Being Safe in the Digital World

           Along with the rapid development of technology, the use of technology by people has become more prevalent these days. Many of us have become very dependent on technology as it plays a very important role in our daily lives. According to Ramey (2012), “Technology is being implemented in almost every section of our lives.” Even children are being exposed to the use of gadgets such as laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and etc.

They are able to learn how to easily navigate through these devices and use it for educational purposes. Although they are able to operate such devices, most children are unaware of the dangers of the digital world. Therefore, it is essential to educate children about digital safety.

            There are many issues concerning digital safety. For this reason, each group in our class was given a topic pertaining to digital safety that we must conduct research on. My group and I were assigned the topic of “Copyright Issues and Fair Use Practices.” The other topics included digital safety and privacy, cyberbullying, textual harassment, and pharming and phishing. After learning about all these issues, I can say that I was exposed to a great deal of information that are beneficial to me as a student and as a future educator. There were several laws and proper ways of safety practices that I was not aware of regarding these issues. It is important for both students and educators to be aware of these digital safety issues so that they know how to handle these situations, whether they encounter them at home or at school.

            Learning about these issues has helped me become a more technologically proficient professional. As a future educator, it is important that I share this awareness with my students.

Since I am an Elementary Education major, I would want to present these topics in a very appealing manner in order to capture the attention of my students. I will provide several examples through stories and media such as pictures and videos. Also, similar to how my group and I presented our topic to our class, I would also want to integrate some audience interaction using multimedia tools. This will allow me to also assess the students’ learning and understanding of the topics. By teaching children about the dangers of the digital world, we are preparing them for success. They will be knowledgeable on how to retrieve and use information taken from the Web appropriately. Students will understand the importance of taking precautions when entering the digital world.

            In addition to designing lessons that will educate my students, I would also extend the lessons further to include their parents. According to Gawron (2012), “We must teach families simple tools to insist on, and have them extend the culture of cyber safety to the homes.” Parents must work hand in hand with schools if our students are to function in this digital world. I think the school would be a way to help educate parents with little computer knowledge on how to enforce technology standards at home. To reach out to parents, I would host informational workshops or Parent-Teacher Meetings where we would discuss the dangers of the digital world and safety practices. One topic I would like to emphasize on would be cyberbullying as it is common among the youth these days. I would encourage parents to perhaps, monitor their child when it comes to their usage of technology and be aware of the factors cyberbullying can cause to their child. In these workshops and meetings, I would even invite other educators to attend, whether they would like to be presenters as well or learn more about the issues regarding digital safety. Again, it is vital to spread the awareness of these issues to our communities, whether at home, school, or work.

            Although we did not use Wiggio for this assignment, my group and I did utilize other different technological tools to communicate with each other in order to complete the tasks. We used communication apps on our cellphones, such as Whatsapp, as well as emailed each other. There are a plethora of communication tools that students can use to allow everyone to participate in this group project, and should be encouraged to use any they desire. I think this assignment is highly essential to the course and students should be encouraged to take these issues seriously because despite the fact that technology can be of great use to our daily lives, there are also possible negative consequences that can occur in the cyber world. For this reason, we need to learn and be taught how to handle these issues properly when encountered. By raising awareness about these issues, students become knowledgeable and safe when they access the power of the digital world.

References

Gawron, H. (2012, June 13). The Importance of Internet Safety. Retrieved November 22, 

            2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/internet-safety-importance-heather- 

            wolpert-gawron.

Ramey, K. (2012, November 25). 10 Uses of Technology in Our Daily Life - Use of 

            Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from 

            http://www.useoftechnology.com/technology-today-tomorrow/.