Reflection: Week 6

What?

This week class was canceled, so we were directed to study the topic of discussion on our own. Through the information on the class website and my own investigation on this week's assignment, I discovered that we are learning about internet safety. Because the internet provides many inappropriate web pages, this is an extremely important topic to learn about and be aware of as an educator. The assignment we were given to complete this week is to learn about internet safety through a WebQuest.

So What?

The internet is a wonderful tool in our modern world filled with many educational resources to help us gain knowledge. But, the internet can also be risky because there is so much harmful and pornographic material freely available, even when we are not searching for it. As educators, we need to be able to identify which websites are safe for our students and which should be avoided. Through the assignment this week, I was able to discover important steps to evaluating websites, which is great because I have never had my own way of making sure a site is safe. My new favorite way of evaluating sites is through the "Five W's." The Five W's are evaluating the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of each website. If legitimate answers can be found to these questions, the site is usually safe. I plan to teach these important internet safety tips with my students.

Learning how to be safe on the internet is a valuable life skill. We are constantly surrounded with technology in our world and need to be aware of its functions. Knowing how to be safe on the internet will not only help me throughout my remainder in college, but in my future career, and for the rest of my life. This internet WebQuest is a useful assignment to complete right now because if we do not know how to be safe on the internet, how are we going to protect our students?

Now What?

I know the internet will continue improving its contents, which also means it will continue being polluted with harmful material. I also know that some of my students will know more about the internet than I do and I consider it my job to advise them how to use caution and judgment with the sites they encounter. As a health educator, one of my core objectives is to teach students about internet safety, and I now feel prepared to take on that challenge. I want my students to be able to stay away from any harm they may encounter online and know how to make wise decisions about the information they offer.

Before this week, I had no real process of my own to evaluate websites. I would sometimes even click on a website with one eye closed to make sure I was not being exposed to information I should not be viewing. That felt very unsafe and made me uneasy every time I browsed the internet. Now, I know it is important to evaluate a website through using specific techniques and have the skills to do it. This information will definitely help me to be a better teacher so I do not encounter any risky information that might jeopardize my job. I know that if I can learn how to stay safe on the internet and teach my students to do the same, we will have a more positive class environment and each of us will live a better life staying away from the potentially harmful effects of the internet.

Video Reflection:

The video we watched this week was entitled "Internet Safety Movie" from TeacherTube. The video presented several rules to follow to ensure safety while browsing the internet. I liked the simplicity and directness of the rules because they were easy to understand, but full of impact at the same time. One part of this video that affected my emotions were the pictures of little children playing on the computer. Like it or not, we need to realize that we live in a world where technology can be used by anyone of any age. I now realize how important it is to educate students and children at a young age of ways to stay safe while surfing the internet. If we can do that as educators, our students will have a much better experience using the internet as a resource and for entertainment.