Digital Safety and Social Networking

Digital Safety:
The ACMA lecture was extremely insightful into the dangers of the cyber world and highlighted the responsibility of both teachers and parents to protect and educate our youth about the sinister side of the internet. A rapidly increasing number of students are preferring to spend time online rather than watching TV at home and 90% of grades 5-6 are addicted to social networking sites such as Facebook (ACMA lecture, 2011). The greatest dangers are lurking in interactive channels like chat rooms, instant messaging and social networking sites. 


There are 3 main areas of risk for internet users. These are:

1) Cyberbullying:
"Cyberbullying occurs when the internet, email or mobile phones are used to deliberately and repeatedly engage in hostile behaviour to harm someone" (ACMA lecture, 2011). Those involved can experience social, psychological and academic difficulties. There is an increased number of cyber bullying which has resulted in tragedy.


2) Cyberpredation:
The web provides children with the freedom to make friends, play games and research homework with the click of a button, however, makes them open to potential to online predators and scam artists.

3) Exposure to inappropriate material:
Of course what is considered inappropriate depends on the child, the family and the community, but these generally include sites which are sexual in nature, contains violent or hateful material, or which advocates the use of weapons or harmful substances.

The ACMA advises 4 main strategies to help students become 'cybercitizens,' thus ensuring that they have the knowledge and skills to operate effectively in the online world. These include:

* Positive online behaviour: 
Such as, developing positive and appropriate relationships and avoiding or dealing with unwanted contact.
* Digital media literacy:
Learning appropriate communication such as skills for positive communication (appropriate use of emoticons).
* Peer and personal safety
*E-security
Avoiding the disclosure of personal information.

Websites such as Thatsnotcool.com provides students with guidance on major risks associated with the digital age.

In addition, strategies that teachers and parents could utilise include- ensuring computers are in a public area so students can be monitored and blocking inappropriate websites.

Teachers should not only educate their students on the dangers of the internet but work towards establishing a close relationship with their students, this is particularly important when tackling the problem of cyberbullying. As they get older, students are increasingly reluctant to share their thoughts with adults. Teachers need to be able to read the signs such as changes in student behaviour and mood. Moreover, teachers need to make sure their students feel comfortable sharing worries and problems.

Social Networking Sites: 

I (along with millions of other people of all ages around the world) am a major Facebook addict and was interested to learn how these sites which I use for leisure could be used in a formal learning context. There are a variety of social networking sites available for free online such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Skype. However,  all the sites share similar technical features (Lockyer & Patterson, 2008) These include:

• Users can share information through their profile 
• Connect with other users of the sites who might be on their contacts list or friends
• Upload, tag and share multimedia content they have created
• Link others to a variety of web accessible content they have created
• Initiate or join groups based on common interests and pursuits. 

Due to the nature of social networking sites, they facilitate informal learning through the sharing of ideas, providing feedback and engagement of critical thinking (Lockyer & Patterson, 2008).  Moreover, social sharing networks help students develop, collective self esteem and fulfills their need to belong (Gangadharbatla, 2008). This I feel is the major appeal of using social networking sites in education- they feel informal, without the burden/strain associated with formal learning environments and make students generally feel good about themselves (by helping students feel they belong  developing collaborative self-esteem). Hence, before educators think about blocking students access to social networking sites, they should consider harnessing the technology of these extremely popular tools to engage students of all ages ( online users has extended to early primary students with such programs as Club Penguin  and Moshi Monsters ).

An interesting article entitled, Social Networking Goes To School, and Networking Belongs in School provided some ideas on using social networking sites in schools. For instance, schools established their own pages which kept updates on areas such as sports events and academic achievements. This was an effective means of creating a strong sense of school community amongst students. Also, projects used social networking programs such as Skype and Ning so students can reach and learn from peers in countries across the globe.

To conclude, I believe that teachers should not only educate their students on digital safety but integrate social networking tools into their teaching. Unfortunately, I feel that there is this general stigma associated with social networking in education that I now feel is undeserving. Schools often filter students access to these sites for obvious reasons (and in most cases, quite rightly so). However, when you look at the tools social networking sites provide in an educational context and recognise their appeal with students, it seems illogical not to use them in teaching.