other. There is purposely no free chat in Poptropica in order to make our virtual world as safe as possible for kids." In my book, the pre-scripted chat system gets two thumbs up from this mom.
What was the other site the kids liked? The boys (mostly) really like hanging out on PlayCrafter.com. What is PlayCrafter? This site allows you to not only play games that others have created, but it allows you to create your own flash based games to share with others. Watch this video to get an idea of how it works...
PlayCrafter.com is a free site, like Poptropica, and like Poptropica, there is also a premium version membership that you can purchase to get more out of the site. The free membership allows you to play the games, chat (although I'm not sure how their chatting works, I couldn't figure out how to access that option), save high scores, save games you are working on and publish games with up to 10 levels.
I would visit both sites with your child, to determine the safety issues or see them in action yourself, before letting your child have free reign on either site. Poptropica does not link to outside sites, but PlayCrafter does, and you may or may not want your child to visit the outside sites (that's why it's always best to explore new sites together, first).
Have fun exploring!!
So where do kids hang out online other than Facebook and MySpace (I told them those two didn't count, because those two were already known about)?
After some discussion over lunch, they agreed on two sites in particular that they really like spending time on.
The first site is called Poptropica.com, I talked about it a little in my last blog. The site is free, but there is also a paid membership that offers more access to the offerings of the site. Check out this brief video on Poptropica...
So, while you are exploring the many islands of Poptropica, collecting different items needed in a game or competing with others, you can also chat with other Poptropicans. However, what I really like about the chatting aspect of Poptropica, is that, "Poptropica uses a pre-scripted chat system. This means that users are provided with question and answer options to choose from in order to communicate with each other. There is purposely no free chat in Poptropica in order to make our virtual world as safe as possible for kids." In my book, the pre-scripted chat system gets two thumbs up from this mom.
What was the other site the kids liked? The boys (mostly) really like hanging out on PlayCrafter.com. What is PlayCrafter? This site allows you to not only play games that others have created, but it allows you to create your own flash based games to share with others. Watch this video to get an idea of how it works...
PlayCrafter.com is a free site, like Poptropica, and like Poptropica, there is also a premium version membership that you can purchase to get more out of the site. The free membership allows you to play the games, chat (although I'm not sure how their chatting works, I couldn't figure out how to access that option), save high scores, save games you are working on and publish games with up to 10 levels.
I would visit both sites with your child, to determine the safety issues or see them in action yourself, before letting your child have free reign on either site. Poptropica does not link to outside sites, but PlayCrafter does, and you may or may not want your child to visit the outside sites (that's why it's always best to explore new sites together, first).
Have fun exploring!!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Mom's Perspective on Social Networking Sites for Young Kids
As a Tech Savvy Family, one of the things we need to be aware of is social networking sites for young kids. Kids are social by nature, and companies are working very hard to encourage and even entice kids to get involved with their social networking websites at an early age (usually starting at age 6 and going through age 15 before the kids then switch to the Facebook and MySpace platforms of social networking sites).
What do social networking sites provide? These sites allow kids to blog, chat, listen to music, post pictures and play games with others online, and they all claim to be "ultra safe" (underscore the word "claim," make sure you check for yourself thoroughly before allowing your child to participate in any social networking environment).
Examples of websites designed for kids include (but are not limited to):
ClubPenguin.com, where when you sign up, you adopt an animated penguin to chat to friends, play games, explore, collect coins and even personalize your very own igloo (it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
Poptropica.com, where your child creates an avatar and moves from island to island, changing costumes and collecting a special medal every time you complete a quest (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
MoshiMonsters.com, where you adopt a monster and roam around Monstro City interacting with other monsters (here you have to sign "adoption papers" before participating, giving the site your name, then create a password and provide an email account for confirmation purposes. It is free, but again, to get the most out of it you're going to have to pay for a membership.
Finally, Webosaurs.com, at this site, you get to choose which dinosaur you want to be and interact with other dinosaurs, play games, watch videos and chat with your dino friends (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
As you can see, all of these sites are basically the same, and they are all geared toward kids ages 6 - 15. So, whether you are a penguin, kid avatar, monster or dinosaur your child can interact with other children online for a price.
As a mom, however, my main concern is the "chatting" aspect of each of the sites. Reason being, you really do not know who you are sharing your information with, and kids are very free with their personal information. It does not take much to have a child share their name, what school they go to, where they live, their age, the names of their siblings, the names of their parents, where their parents work and what they do, you just have to ask in just the right way. It is always best to make sure you establish rules with your child as to what is ok and not ok to post online. It is also a good idea to keep an eye on them while they are visiting these various social networking sites and teach them how to report abuse of the site to the site administrator.
What do social networking sites provide? These sites allow kids to blog, chat, listen to music, post pictures and play games with others online, and they all claim to be "ultra safe" (underscore the word "claim," make sure you check for yourself thoroughly before allowing your child to participate in any social networking environment).
Examples of websites designed for kids include (but are not limited to):
ClubPenguin.com, where when you sign up, you adopt an animated penguin to chat to friends, play games, explore, collect coins and even personalize your very own igloo (it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
Poptropica.com, where your child creates an avatar and moves from island to island, changing costumes and collecting a special medal every time you complete a quest (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
MoshiMonsters.com, where you adopt a monster and roam around Monstro City interacting with other monsters (here you have to sign "adoption papers" before participating, giving the site your name, then create a password and provide an email account for confirmation purposes. It is free, but again, to get the most out of it you're going to have to pay for a membership.
