Internet Safety

Although it may seem that the risks out way the advantages when it comes to using the Internet in the classroom, I definitely think that the Internet should be used in the classroom. Our students are going to be using the Internet whether we use them in our classrooms or not. I think by using the Internet in our classrooms, we can then teach our students to be safe and responsible users. By teaching them safety techniques and good searching skills, we can open up the world to them through the Internet.

There are so many advantages to using the Internet in the classroom. The best reasons to me are real time data and simulations that we can get from the Internet. While the rest of the world is living and learning in a virtual world, I think it's very important that we teach our students how to interact, grow, and develop in the virtual world as well. If you know much about math you will know that although we can teach equations and formulas to our students, there is much more going on in the background. With the use of technology, programs and websites have been developed that display this background knowledge and the bigger picture. These tools are exactly what we want our students to learn through because they lead to meaningful learning. I am excited to teach in this day and age where technology can be so advantageous to the learning of math.

As teachers, we must evaluate the sites we want our students to use. Through evaluation we ensure that our students are getting the best, most accurate information that is relevant to the current topic of discussion. We can also make sure that the information is appropriate and written for their knowledge level. In order to make sure that my students are being safe while surfing:
- I can use the Advanced Search Tool that Google provides to limit the sites that they are searching for certain assignments,
- spend some time teaching them Internet safety and making the aware of the rules that I have set for our classroom, and
- be apart of their learning through observation while walking around the room during their searching time.