I read the article "Students Dig Up Dirt to Learn about Internet Safety" by Jesse Morehouse. This article was written describing his lesson plan where he had the students in his class dig up dirt about himself and other teachers using just what they got off the internet. He then recorded what they had found and showed them just how much information they were able to find using only a few pieces of information. Next the students were able to find another person of their choosing and research about them. They created a profile for this person using all of the information that they had found online. He did this to show the students just how much information was out their about each and every one of them.
I think many students do not realize that everything they put on the internet is out their for everyone else to see. Even the "private" information is not private. Kids forget that the internet is something that lasts forever and once information is out there it is out there for good. This way of teaching this lesson is a creative way to show students the information that is out their instead of just telling them. Kids are more resposive in some instences when they learn by doing instead of sitting in a lecture type situation with someone talking about the internet. Children are able to see first hand just how much information is able to be found by people who dont have any researching training at all.
If all that information is available to people who have no professional training, imagine how much information is available to those people who have the experience and whose job it is to research peoples information. Do you want everything that you post online in the hands of someone you've never met.
Jesse, Morehouse. (2011, September). Students dig up dirt to learn about internet safety. Learning and Leading with Technology, 34-35.
With crimes like identity theft on the rise, educating children on the importance of privacy on the internet and protecting their personal information is becoming more and more important.
ReplyDeleteAnother set of practices that is becoming more and more important is to know if a computer is trustworthy or not before using it. Typing information into a browser is not the only way to give away your personal details. Keyloggers are huge threats to credit card numbers, passwords, and other personal identifiers such as your full name, phone number, e-mail, and address. Computers are always connected to the internet now, and the web browser is not the only window to the internet anymore.
Children should be learning this stuff too!
This is crazy! But i do like how the teacher did make his children aware of how much people can really find on the internet. Personal information is not really "personal". There are so many avenues to find information about anything and according to this article, anyone.
ReplyDeleteJust like Nate said, keyloggers can take it one step further and take everything- your identity. We all need to keep are private lives private, even if that means we need to take a step away from technology.