Finally, Webosaurs.com, at this site, you get to choose which dinosaur you want to be and interact with other dinosaurs, play games, watch videos and chat with your dino friends (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
As you can see, all of these sites are basically the same, and they are all geared toward kids ages 6 - 15. So, whether you are a penguin, kid avatar, monster or dinosaur your child can interact with other children online for a price.
As a mom, however, my main concern is the "chatting" aspect of each of the sites. Reason being, you really do not know who you are sharing your information with, and kids are very free with their personal information. It does not take much to have a child share their name, what school they go to, where they live, their age, the names of their siblings, the names of their parents, where their parents work and what they do, you just have to ask in just the right way. It is always best to make sure you establish rules with your child as to what is ok and not ok to post online. It is also a good idea to keep an eye on them while they are visiting these various social networking sites and teach them how to report abuse of the site to the site administrator.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Kidzui: Surfing the net kid style (with prescreened websites approved by teachers and parents).
As a computer teacher and a parent, I think the internet is a great place to explore and learn all kinds of fun things. But two out of three of my boys are pretty young, and I’m not ready to allow them to get online with a real web browser and end up who knows where looking at who knows what.
So I started doing some research on other options for younger kids and surfing the internet. That’s when I found Kidzui, a free web browser you can download onto your computer to let your younger kids surf the net just like big brother.
As you can tell from the screen shot, Kidzui is picture based, so you don’t have to read to find a game to play online. And like I said before, the sites are already screened for appropriateness. What I really like, is that I can have a separate account for each of my boys based on their current age. In other words, the games that show up for my 12 year old boy to play don’t show up for my 5 year old boy to play and sometimes even my 8 year old will not have access to the same games my 12 year old does.
My boys like the fact that you can edit your own “Zui” to look the way you want it to and you can edit the background by changing the color to your liking. It’s so simple, if you get lost, just hit the home button and you can start over. If you really like the game you are playing, you can add to a favorites section and the next time you want to play it, just press the star at the top of the screen to visit your favorite sites page (also in picture form).
Check it out yourself; I’m sure you’ll like it, too. Click on the link below and it will take you there. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
What do you get when you combine the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A organization with Microsoft and Parry Aftab?
Answer: You get the best website on Internet Safety for teen age girls, by teen age girls. Now, I was in the Girl Scouts for eleven years and had the opportunity to participate in a lot of great adventures all across the U.S. and I was glad to see that the organization is still doing great things with and for girls across the U.S., and now the organization has embraced cyberspace as well.
The website is called “Let Me Know (LMK), Life Online,” and its mission is simple:
“LMK was created by the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. in partnership with Windows to help you change the world every time you go online. Empower yourself so that you can educate others on the reality of being a teen online and help adults understand the real issues that affect you every day.”
What I really like is that the girls (ages 13 – 17) are the contributing editors to the site and to the newsletter. They talk about such topics as: Privacy, Cyberbullying, Online Sexual Predators, Social Networking, Mobile Devices and more.
At the bottom of each article on the site, girls who belong to the site (membership is free) have a chance to write comments about the article and share their opinions as well.
Parry Aftab contributes on the topics from within the site, too. Who is Parry Aftab, you ask? Parry Aftab is an Internet Privacy and Security Lawyer who works closely with the teen editors on this site to guide them through the “ever-changing maze of online safety.” She’s awesome! So check it out!! Let Me Know (LMK), Life Online.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Internet Safety Presentation
Friday I had the opportunity to give an Internet Safety Presentation at my old stomping grounds. It was great to see my jr/sr. high school students again and to spend time talking with them about how to keep safe online. I know that a lot of them are starting to use sites such as Facebook and Myspace, and I wanted to remind them about what they should and should not post on their sites.
I started by showing them the video on Internet Safety put together by students in Commack posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZHq4CQekTY). We then discussed "what was wrong with this picture," i.e. a ten year old girl having a computer in her room with internet access is just asking for trouble. We then talked about what is considered to be private information.
Next we talked about protecting their reputations online. I showed them a video on that very topic so that they would get a better understanding of how the internet search engines work and how once they post something they can't take it back. A little lesson on think before you post.(http://www.commoncraft.com/protecting-reputations-video)
I then took a look at their Facebook accounts (on the big screen) to show them what I could see, not being on their "friend" list. Some of them were surprised to see that I could see everything (along with millions of others using facebook). I showed them where and how to set their privacy settings and gave them a homework assignment (set your privacy to "friends only").
Our final "food for thought" video was Digital Dosier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79IYZVYIVLA), to show them that even when they are in their mothers' wombs, digital information about them is being collected and stored and it continues throughout the rest of their lives until they die. It is their responsibility to manage what information is made public and to keep their online reputation, well, reputable.
I started by showing them the video on Internet Safety put together by students in Commack posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZHq4CQekTY). We then discussed "what was wrong with this picture," i.e. a ten year old girl having a computer in her room with internet access is just asking for trouble. We then talked about what is considered to be private information.
Next we talked about protecting their reputations online. I showed them a video on that very topic so that they would get a better understanding of how the internet search engines work and how once they post something they can't take it back. A little lesson on think before you post.(http://www.commoncraft.com/protecting-reputations-video)
I then took a look at their Facebook accounts (on the big screen) to show them what I could see, not being on their "friend" list. Some of them were surprised to see that I could see everything (along with millions of others using facebook). I showed them where and how to set their privacy settings and gave them a homework assignment (set your privacy to "friends only").
Our final "food for thought" video was Digital Dosier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79IYZVYIVLA), to show them that even when they are in their mothers' wombs, digital information about them is being collected and stored and it continues throughout the rest of their lives until they die. It is their responsibility to manage what information is made public and to keep their online reputation, well, reputable.
